For the Love of... - Page 30 of 59 - Approachable Modern Style For the Love of…

Updated Family Photos & New Gwyneth Posts

July 8, 2013

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Last weekend my friend Mary, who is working on starting up her photography business, Yung Bean, visited us at our home for the morning and took photos, lots of photos, of what we love doing best as a family. Before she came, she asked me to fill out a questionnaire which listed some of the things we love to do, and some of our dislikes. While I was hard pressed to come up with things we don’t like to do, it was easy to come up with a list of our favorite things. Reading together, building Legos, cooking, eating, hanging out in the backyard. In three hours, Mary captured a slice of our life, if you will, and these photos truly represent who we are as a family. Messy nightstands spilling over with books, towels always strewn across the backyard, thrown together lunches, and lots and lots of Legos and Star Wars. I asked her to at some point, also get a few pictures of me nursing Hayden. As my last baby, and my only baby who really loves nursing, I wanted some documentation of our special time together. She did a beautiful job and I hope you don’t mind me sharing quite a few of the photos she took of us.

I’d also like to share links to my first 3 Babble posts. Thank you so very much for all of the love and support and well wishes at my announcement. I have started my column over there and have posted:

The story of my Detox saga

My top 10 favorite recipes from the book, so far

And where it all began by asking, did Gwyneth really make me do it?

Please come over and say hi if you can, I would truly love and appreciate it!

Also, I’m planning a new dressing room post on higher end premium denim, and started a pretty good conversation on tipping points for premium denim. Come join the conversation over at my Facebook page!

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th Of July weekend, and I look forward to seeing you back tomorrow!

TAGS: Babble, Gwyneth Made Me Do It, Yung Bean Photography

30 Day Skincare Challenge

July 2, 2013

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andrea-115 One of the biggest beauty regrets I have doesn’t have to do with a bad hair style or a crazy makeup routine I sported during my high school years. No, my biggest beauty regret is that I didn’t do a better job taking care of my skin and protecting it when I had the chance.

When I was in my mid twenties, the aesthetician I saw, began warning me about the pigmentation that was beginning to develop from exposing my skin to the sun with little to no protection. Back then, very few daily moisturizers had sunscreen already in them, and in fact I know for certain that I never wore sunscreen on my face unless I was going out to the beach. Living in Southern California, where the sun is shining 90% of the time, my nose and forehead routinely experienced sunburns, and I started to get dark brown spots on my forehead, right along my hairline

Because the area was inconspicuous, and at the time I thought my skin was invincible (you think every part of you is invincible in your mid 20’s don’t you?), I ignored her warnings and kept on doing what I was doing, which was a whole lotta nothing. Now, as I approach my late 30’s, those dark sun spots have crept down my forehead and invade just about every part of my skin. Some days they really, really bother me and I feel subconscious going out without foundation on. Other days I could care less and realize they’re the least of my worries and try to see them as a sign of a life well lived.

Either way, no matter how I’m feeling, I do know that I’d like to try and see if I can do something about those spots. I’m not into the thought of chemical peels or microdermabrasion. While I’d love to spend hundreds of dollars (not really), on designer creams, I can think of a million other things I’d like to do with my money. And since right now in this season of my life, I’m dedicated to going a bit more bare and simplifying my beauty routines, focusing on the inside as well as the outside, I’m going to try a little 30 day experiment, where I stick to the same 3 part routine and hope to see results.

I’ll be using Aveeno’s Positively Radiant Brightening Cleanser morning and night. It’s a gel cleanser so I can use it with my Clarisonic, and it has a light smell and feel to it. My face feels clean yet not stripped down after using it, which is the true test of a cleanser’s gentleness. During the day I’ll continue using my Postively Radiant Daily Moisturizer with SPF 15 as I always do, and I know it does it’s job protecting my skin while never feeling like a sunscreen. At night I’ll use the Positively Radiant Intensive Night Cream, which is also formulated to target dark spots.

Because I already use Aveeno daily moisturizer and lotion, I know they’re gentle and nonirritating. Since all 3 products are focused on targeting brown spots, as well as tone, texture, dullness and blotchiness, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that when combined into this magical trifecta, I’ll start to see the dark spots fade a bit. I’ve taken photos of my skin without makeup on, focusing on some of the major dark spots, and I’ll share a before and after at 30 days and we’ll see if there truly is a difference.

This routine is simple enough for me to handle on a daily basis, especially for the next 30 days, I love that it’s affordable, and I especially love knowing that if this combination does indeed work, I can shop for the products at Target and don’t have to make a special trip to the mall. Life’s busy enough, right?

