Tick Tock, Tick Tock . . . Soon Midnight

Tick tock tick tock…. Soon midnight

When the cloud covers the moon, wooden crafts start stretching their arms and legs.  The flowers the dwarfs raise start singing and dwarfs dance.  The bird flies to get the fruits on the tree. 

I tried to make wood texture and tiniest cookies for me this time.  

How I made the bird house:

After each section dried completely, I used royal icing and brush to make wood like texture. Then I made some flowers. 

This wood-like texture is used for the roof and a dog and a bear. The roof is royal icing transfer. 

More photos of bird house from different angles. 

How I made the owl clock:

After I made the face, wood branch and wings, I made borders with icing.  The borders are double layers to make thickness of the wood panel.  Hands are the moon and the cloud so the cloud covers the moon when the hands move. (well, hands do not move actually) 

How I made the music box:

I tried to make tiniest cookies for me. They are about 2 cm (less than 1 inch). They came out much better than I expected (knock on wood!).

I made a hexagon-shaped box. Each side has different flowers (my imaginary flowers that dwarfs raise). I put a very short spaghetti into each dwarf so each can be moved around on the lid.

How I made the royal icing tree:

The entire tree is composed of 6 half-tree royal icing transfers. 

First, I drew the half-tree template, and then I put it under acetate in preparation for piping the first icing layer on top.  The half-tree is thinner toward the top and thicker toward the bottom, i.e., it has more icing layers at the bottom. The numbers in the photo above indicate how many layers I piped in each area. For instance, the fourth and fifth branches from the top are 2 layers deep, and the sixth branch is 3 layers deep. The trunk is 3 layers deep from the bottom up to the top of the sixth branch; then 2 layers deep from the top of the sixth branch to the top of the fourth branch; then 1 layer deep elsewhere. 

This is what the transfer looked like after I finished piping the second layer on the tree trunk. After all the layers were piped, I let the transfer dry completely; then I carefully removed it from the acetate.

The transfer is flat and shiny on the underside, so I also piped one more layer across the entire back to give this side more dimension. I made another 5 transfers this same way.

Once all were dry, it was time for assembly. It's easier to glue all the pieces together off the music box, and then to put the entire tree onto the box later.

The picture above shows how I glued 2 pieces together. Naturally, the bottom is wider and the top is narrower (like a tree!).  

Then I added two more pieces, roughly at 45-degree angles to the other two pieces. You'll need something soft to hold them in this position while the icing dries; I used paper towels.  When the icing "glue" was completely dry, I carefully turned the piece over onto more paper towels, and then glued the remaining 2 pieces onto the other side. 

This is my first entry to Challenge #32, but this is the third design for this entry. It took so long for me, and it made me really nervous to assemble the royal icing tree on the music box. If it falls down, I guess one of the dwarfs might have cut it down. Naughty dwarf! But, for now, I can sleep, and the dwarfs can stretch their bodies and dance. 

I was hoping you had something up your sleeve for this challenge! Yay! I especially love the royal icing tree structure - so clever!

Ryoko, this is amazing! So many great techniques built in (thanks for including the close up pictures and summary). I love the wood finish, and your tiny dwarves are adorable. Beautiful work!

Julia M. Usher posted:

I was hoping you had something up your sleeve for this challenge! Yay! I especially love the royal icing tree structure - so clever!

Thank you, Julia.  I made some extra parts of the tree but when I dropped my glasses on it, I really thought the clock stopped.   

Now I have a little confidence to make my own 3D cookies, thanks to you, @Julia M. Usher

Ryoko ~Cookie Ave. posted:

Julia M. Usher posted:

I was hoping you had something up your sleeve for this challenge! Yay! I especially love the royal icing tree structure - so clever!

Thank you, Julia.  I made some extra parts of the tree but when I dropped my glasses on it, I really thought the clock stopped.   I am so happy I can sleep enough tonight.  

LOL - I know how stressful those final assembly moments can be! One false move, and then - POOF! - all that hard work can be destroyed.

Aproned Artist posted:

Ryoko, this is amazing! So many great techniques built in (thanks for including the close up pictures and summary). I love the wood finish, and your tiny dwarves are adorable. Beautiful work!

