Christmas Cookies

It is official.. I am almost having a nervous breakdown. My little baby is not quite healthy yet, this week she has been on a nebulizer and it seems that is working, so I am really hoping that by Christmas she will be ok. Around here we are looking forward for some relaxing time at home, by relaxing I mean having my husband around for a few days and me being able to take a nap. I will be on vacation for a few days and I am so looking forward for pajama day or days should I say!
Cami is excited about Christmas, and Santa, all of the gifts that she thinks is going to get, and I say she thinks because every single toy that she sees on TV is-Mami I want that!, Mami, can you get me that?-Mami call Santa, I want that toy. Some how she thinks Santa has a blackberry, mmm it seems that my pretend calls to Santa are getting her some ideas.

And since I loveeeeee torturing myself... I am in charge of the teacher's gift at school, dance class gifts,our office's corporate gifts and anything that has to do with me being awake at night.
I have to be up any way making sure the baby is breathing so might as well do something I love.

Here are the cookies for dance class, simple and traditional with a few items like pieces of pretzels and sanding sugar to make them pop..

Use your favorite sugar cookie recipe, cut out and bake your cookies.

To make these festive Christmas cookies you will need:

Christmas tree with a star cookie cutter

Stocking cookie cutter

Candy cane cookie cutter

Green,red,white and yellow royal icing ( stiff for pipping and thin for flooding the cookies)

Pastry bags, couplers and tips #1 and #2
Toothpicks
Squeeze bottles

Green piping gel ( you can get it at the craft store)

White and red sanding sugar
A tin paste of of meringue powder and water ( I did 1/4 teaspoon of meringue powder and 1 tablespoons of water)

A few pieces of pretzels

Making the Christmas trees

Let the cookies dry overnight

Making Tree 1

Using tip #2 make small and big dots, also make small and big circles with red royal icing. While the red icing is still wet, sprinkle with red sanding sugar.

Making tree #2

Making tree #3

For this cookie, right after you flood it with the green icing, using a squeeze bottle pipe dots of red and yellow icing and let it dry a few hours. Then outline and make garland with green piping gel. Let it dry for a few minutes and then pipe a red garland on top of the green garland with the stiff royal icing and tip #1.

Let it dry and make yellow dots for the light bulbs.

For all the Christmas tree cookies, I added the white sanding sugar for the stars and the pieces of pretzels at the end, when the cookies were completely decorated and dry. Use a dot of royal icing to attach the pretzels to the tree's trunk.