So do you have any beauty regrets that you wish you could reverse? If so, is there anything you can or are doing about them? I’m hopeful that with consistent use, I’ll start to see results and then the only thing I’ll have left to worry about are the crows feet around my eyes, growing by the day ha! See you back in 30 days for an update on this experiment!

AVEENO® Daily Moisturizing Lotion: Give your skin a naturally beautiful fresh start. This nourishing lotion improves the health of your skin in just 1 day! It contains ACTIVE NATURALS® Colloidal Oatmeal and is blended with rich emollients to help protect and soothe dry skin.

Compensation was provided by AVEENO® via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of AVEENO®

*Photo courtesy of Yung Bean Photography

TAGS: Aveeno, Beauty, Positively Radiant Skincare, Review

DIY Skateboard Deck Swing

July 1, 2013

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Believe it or not, Taylor came up with the idea to build a swing out of a skateboard deck. While I believe my daughter is a creative genius, I do have to wonder if she saw this somewhere, and unknowingly tucked it away in her subconscious mind a long time ago, because the idea was just too brilliant.

We have the most amazing tree in the backyard, a 40 foot Chinese Elm to be exact, and it was just begging for a swing to be hung from it. When Taylor came up with the skateboard deck idea, we ordered one right away and then it sat in our garage for the last year. This weekend we finally put up the swing, and really couldn’t believe we had put it off so long because it was pretty quick and easy of a process. Here’s how we did it, using this tutorial as a guide.

You’ll need braided rope that will hold at least 135 pounds per rope (1 50 ft per swing), 2 steel rings, 2 carabiners, scissors, matches/lighter, skateboard deck. Start by tying a bowline knot, keeping a loop on the end and throw that over the branch. Art tied a steel wrench to the rope to help get it over the branch. Take the loose end and feed it through the loop and then tighten/pull the rope so it creates a noose around the branch. The bowline knot allows for a super tight and secure knot, but expands when there’s no pressure from the weight of the swing, allowing for the tree branch to grow properly.

Then cut the rope to the desired length. We wanted the ability to take down the swing and store it during the winter so we added this extra step, but it’s not necessary. We tied another bowline to a steel ring so that we could hook and unhook the swing to it. Repeat this process on your second rope so you now have to ropes hanging down from your tree. Then go ahead and drill your holes into your deck (we used a 3/8″ bit), and feed 2 pieces of rope through your deck. It’s important to note that we fed the rope through horizontally so they run along the long side of the deck as opposed to vertically running along the short side. This provides additional support of the deck. Then take your two pieces of rope on either side and tie together in at least 3 half hitch knots, pulling extra hard to ensure a tight and secure knot. The last step is, using the rope from either side of the deck swing, tie another bowline to your carabiners and then attach to the rings. You can now unhook your carabiners and take down the swing if you’re having a party or during the winter. One last thing you should do is burn the edges of your ropes to prevent fraying. Simply take a match or lighter to the ends and singe till they melt together, should just take a few seconds. Now you’re ready to have fun and be safe!
We couldn’t install a swing for the big kids and leave out little Hayden, so we got a baby swing up for him too and he’s in heaven.

It’s only been a couple of mornings since we installed the swing, but so far they’ve ran outside each day and got on their swing. They ate breakfast by their swing and then their popsicles later in the afternoon. It’s awesome to see them so excited about it. Syd, the night we installed it, said “I can’t believe we actually have our own swing in the backyard now.” It feels good to see them getting so much joy out of such a simple experience.
And because our tree is so high up, the swing gets a really deep, high arc to it so you really lose your stomach on it, in the most awesome of ways. It doesn’t get going super fast, but what it lacks in speed it more than makes up for in the drop and the free-fall.
Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to answer them. This was such a fun, easy and quick DIY project that I’m so glad we completed. Just when I thought it wasn’t possible, the backyard went and got even cooler.

It goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyhow, this tutorial is how we did it and I cannot be responsible for any faulty installation of your own swing at home. We suggest doing your own research, asking questions at your hardware store to make sure you get the right supplies, and maybe even watch a video or two online. We test the swing each time, with our own weight, to ensure strength and security and recommend you do too.

TAGS: DIY, Skateboard Deck Swing

How To Coordinate The Family’s Style

July 1, 2013

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I’m a sucker for somewhat coordinated family outfits for holidays and even photos. I cannot deny that it may be slightly cheesy, but you also can’t deny that photos usually come out better when everyone is somewhat wearing the same color and or pattern scheme. I find that it actually draws attention away from the outfits and more to the faces of those in the photo if you’re not all distracted by the crazy clothes.

