Baby reveal board

 I am helping my daughter with a baby reveal party she is throwing for a friend. I saw this adorable idea and wanted to give it a spin of my own. I used a white cork board and cut the tree and stork/baby silhouette from black poster board. Then I added the beautiful saying at the top from wall sticker. I included the date and Baby's last name The guests that attend will have a pink and blue stamp pad to dip their finger into. They will put their guess, pink for a girl and blue for a boy, with their fingerprint on the board near the tree. The fingerprints will become the LEAVES! The Baby's Mom and Dad will have this to take home as a memory piece and also to tease the guests in the future about their guess! :) I will share the board again after the fingerprints are added.

The board before the extras were added on.

Bacon look alike Sugar Cookies!

Bacon Cookies

 Here we go! Looking at these three balls of dough you would never think BACON, would ya? A sweet birthday treat for a wonderful friend of Amber's! You make a sugar cookie (cut out dough).

 Then you color the three balls. One light yellow/brown, the next, pinkish red like hamburger, and the final one a dark deep red/brown. *Note to self. Next round, the yellow ball should be the biggest, the pinkish red the smallest and the deep red the second biggest.

 The deep red goes on the bottom. Make hills and valleys in the dough. Then add the other dough in between pushing down and end with mainly yellow. Do odd forms, as bacon is odd. We had a bit too much pink.

 Then cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

 Prep some dowels to fit your baking sheet as they will make the curves in your bacon. :) Parchment paper must be used to help them not to stick.

 Then we cut off the rough edge and begin slicing the bacon strips. *Note to self, next time a bit thinner slicers. Also, the dough has to warm up a bit to get them to drape over the dowels. If they crack, use your warm fingers to press them together well. The dough needs to be cold to cut, but left to warm a touch to form to the dowels.

 Baking time is almost doubled,but watch them carefully. My normal baking would have been 14 minutes, but these needed nearly 30.

 Let cool completely before removing from the sheet. Pull gently to get the release and then make a mixture of meringue powder and a teeny bit of water, and paint the edges and sprinkle with black sugar. This is the final detail to make them feel more like bacon! :)

 They came out so fun!!! I love the idea and no frosting involved!

 Make a catchy tag to show the person you are giving them to that you love them! :) They won't believe they are cookies!

Try this with your favorite sugar cookie recipe. Or use mine.
Sugar cookie recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1¼ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 3 cups of flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and mix well combined.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined.
3. Roll three balls and add the food colors. Make your bacon designed patty and then Chill 30 minutes.
4. Cut dough into bacon strips and transfer to a baking sheet when warm enough to mold over the dowels. Be sure to pinch together the dough if it looks to be breaking over the dowels. Bake at 350 degrees for nearly 25-30 minutes watching carefully. 
5. Paint with a mixture of meringue powder and a smidge of water onto the edges and sprinkle with black sugar. Viola, perfectly fun bacon cookies that will impress and cause a giggle for the receiver for sure!