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Nicole Simeone
Frozen 2: The Cookie Cutters
Kids Party have you stumped? Want to build some cool ornaments that look like a snowman? Let's see what we can do about that...
Long before Frozen 2, Disney had a monopoly on the Princess market. I was the perfect age to appreciate the company’s first princess revival in 1989 when Ariel splashed onto the scene. My bedroom was decked from floor to ceiling with all things Little Mermaid. I had the whole bedspread and pillow set. But, I don’t think that compares to what’s been released to support Frozen and Frozen 2. Mel Brook’s gag about merchandising from Spaceballs comes to mind. Not really a gag anymore, is it?
Some of the merch has a variety of uses, while others don’t. I came across one such item thanks to the marvelous Facebook ads. Frozen 2 cookie cutters.
I think I can hear Alton Brown cringing from here. For the price of thirty dollars, you’ll be the proud owner of eight press and cut cutters, two couplers, and four piping tips. What you will not be the owner of is instruction on how you would have a snowball’s chance in hell decorating the cookies to look like the beloved characters.
I don’t see the point in spending all of that time decorating cookie after cookie when one bite will destroy all of that effort. The end result done by a practiced hand looks bomb, and I’d love to have those practiced hands. But, I would not be able to eat a single one of them once I was done. Nor could I watch anyone destroy my hours of toiling.
So why am I talking about this seemingly worthless to me product? Repurposing, that’s why.
The library I haunt holds a cupcake festival fundraiser each year. Interested participants can enter their cupcakes into a competition to be judged by attendees. I put entries into the Master Decorator and tasting categories each year. The cupcakes can be purchased afterward with the proceeds going to The Friends of the Library. Competition for all ages for a good cause.
This year I chose Frozen as my decorating theme. I had the hubris to think my fondant skills were strong enough to make cupcakes sized dolls and reindeer on time. One Saturday morning trial brought that delusion to a painful end. There is no photographic evidence of this failure, but trust me when I say you don’t need to see it.
What’s a girl to do? Enter that Facebook ad and a perfectly timed sale on WilliamsSonoma.com. I nabbed the cutters at a discount, and free shipping included. Yes, throwing money at a problem yet again.
I will be using fondant here because that’s what I need for the contest. However, salt dough can be used in conjunction with these cutters to make ornaments instead of fondant cupcake toppers.
Before I begin, I want to point out this is not for the faint at heart or the detailed oriented. Well, ok. It is for the detailed oriented, but not if you don’t have enough time to dedicate to this project. Making Frozen ornaments/cupcake toppers is a Saturday project where no one is going to bother you. I timed painting two Anna cuts, which definitely isn’t any speed record. Completing two Annas took me about two hours. Patience is a virtue. Unless you are just looking to amuse kids for a while. Then, just let them have at it. Even in the free for all version of this project, you’ll find some helpful tips below.
Things you will need for ornaments:
- Salt Dough/Clay Dough – There are a lot of recipes for this on the Interwebs. I believe in the
past I have used the method on Tips From A Typical Mom Blog - Frozen Cookie Cutters
- Paint
- Paintbrushes
- Paper Plate/Plastic Palettes
- A table covering that you don’t mind getting messy
- Paper Towels/Rags
- Water
Things you will need for fondant:
- Frozen Cookie Cutters
- Fondant
- Fondant Roller and Width Rings
- Fondant Mat
- Cornstarch & Crisco
- Gel Food Coloring
- Paintbrushes (only used for food)
- Paper plates/Plastic Palettes
- Paper Towels/Rags
- Water
One other thing that will be useful are pictures of the characters you are painting. The poses on these cutters were taken from photos released by Disney and are pretty easy to find. I searched for Anna Frozen 2. An example was about two images down. If you don’t want to keep your phone up that long, just use the photo on the cutter box.
To start, you’ll need fondant. I used two different shades of skin tone, one for Anna and Kristoff and the other for Sven and Elsa. For the Anna/Kristoff, I blended white together with light brown, and some natural pink fondant from Wilton’s Natural Mix Pack.