Yesterday we went to our church’s annual Freedom Fest picnic and while we weren’t dressing for the purpose of posing for photos, I did want us all dressing patriotic, so this is what I threw together. On me: flag tank Target men’s section; cutoffs – DIY from old Madewell jeans; huaraches – Olvera Street vendor; On Art: sailboat shirt last seen here – Target; shorts – Gap; sandals – OluKai Ohana; On Taylor – romper by Tea Collection; sandals Target; On Syd – shirt by Tea Collection; shorts – Target; On Hayden – shirt and shorts – Target The goal I was striving for here was to get everyone in the same color scheme, obviously red white and blue. I had to pick clothes that I knew both older kids would be comfortable in and agree to wear. As I’ve told you before, both of them have a very specific point of view when it comes to what they wear and don’t like to waver too much from it. Syd hates wearing shorts and to be perfectly honest the only way I got him to wear these and not his favorite jeans was bribery with a TV show. Honestly Taylor loves to wear anything that is new, or so raggedly old I’m embarrassed to be seen with her (not really, but you know what I mean). So since she just got this last week, it is on her approved list of suitable attire. What is up with that anyhow? Hayden and Art are my easiest and just wear whatever I put out for them or on them. Luckily Art can dress himself these days. So that’s how you get your family to coordinate for important things and whenever you want your way. A little preplanning of buying somewhat coordinated outfits, some bribery and begging and a little charm with your feminine ways. What are you all doing for the 4th? we’re having some family and friends over for some swimming, games and BBQ’ing.

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How To Create A Story Using Disney Story

June 30, 2013

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This post is sponsored by Disney Story. To find out more about this brand-new story-creation app – and how it puts the power of storytelling in your hands – click here.

I shared with you all the other day, a cute new app that makes meaningful storytelling easy and personal, using the Disney Story App. Today I thought I’d not only share another Story with you, but also show you how easy it really is to create your own story using the app. A little background information; we got together with some of our best friends last weekend for dinner at their house. They will soon be moving across the country and so we wanted to have one last fun family night in their home. After dinner, we all went to the background for some trampoline, swing and hula hoop fun. Everyone got involved and we made memories that will hopefully last a lifetime. I told the story through Hayden’s perspective, because it just seems more fun to do that way, and he gets to share his first experience riding a swing, and truly enjoying it.

The great thing about Story is that all the photos you take on your phone, automatically get synced to Story in your “moments” section. It sorts them by date and general timing/grouping you take them, so it sort of already prefills a story for you. You just have to go ahead and edit it from there. I took a ton of photos on my phone that night, so it grouped all our backyard photos into one big story, which I edited down, deleting the blurry/repetitive ones, and adding text to tell my story, where need be. story1 Once I have chosen “my moment” that I want to tell a story about, I begin editing, starting with the title.

story2

You can add photos from your phone if the prefilled story is incomplete, add text and even video. Since I had all the photos I needed, I started adding text to tell my story of our fun night together. Remember, this story is all told from Hayden’s cute perspective. story3

story4

The fields tell you how many characters you have left, and even autofills and autocorrects as need be. You can adjust your fonts, font size, and even the background color scheme. I love the simple look of the preset story so I always keep it as is. story5

To remove photos, or adjust the cropping of them, simply click on it and your edit options show up. You can add text over the photo, crop it and even delete it. story6

I took a video that night, of Hayden enjoying his swing ride, and it automatically included it in the story, which I love! story7

When your story is set to your liking, simply click complete and choose how you would like to share your Story. Either via email or Facebook. Your emailed a link to the Story, which you can share with friends and family, and even embed into blog posts, like I’m doing now!

It is such an awesome app that I especially love since I am so terrible about making picture books, filling in baby books, all that good stuff that good mommas should do 😉

Let me know if you have any questions, and would love to hear your thoughts if you download the app!

TAGS: Disney Story, Family

Exciting News For Gwyneth Made Me Do It

June 27, 2013

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gwyneth When I checked out It’s All Good just almost 3 weeks ago, I certainly never had any intention of doing more than try a few recipes, flip through photos of Gwyneth looking flawless with no makeup on, and maybe proving that gluten free baking was nothing more than a crock of shit. And I definitely did not set out to get other people to actually go out and buy the book. Sure, I wanted to try to cook and eat more healthy, and for that, my intentions were valid. But I never dreamed that this book would actually teach me so much and get me to explore such a wide variety of recipes, in such a short amount of time.

