This post will probably give you a little bit more of an insight into my failings as a mom, but that’s OK! If you’re human, you might just have the same failings and we can cheat our way through these things together.
Do you ever have one of those moments when you think you’re being a super fun mom, doing neat things with your kids, making treats, and generally being awesome? