How to Make Decorated Seashell Jar Cookies

The way I see it, as a parent, there are THREE nearly insurmountable tasks that you have to somehow see your way to the other side of with each and every one of your children. They are what I like to call "the parenting gauntlet of sadness and despair." You know, as opposed to "the parenting gauntlet of happiness and love" which basically involves cuddling and marshmallows. But that's not the one we are talking about here today. Don't distract me.

The three hardest things I've ever, ever done as a parent...the things that very nearly convinced me that joining a circus really was the way to go...

1. POTTY TRAINING
2. TEACHING THEM TO READ
3. TEACHING THEM TO PEDAL A BIKE

I mean, potty training by itself is enough to undo a person...for both child and parent. If you make it through the endless accidents and near-misses and the mountains of laundry you are afraid to touch...you should both get a pony.

And maybe teaching a child to read is super easy at your house. But for me...watching my sweet little angels trying (so hard and so sweet mind you) to put together 3 letters into a blended sound that is recognizable as the word CAT but taking more than 40 minutes straight to still NOT accomplish said task...I basically need a beach vacation every day of my life.

But BY FAR the most difficult task is teaching a child to pedal a bike. Not even riding and balancing a bike. I'm talking about the act of pushing the pedals FORWARD around and around in a continuous motion instead of pushing down and backwards on the pedals. I think I might have *actually* promised one of my children a pony if they would just keep going once they got started. (Not my finest parenting moment.) (But certainly not my worst either!)

You guys. I have faced every single one of these this spring. AND I'M STILL HERE!!! Okay, to be fair, I'm only 2 for 3 in "the parenting gauntlet of sadness and despair." (We're taking a little "break" on potty training.)

How to make decorated beach cookies -- tutorial

But I'm pretty sure I earned every second of getting to make these cookies!!! Christine of Christine's Molds contacted me a while ago asking if I wanted to try out some of her molds. I think it took me a whole .01 seconds to shout YES!!! I am OBSESSED with her molds!!

Christine's Molds is located in Canada, but they ship WORLDWIDE. She has all sorts of molds for literally EVERY occasion, decorating supplies (including those crazy European tips) and stencils. Her handmade molds are my very very favorites! They have perfect little details but are still soft enough that the fondant or chocolate releases easily without morphing into some unrecognizable shape. I used her starfish and seashell molds to make this jar of shells cookie. Want to make some?

How to make decorated beach and shell cookies -- tutorial

1. Although it make look like the first step is to stare at a blank cookie...the first step is actually to make some seashells with fondant. I used THIS STARFISH MOLD and THIS SEASHELL MOLD.
2. Outline and fill the lid of the jar with medium-consistency white icing and a #3 tip. Let it dry for at least 30 minutes.
3. Outline the jar portion of the cookie with light blue icing. Pipe a line to divide the jar from the sand and fill in the top of the jar. Grab your white icing again and pipe a big ol' dot for a handle on the jar lid. Let the icing dry for at least an hour.
4. Fill in the bottom part of the jar with sand colored icing and cover with a mix of brown sugar and white sugar.
5. While the icing is still wet, push some of your seashells into the sand. Put a #2 tip on the light blue icing and add glass details to the side and top of the jar.
6. If you want to, you can also paint the lid silver. I couldn't decide which one I liked more -- the white or the silver -- so I'm leaving this monumental decision up to you.