Within 30 pages of the book though, I knew there was something about it I really, really liked. Between the writing style, the simplistic way of breaking down all the scariness that is vegan, dairy free, gluten free cooking, and loads of purty photos, I discovered that clean eating didn’t have to be torture, and could in fact be enjoyable. And better yet, I could actually cook it for myself and my family.

I know it sounds like I’m getting all sappy about Gwynnie, and maybe I am. But I never thought that I, a hardcore carnivore and cheese lover for life, could so easily adapt to cooking and eating vegan, dairy free meals and treats on a regular basis. While I most certainly never have any intent of giving up brie, nor can I say I’ll never have a filet or In N Out again, I’ve learned that for the majority of my food intake, I can live without those things, and in its place, I’ve discovered so many other alternatives.

So friends, I have some exciting news to share. It looks like I’m going to actually have to go out and buy a copy of the book, because starting this Monday, July 1st, I’m going to begin writing a weekly column titled Gwyneth Made Me Do It, over at Babble, in their brand new Health & Wellness section. I’ll start out by posting twice a week, and in many ways it will be an extension of my Instagram account, but in more detail of course. Thank you so much for the support over at Gwynethmademedoit on Instagram! Almost 600 followers in just a couple of weeks! I’ll be writing about the recipes I try, the trip ups and stumbles along the way, and how clean eating is changing me, for better (health), and for worse (I’m broke!). It will be a very real and authentic account of my journey.

I’m excited and very nervous. I’ve been wanting to write for Babble for over a year now, and who knew this would be how I would get there? A book borrowed from the library, written by a celebrity I couldn’t stand, and an Instagram account started on a whim one night so I wouldn’t annoy my regular followers with endless healthy food pictures. Wish me luck, and thank you as always for being a huge source of inspiration and support!

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Daily Style – Baring More

June 26, 2013

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For a while, it seemed like I was following this trend of the older I was got, the more makeup and products I began to use, and the more I started to cover up. Longer shorts, longer dresses, even trying a one-piece bathing suit for the first time. I also went through a period where I racked up VIP status at Sephora for all the fancy creams and potions I was buying to try and cover up anything and everything that indicated I was aging. But it seems that in the last couple of months, momma is starting to get her groove back. Dress – Mink Pink via Prism Boutique; Jacket – Zara (now on sale); Sandals – Olvera Street vendor; Cuff- Vintage; Bag – Marc by Marc Jacobs

A couple of months back, while in Palm Desert and sweltering in that one piece, I marched up to my hotel room and changed into a bikini, despite my hesitations with my postpartum figure. A few weeks ago I bought a crazy vented side dress that shows my bra to go to a rock and roll concert, and on Saturday, I bought yet another dress that leaves my back completely exposed. And for those of you who asked, I do wear this with a bandeau that does show in the back, but I don’t mind that. I’m into baring a bit more, but not being obscene! For the back photos I did take the bandeau off just so you could see the full details. Untitled-1

I don’t know where I found this girl, but I like her.

Since I’m stripping down to less and baring more, I need to do a better job taking care of my skin, especially during summer. As you all know, me and Gwyneth have been having a love affair lately. In her book, she isn’t wearing a bit of makeup in any of her photos and I love the stripped down, raw beauty of them all. Maybe she’s showing off a bit with how fabulous she looks, even without makeup, but at any rate, she looks gorgeous, and I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t mind looking that good with no makeup. After spending a couple of consistent weeks now drinking fresh juices and eating cleaner overall, I’m starting to really believe that healthy skin is as much about the external care you give your skin as it is about the internal care you give your body.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my personal commitment to how I’m going to try and achieve them over the next few months are as follows:

1. Internal Care – by starting by what I eat and drink, I’m going to work on ridding my body of toxins and hopefully get more of a glow back to my skin. Less breakouts, especially on my back, and more dewy looking skin will hopefully be the result from my 1 week detox I’m going to try next week, and just overall cleaner eating. In just the two weeks since I’ve been doing a better job (read, not perfect, just better), I’ve already seen a big difference.

2. External Care – more simplified beauty routine including washing my face every night and using non allergenic, and pure beauty products. Lots of moisturizing, especially all over body, and lots of SPF, especially on my hands.