Hi Samantha!   Thank you     My tiny cookies!  I imagined someone eat 6 them at one bite   I am surely going to hide them somewhere!  

talia posted:

Wowee!

Thank you, Talia. 

Wow.. love these so much! Amazing Wood texture! ❤❤❤ 

Wonderful job, looks like a lot of technique was used.  I love it. 

Kanch J posted:

Wow.. love these so much! Amazing Wood texture! ❤❤❤ 

Thank you

Debbie2 posted:

Wonderful job, looks like a lot of technique was used.  I love it. 

Thank you, Debbie. 

So love all of these cookies, Ryoko ❤️! How creative you are! That music box with the tiny dwarfs (the spaghetti idea is so brilliant!) and the imaginary flowers is superb! So love to read your narratives, too . Amazing entry!!!

Amazing work! And loved to read everything about it and to see pictures!

Manu posted:

Amazing work! And loved to read everything about it and to see pictures!

Thank you, Manu!  

swissophie posted:

So love all of these cookies, Ryoko ❤️! How creative you are! That music box with the tiny dwarfs (the spaghetti idea is so brilliant!) and the imaginary flowers is superb! So love to read your narratives, too . Amazing entry!!!

Thank you, Sonja.   It was fun to think and plan but since some parts didn't come out as I hoped, I had to changed here and there..... Now I am glad I could post this clip.  

Ryoko ~Cookie Ave. posted:

swissophie posted:

So love all of these cookies, Ryoko ❤️! How creative you are! That music box with the tiny dwarfs (the spaghetti idea is so brilliant!) and the imaginary flowers is superb! So love to read your narratives, too . Amazing entry!!!

Thank you, Sonja.   It was fun to think and plan but since some parts didn't come out as I hoped, I had to changed here and there..... Now I am glad I could post this clip.  

Ryoko, I think it happens to all of us, that things just sometimes don't turn out how one has envisioned them. That's the beauty of cookie decoration, one can change things around, and hide mistakes and such . Your set came out beautiful ❣️!

WOW! Absolutely Masterwork!!!!! I especially love the wood carvings!!!! ❤️

WOW, this is more than amazing! I absolutely love this set and it is now one of my favourite of yours, my dear Ryoko. You are so creative.

swissophie posted:

Ryoko ~Cookie Ave. posted:

swissophie posted:

So love all of these cookies, Ryoko ❤️! How creative you are! That music box with the tiny dwarfs (the spaghetti idea is so brilliant!) and the imaginary flowers is superb! So love to read your narratives, too . Amazing entry!!!

Thank you, Sonja.   It was fun to think and plan but since some parts didn't come out as I hoped, I had to changed here and there..... Now I am glad I could post this clip.  

Ryoko, I think it happens to all of us, that things just sometimes don't turn out how one has envisioned them. That's the beauty of cookie decoration, one can change things around, and hide mistakes and such . Your set came out beautiful ❣️!

 

Does it also happen to you?  What you make are alway perfect.  Hiding mistakes, I DO😅

Icingsugarkeks posted:

WOW! Absolutely Masterwork!!!!! I especially love the wood carvings!!!! ❤️

Thank you.  😍😍😍

carouselselsel posted:

WOW, this is more than amazing! I absolutely love this set and it is now one of my favourite of yours, my dear Ryoko. You are so creative.

Thank you, Zara.  My favorite one is still our work together.  We ❤️ colors. 

Amazing project! ❤❤❤

Dragana posted:

Amazing project! ❤❤❤

Thank you 

Ryoko ~Cookie Ave. posted:

swissophie posted:

Ryoko ~Cookie Ave. posted:

swissophie posted:

So love all of these cookies, Ryoko ❤️! How creative you are! That music box with the tiny dwarfs (the spaghetti idea is so brilliant!) and the imaginary flowers is superb! So love to read your narratives, too . Amazing entry!!!

Thank you, Sonja.   It was fun to think and plan but since some parts didn't come out as I hoped, I had to changed here and there..... Now I am glad I could post this clip.  