You can use gel coloring to get the same result. But whenever there is a chance to make a new color out of two previously mixed colors, I go that route to cut down on how stained my hands get.
As the color comes together, if it is coming out darker than you want, add more white to dull the pink and brown.
For Elsa and Sven, I worked with the same colors, just used a different ratio. There was far less brown in my mix. I only added a small amount to keep the pink from being the dominant color.
Once you have the colors thoroughly mixed in and to your liking, it’s time to roll out the fondant. I have my plastic roller at hand and fitted with the purple thickness band, which helps achieve an even thickness throughout the fondant being rolled out.
In the ingredients list, I had mentioned cornstarch and Crisco. During the color kneading process, the fondant can get dry or sticky depending. The cornstarch will help with the sticky problem. Crisco will rehydrate the fondant you’re working with if it gets a little too dry.
Next, place your cutter on the fondant and put pressure on the actual cutter to create the outside border. Like you would if you were making cookies. You don’t need to press too hard or too long on the detail lever. The imprint of the faces come out very defined with light to medium pressure.
There are always rough edges when I work with fondant, so after peeling away the excess, I tap around the outside edges to smooth out the imperfections.
To give the fondant a little time to dry up, I rolled out and cut all of the characters, setting each aside on a plate, so I don’t accidentally squish them. Then, I let them dry overnight.
Now, onto the trickier part. The painting. Here, I pulled out a bunch of my gel color bottles, water, and fine-tipped paintbrushes used only for baking. I also kept the box the cutters came in around for a reference image as I went along. A paper plate stood in for my painter’s palette, but if you have a plastic one, that probably works better.
For this post, I am going to use Anna as my model. For her, I needed the Sky Blue, Black, White, Burgundy, Rose Pink, Copper, and Golden Yellow gel colors. If you are following along with paint, you have a lot more options on the colors available. You’ll be able to purchase a Fuschia for her coat. And a Mustard Yellow for her tunic. Fondant fans, you’re going to have to mix them on the fly.
My advice here is to start small and then go big. I worked on the eyes and lips before anything else. First, I painted the whites of the eyes with a slim tipped brush. Then, I used a blend of the White and Sky Blue colors to create her irises.
While waiting for the eyes to dry, I mixed together Burgandy, White, and a touch of Rose Pink to create the color for her lips. Going back to the eyes, I painted in the pupils as well as the eyelash line with black. This allowed just enough time for the lip color to dry enough for me to insert a touch of white for her teeth. This may take a few coats to get a true white.
Moving down to her torso with the detail brush I used for the eyes and lips (cleaned of course), I added a little more white to the lip color mix to give color to the small broach. Then, with the same slim tipped brush (cleaned), I colored in the collar of her cloak, which in pictures is black.
Next, I mixed together Copper, Golden Yellow, and White to create the Mustard color for her tunic. Start around the edges of the broach and work your way outwards.
With the tunic drying, I moved on to her hair, which I switched over, for the most part, to a slightly larger tipped brush. For the finer details around her face, including her eyebrows, I went back to the fine-tipped brushes. I mixed together Copper and White with a touch of Golden Yellow to create her hair color.
After completing the hair, I made the mistake of looking at the still photo on my phone. Her tunic had darker highlights on it. So, I mixed up a darker Mustard Yellow and went back over the raised portion of the shirt. Not necessary by any means. I am just weird like that.
Finally, I finished off the character by painting her cape. I used Sky Blue, Burgundy, Rose Pink, and White to create the color. It’s not an exact match, but it was close enough.
After the gel coloring has dried, I went back with color dust to give her cheeks a flush of color. Not necessary…again, I am just weird.
Here are the colors mixed together to bring Elsa to life:
Sky Blue
White
Black
Burgundy
Rose Pink
Cornflower Blue (for her coat)
Golden Yellow
For Kristoff:
Black
Brown (mix a touch of Burgundy)
Red
Golden Yellow
White
For Sven:
Black
Brown (add a touch of Burgundy)
White