Sunset Housewarming Cookie

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When my brother was moving into his new house with his soon-to-be bride my mom asked me to make them a cookie for their small housewarming party. I knew that they were looking at beach themes and colors for the house and their laid back attitudes inspired this design.

I took a much more artistic approach to this design. In my 2D work in school I stick to a much freer looser look in my drawings and I decided to try and use that technique here to create the sunrise and the water with all the colors running together. I really like how the effect translates in the sunset and water reflection and gives a feeling of movement like that moment right before the sun disappears over the horizon when the last light spreads over the edge of the sky. A hammock hung between two palm trees and a bucket of cold beers complete the relaxing beach scene while the addition of the 'Home Sweet Home' title to a seemingly un-homey setting adds a bit of fun.

The sketchy feel of the cookie can be bit overwhelming so to break it up a bit I used the iridescent edible paint throughout the sand, on the beer bucket, and in the palm leaves to add some depth and highlight some specific areas. Without a defined border and the scene running off the edge of the cookie I think that the highlighting adds some more interest to the scene to allow it to continue over the edge and not need a boarder.

Pineapple Housewarming Cookie

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The pineapple is a symbol of welcome in some cultures, but all I knew when I was designing this cookie for my brother and his wife-to-be's housewarming party is that she absolutely LOVES pineapples and they pop up everywhere in the new house probably for that same reason.

I really wanted to focus on just the pineapple for this cookie since it was a quick one I made right before the party. So I decided that the texture of the pineapple was going to be the pop factor in the design. I used a simple star tip with the yellow icing to achieve that and then framed each section with the different greens to create a more layered and realistic look with real depth and texture. Since I had put so much detail into the body of the pineapple, the stem was a bit boring at first, but when I started adding the second green color and then swirling them together it really came together. A little white detailing added and the pineapple became the center of attention.

With the addition of the 'Welcome Home' title it all came together and was a hit for all the hungry family and friends who had worked all day cleaning and moving everything into the new house.