Ryoko, I think it happens to all of us, that things just sometimes don't turn out how one has envisioned them. That's the beauty of cookie decoration, one can change things around, and hide mistakes and such . Your set came out beautiful ❣️!

 

Does it also happen to you?  What you make are alway perfect.  Hiding mistakes, I DO😅

All the time, dear Ryoko @Ryoko ~Cookie Ave. ! I'm a master in hiding mistakes 🤣🤣🤣...

Totally amazing!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Fantastic Ryoko!

Evelindecora posted:

Totally amazing!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Evelin, thank you

Carol-Anne posted:

Fantastic Ryoko!

Thank you, Carol. 

Oh Ryoko...what beautiful work @Ryoko ~Cookie Ave.!! I just love each one of the designs you've created. Your 3D piece is quite a masterpiece all by itself . Your work continues to improve all the time. I always look forward to seeing your next post ❤️❤️.

Your dwarfs are amazingly detailed, especially for the tiny size of them. Thank you so much for your complete explanation (you are always so great at doing that and at providing pics of your progress work ). I really appreciated reading about how you approached and decorated each part of your entry into the 32nd Challenge .

Simply awesome...lots of hard work and planning went into these cookies and it shows Ryoko!!! You're a delight ❤️

Cookies Fantastique by Carol posted:

Oh Ryoko...what beautiful work @Ryoko ~Cookie Ave.!! I just love each one of the designs you've created. Your 3D piece is quite a masterpiece all by itself . Your work continues to improve all the time. I always look forward to seeing your next post ❤️❤️.

Your dwarfs are amazingly detailed, especially for the tiny size of them. Thank you so much for your complete explanation (you are always so great at doing that and at providing pics of your progress work ). I really appreciated reading about how you approached and decorated each part of your entry into the 32nd Challenge .

Simply awesome...lots of hard work and planning went into these cookies and it shows Ryoko!!! You're a delight ❤️

Oh Carol, you are always so nice to me since I have started decorating cookies.  I agree that each Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge makes my cookies improved, thanks to Christine of @Bakerloo Station  and @Julia M. Usher who give me chances.  

And needless to say members here including you @Cookies Fantastique support me, encourage me and be with me always.    Thank you 😘

Ryoko! You have outdone yourself AGAIN! What an incredible project this was. (I would LOVE to know what previous two plans you scrapped before you decided on this one, by the way!) I hardly know where to begin. First, I cannot imagine how long this scene took to create. Surely this was a labor of love, and I am honored that you would put so much effort into a challenge entry. I love the story that goes with this scene and very much appreciate all of your detailed explanation and pictures of your process. I learn a thing or two from YOU every time you post a challenge entry. I love your wood texture, I am amazed at the detail you were able to fit on those tiny dwarfs. The smoothness of the icing on the clock is such a marvelous contrast to the texture of the teddy bears. The pieces of your 3-D elements fit together perfectly. I am a sucker for a fantasy flower, and I love every one of your floral designs. Finally, I think that tree is spectacular, although I am not sure how you accomplished that, so if you can give us some insight as to how you created that, we would be grateful! In short: This is an incredible entry, and a cookie work of art. Brava!

@Bakerloo Station   I deeply appreciate your comment, that always and surely makes me go forward.   The first design was deep under the sea world, 2D cookies and fun scene.   The second one was 3D cookies, shelves and box that contain my dream.  The more I imagines, the more I thought probably I could make those and that doesn't sound like "challenge"  

How I made trees, I broke extra parts.  But I will explain how I made and what I have learned while I was making it with some photos.  It is hard for me to do it with only words.  

Christine ( @Bakerloo Station   I edited my first comment, added some more photos to explain how I made the tree.  

Ryoko ~Cookie Ave. posted:

Christine ( @Bakerloo Station&nbsp  I edited my first comment, added some more photos to explain how I made the tree.  

WOW! That was some long process to make the trees. Simply incredible.

GinkgoWerkstatt posted:

This is just awesome! I mean, look at all those details and tiny things! So  many things to explore. Great entry and great cookies ♥
Love those little dwarfs ♥

Thank you, Anne