Oh gosh, people, I don't know about you, but I'm already bubbling over with excitement about the imminent holiday season. Thanksgiving is the only time of the year when all of my immediate family and their families get together, so it is particularly special to me. Even though my home-away-from-home in Maine won't be fully renovated by November, I'm already devising ways to dress up the newly remodeled areas (and disguise those still under construction . . .), so it's warm and welcoming come Turkey Day. Perhaps if I decorate a load of cookies and scatter them throughout the house, they'll keep everyone from noticing the missing furniture, unpainted walls, and yet-to-be-connected plumbing?! Cookies are the ultimate cure-all, right?! And cute cookies, like those in this month's release, are bound to be all the more distracting! 🙏
Even if you don't have house woes like mine, hopefully you'll still find fun ways to put this month's Thanksgiving release to good use. Making personalized Thanksgiving cookie place cards if one of my faves, but more on that in a bit . . . first, a little history about the genesis of this month's Dynamic DuosTM release. The idea for it spawned from my recent bakery-themed "Live Sweetly" release. I loved the teeny pastry and dessert overlays in its background set, and thought that it'd be equally cool to "set" a lavish Thanksgiving table on a cookie . . . so I got to work on that idea, and now you have your pick of turkey, wine, a retro Crock-Pot®, a fall floral arrangement, and/or a bowl of Indian corn to lay on your cookie "table". I also gave this set a decidedly mid-century modern flair, not just through the electric green-orange-teal palette that I selected for the cookies below, but also through the choice of patterned tablecloth and wallpaper in the background - and, of course, that Crock-Pot®! (What 50s- or 60s-era family was without?!)
So let's take a closer look at this release, shall we?!
As always, I've got some hot-off-the-laser-cutter stencils sets for you, as well as a reminder of a past set that's wonderful for Thanksgiving, or fall in general. First, the new things:
- Bless This Table Dynamic Duos™ Background Set (upper left),
- Bless This Table Dynamic Duos™ Message and Frame Set (combined with the Duos™ background set; upper right),
- My partner Confection Couture's Happy Thanksgiving Accent Stencil (lower right), and, for that reminder . . .
- Woodland Turkey Prettier Plaques™ Set (a transferware-inspired release that I used to make cookie place cards for my Thanksgiving 2017 table).
Now, as you know if you've read any of my past stencil posts, I have a Stencil of the Month Club, which is pretty special. Each month, Club members get handpicked-by-me stencil bundles at HUGE savings. The Club is definitely worth checking out if you do any amount of stenciling, and it's sure to get you stenciling with even greater frequency! Here's what my very wonderful Stencil of the Month Club members are getting in September:
This specially curated bundle is worth $22.99, but Club members get it for only $14.99! Plus, they also get 15% off anything else on the Confection Couture site as long as their membership stays in effect! HUGE, right? 
If you think you might be interested, please read more about Club membership and sign up here. You won't regret it!
Now, let's talk about what designs are possible if you only have the background set . . .
Bless This Table Dynamic DuosTM Background Set (7 pieces)
In short, tons! What I'm about to show you is just the very tip-top of the iceberg! Here are three cookies that, though they look markedly different, are all made with just the background set.
In this first variation (below), the blue and brown pot was stenciled/airbrushed directly on the cookie, but I added dimension by turning the wine bottle and turkey into fondant appliqués and then layering one on top of the other.
I also tinted the white stripes on the plaid tablecloth by dusting them with a touch of compressed orange petal dust. By contrast, in the photo below, I airbrushed the flower arrangement directly on the cookie and put two wine bottle appliqués in the foreground. I didn't dust the tablecloth stripes, but I did block off the upper dot pattern on the background stencil when airbrushing it, in order to keep the back "wall" plain white.
I didn't even use the Indian corn bowl in the examples above, so you can just imagine all the other possible permutations of background and foreground elements. And while you're doing that 
, onto the message and frame set! Here's what it includes:
Bless This Table Dynamic DuosTM Message and Frame Set (7 pieces)
And, once again, here are just three of the many designs possible if you use the message and frame set along with the background set . . .
In the first design variation (below), all elements were stenciled and airbrushed directly onto the cookie. (You can tell because the cookie surface is completely flat and smooth.) This approach is an especially wise one to take if you have lots of cookies to make this holiday season and anticipate having to bag and stack them. There's nothing on top (like a fondant appliqué) that could break.
Alternatively, the cookie below has a bit more dimension, thanks to the use of fondant appliqués not just for the turkey and wine bottle, but also for the framed picture hanging on the "wall".
What's wonderful about working with appliqués is that they can be made well ahead, and you needn't commit them to a cookie until you're absolutely sure they're in the best possible spot. As an example, just look directly below. That cookie is none other than the cookie directly above, just with a different framed message trying out that top spot!
And here's that same message plaque being tested out on another cookie background . . .
Both look pretty darn good to me - it's soooooo hard to pick!
Now, as if the elements in these sets weren't already interchangeable enough, I want to show you yet another way to mix and match - this time, with other sets . . . which brings me to the place card idea I mentioned at the start. Everyone loves a personalized gift. Doing something as simple as adding a name or monogram to a cookie can make the recipient feel so darn special. To that end, I used an "M" from my Single Monogram Prettier Plaques™ set with a frame from this set to create the hanging letter plaque on the cookie to the left. (BTW, "M" is for "Meyers", my hubby's last name!)
And here's a closer view of a similar plaque without the blue interior shading . . .
You can go even further with the personalization by designing a custom name stencil, as I did with "Julia" on this Woodland Turkey Prettier Plaques™ cookie made back in 2017 . . .
Have I completely dazzled you with all of the possibilities yet?! Yeah?! Okay, then I'll stop while I'm still ahead! I hope this release and those to come in October and November will give you plenty of food for thought to jumpstart your holiday decorating! I always love to see what you create with my stencils, so don't forget to share!
- To purchase my Dynamic Duos™ sets, click here.
- To join my Stencil of the Month Club, click here.
- To see my entire stencil line, including my Prettier Plaques™ sets, click here.
- To view my videos that show how to create layered looks with my stencil sets, click here.
If you have any technical questions about these stencils, just email me at sweetlife@juliausher.com or leave a comment below. Please, however, direct all ordering and Club questions to my stencil partner, Confection Couture Stencils, at service@confectioncouturestencils.com. Thank you!
Comments (2)