3. Plenty Of Rest – the biggest indicator of me not taking care of myself shows in my dark under eye circles. For months I had Hayden to blame, but now, I have myself to blame. He’s sleeping better but I’m still cutting myself short in the sleep department and many days, even though I feel great and my skin looks good, my dark eye circles give me away. I need to go to bed earlier and get more sleep!

4. Physical Care – Continuing with exercising on a regular basis to help tone and strengthen, and flush my body of toxins. It isn’t about the weight anymore, as I’m happy and at peace with where I am, but I want to keep my skin and muscles as active and firm as possible for as long as possible.

5. All the extras – during Summer I always exfoliate my body more, slather up with the body lotion more, try a fresh new scent in body wash. Taking extra good care of my skin by affording myself a couple of extra indulgences appropriate for the season helps to reward my good behavior.

So what do you all do to take better care of you, and your skin? And do you solely rely on beauty products to help get you there, or do you think internal health is just as important? That detox I mentioned I’m doing next week, I start on Friday July 5th and it goes through Thursday July 11th, if any of you want to join me. Let’s see if we look as fabulous as Gwynnie when we’re all done!

Compensation was provided by AVEENO® via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of AVEENO®

TAGS: Aveeno, Beauty, Indicators Of Healthy Skin, Style

A Sneak Peek Of Yosemite Using Disney Story

June 25, 2013

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This post is sponsored by Disney Story. To find out more about this brand-new story-creation app – and how it puts the power of storytelling in your hands – click here.

We showed great restraint on this trip to Yosemite, only taking 422 photos this time around, as opposed to the 1253 we took when we were there 2 years ago. It certainly makes photo editing slightly less tedious when you only have a few hundred to sort through as opposed to 1000+. Our hands were extra full this time around, with Hayden and all, which explains our slightly limited use of the camera, but in addition, we both took a ton of photos on our iPhones, because it’s just so easy to whip out in a flash.

While we were in Yosemite we got zero cell service, so I was unable to share all those lovely iPhone photos via my beloved Instagram, and although I did share a few when we got back, I didn’t want to overload everyone’s feed with 50 IG’s. So I took the best and my most favorite phone pics and loaded them into Disney’s newest app, Story, to create a little sneak peek of our trip, through Hayden’s eyes.

That kid is just pure magic and everything just looks and sounds and seems better when seen through his lens. He barely fussed the whole 7+ hour road trip back and forth, and was more than happy to nap in the stroller or the Ergo when out and about. The biggest complaint we heard out of him was at night, when he got too cold. Bringing him into our cot solved that problem though. So I thought I’d share a few highlights of our trip and tell a story in his voice. I hope you enjoy it, as I had a lot of fun putting it together. It seems I may enjoy baby talk a bit too much. I’ll be back later in the week though with regular photos of our trip, as well as lots of info about where we stayed, what we did while there, and tips I can share based off of our somewhat limited, but still worthwhile, experience.

If you enjoy the look and layout of Disney Story, you can download it for free in the iTunes store, and you can follow Disney Story on Twitter and Facebook for updates on the progress of this very cool app. I’ll be back later in the week to also share a quick tutorial on how easy the app is to use.

TAGS: Camping With Baby, Disney Story, Free Apps, Yosemite

FInd Me Here and There

June 20, 2013

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So to be honest, when the hullabaloo about Google Reader going away starting July 1st was going on, I didn’t much pay attention. At the time, July 1st seemed like a really long ways away, and I was still trying to get my kids to school on time, carrying homework that was completed and a lunch that somewhat resembled a lunch. I was like, c’mon man, I don’t have time to worry about this. But July 1st is almost here dude, and now I’m starting to play catch up and pay attention.

What does Google Reader going away mean for those of us that read blogs? Well, if you read them like me, it doesn’t mean much. I haven’t opened my Google Reader in years, and I prefer to read blogs via Facebook update links, tweets, even Instagram feeds. Or even via my own blogroll, which actually needs to be updated. Speaking of blogrolls, remember how important they were back in the day? I would always check out bloggers blogrolls to see who they were reading, and if you made it on someone’s blogroll, it was like the ultimate seal of approval. You got all giddy inside and gave yourself a self-congratulatory high five. No? Am I the only that did that?

Well, at any rate, I personally don’t read a lot of blogs via an actual reader, but I do subscribe to my favorite blogs to show support. I prefer email subscriptions if they have that offered, or bloglovin. I’ve had a bloglovin account for as long as I can remember and For The Love Of has been on bloglovin since its beginning. I know there’s all sorts of back and forth, and internet battles going on about bloglovin vs. feedly, but I personally love the clean look of bloglovin, and from the beginning it’s sort of catered to the fashion/style niche. Either way, I’m a fan, and I’m sticking with it because I’m also a creature of habit and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

If you’d like to import all of your current blog reads into bloglovin, here’s a tutorial. It looks really easy.

Can I be honest, I don’t really know what it all means for us bloggers and readers leaving and stats disintegrating and all that stuff I probably should be concerned about. I don’t understand if I should stop asking people or directing people to subscribe via RSS feed or what. Do any of you know?

So for now, I thought I’d pop in to remind you lovely folks that I can be found via bloglovin‘

You can also subscribe via email by entering your email address in that box in the upper right hand corner.

And of course you can find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get updates as I post.

In addition, I also wanted to share a post I wrote for Disney Baby about feeding Hayden, after finding out he had dropped to the 20th percentile in weight, after being in the 50th-60th percentile since he was born. I panicked a little and made him a ton of new foods this past weekend, and turns out, he’s eating like a champ again. Anyhow, I posted 5 new recipes I’ve made him and he’s enjoyed eating, as well as some ideas for finger foods. He is the most excellent little self feeder and has got awesome fine motor skills already. Now if only is gross motor skills would catch up, as the little dude isn’t even close to crawling and he’s still not rolling much. There’s always something to worry about, even when your gut tells you there’s nothing to worry about.

Have a great weekend everyone.

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Patriotic Pinwheel Cookies Made With Royal Icing

June 18, 2013

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I’m taking the next few days off to be with my family and enjoy summer, so I thought I would leave you with one of my favorite tutorials that I pulled over from my old blog. I recreated a cookie that was on the cover of Martha Stewart magazine, skeptical I would be able to achieve similar results. I in fact did achieve great results and my faith in the Martha Stewart enterprise was restored, or strengthened, depending on how you look at it. I still love how they came out and think they’re just as timely today as they were two years ago. And oh my, look at how my children have grown! I hope you enjoy this little tutorial, and please let me know if you have any questions! I don’t even like royal icing cookies, yet I keep making them. I’m so weird. “Hey kids, let’s spend 2 hours making cookies that I’m not going to even eat!” “Hooray”, say the kids! They are way too sweet for my liking; as you may recall I much prefer a sweet & savory cookie like a flaky shortbread for instance. But really, I just can’t help it, they are so darned pretty and let’s be honest, impressive. Especially these patriotic pinwheel ones, claiming to be “easy” on the cover of this month’s Martha Stewart Living. I have to say, she didn’t lie, they are in fact easy. And oh the kids love them! Instant sugar high no doubt.

I posted a video tutorial on how to use royal icing back in February if you’d like to check it out. I was told it was a tad too long, but at any rate, I share some tricks I learned along the way to help you achieve a “perfect” consistency for royal icing. Once you’ve achieved the perfect consistency, a little practice at a steady hand and consistent pressure is just about all you need to achieve these pretty cookies. You start by outlining the cookie Then you just start flooding it in, using your tip to push the icing around a bit to help fill it in Add some sprinkles if you like, and enjoy. Royal icing takes about 10-15 minute to set, so you have to work a bit quickly, but you still have plenty of time to get the job done at a nice steady pace. To achieve the pinwheel effect like Martha’s cookies, simply place a dot of royal icing in the center of your cookie, and then 3 concentric circles surrounding it. Your icing needs to stay wet so immediately place your toothpick in the center of the dot and drag a STRAIGHT line from the center all the way out to the outer edge. Your icing needs to stay wet so immediately place your toothpick in the center of the dot and drag a STRAIGHT line from the center all the way out to the outer edge. The straight line is the part that was left out in the magazine. I was imagining I had to draw wiggly lines to get the curved effect, but nope, a straight line is all you need.

Here’s what a cookie looks like in the beginning of the process Drag your toothpick from the center all the way out Easy right? To get the other side of the wavy pinwheel effect, you start at the outer edge and then drag your toothpick towards the center like so: So you’re first dragging from the center out, and then from the out into the center And you just repeat drag out, drag in, all the way around the cookie And you end up with a pretty spectacular looking cookie! For the red and blue combo, you start with a blue dot and then alternate red and blue circles. Taylor’s cookie below has a wavy effect if you can tell. For that effect, as I was dragging out and in, I slightly curved the line to the right. So even though I may not enjoy these cookies very much, everyone else seems to love them so I’ll keep making them. 🙂 I’m thinking these would be so pretty in hot pinks and oranges for a girl’s birthday party don’t you think? Happy 4th Of July!!