Learning how to accept that perfection takes a lot of PRACTICE!

I haven't posted this week because I've been working on projects for my grandmother's 80th birthday party.  (It's a secret!) Though, I feel like she knows.  It's hard to keep anything a real secret in my family.  We just all pretend like we don't know stuff.  There seem to be a never-ending list of things to get done.  I have been planning it for so long that the time kind of got away from me.   I need to come up with a schedule for writing blogs because I want to treat this like a serious thing and not like something that I only do when I have time.  

I had a wonderful Christmas!  How about you?  My brother gave me a tripod for my camera, so my goal for this year is to work on my photography.  I have always been interested in photography.  I even took a photography class in college.  I just don't love how my photos turn out.   Lighting is hard!  It's not just point and click.  It is most definitely a talent and you have to work hard to get it right. I have not mastered lighting in any way.  Please, excuse some of the photos I am going to post with this project.  I don't like them but I didn't have a chance to take them over.

I have several different projects going right now but I want to show you pictures of the decorations at the party so I am just going to show you the cookies I am making for the party.  I found a great recipe on pinterest.  I have never made cookies like this before.  I had a lot of drama over the cooking time.  I think they turned out okay.  They are not perfect!  This is not my career.  It's something I like to do to relieve stress.  This week I think I created more stress than I relieved.  

Probably, because I enjoy making things, but I have a difficult time showing them to other people.  I know people who make all kinds of things.  They sell them, they give them to other people.   They look great!   I am usually too self-conscious to actually show people the things I've made.  I also never know what to charge.  This is part of the reason I write this blog.  It makes me start new projects.  I am the world's worst at just buying the stuff and then never completing the project because it won't be perfect.  So, while I want them to be perfect.  I work hard on remembering that I do this for fun.  It takes 1000s of hours to perfect every skill. I want to be a photographer, an artist, work with paper, do designs on t-shirts, and bake.  That takes a lot of time.  I don't always have the discipline to practice, practice, practice.  

I am also going to just go ahead and tell you that I was so scared about messing up the icing that I bought it.  I will be more adventurous next time.  I will make the cookies and the icing but if I don't it won't be the end of the world.  It's all about trying something new.  You may not have that one thing that you just knock out of the park but if you are having fun and enjoying yourself, that is all that matters.  

The recipe says to roll the cookies out between two wooden dowels but you know I didn't read the recipe before I went to the store.  I just looked at the list of ingredients ,so I made do by using two cutting boards on either side of the rolling pin.

I had a lot of trouble with the baking time.  I always forget about cookies but I forgot about these, and they still didn't quite seem like they were done.  They look much the same after baking as they did before but my brother tasted them, and he said they tasted fine.  If you are not a fan of almond flavored sugar cookies, this is not the recipe for you, but he said they were good.

I got tired after I cut out and baked all the cookies, with putting them in the freezer and trying to check the time.  I waited a day or two before I decorated them.

When I wrote the first part of this post I had baked the cookies, but I had not iced them yet.  I'm just telling you right now; if I had not already started this post about these cookies, I would have thrown them in the garbage.  The whole thing!  I had this beautiful design that I wanted to try to recreate.  That was an absolute disaster!   Making the cookies myself was never about: Oh, I can make those cheaper! I hate when people say that, because I found out a long time ago that is never true.  People charge for these kinds of things what they are worth.  I just wanted to see if I could do them.  Well, that's a negative, but I persisted because that's what I want this blog to be about, trying new things. Just because it's not perfect doesn't mean you should just give up.  I'm also trying to eat healthier, so I didn't even get to taste a cookie.  I made my brother try them.   When the icing design didn't work, I just thinned out the icing, dipped the cookies in and sprayed them with that edible gold icing spray.  They turned out.  They are not perfect, but they're not awful, and I finished the project.  That's one more step toward my goal for this year of being less obsessed with perfection and trying my best!  People are so hard on themselves.  You have to work hard to perfect a skill, but you have to start somewhere.  What is that saying about you fail at 100% of the things you don't try!  
 

Here is the evidence that the icing was a disaster.  They were going to be black, pink, and white with some gold accent.  First, I couldn't find the pink food coloring.  Good news I found it just as soon as I was finished icing the cookies.  Then the black just seemed too thin. Like I said a disaster!   

This was when I decided just to dip the cookies in the icing.  It went everywhere!  As you can see, I don't have a wire rack to put them on so I had to transfer them to another piece of aluminum foil because I forgot I didn't have any parchment paper.  Well, I did, but it was lost in my craft supplies.  You should notice a trend in my organization skills.  That's my next goal!

They are starting to look okay here, but I had the edible gold spray so I thought I would try that and see if it worked.

They look okay!  They are not perfect, but it was a first try.  I will try again.  I need to find a class because the icing is difficult.  I think it was part of the problem.  Next time I want cookies for an occasion, I think, I will just call the professionals, but I had fun, and I will definitely try again!  Now, if I can juts get everything done for this party!  Wish me luck?!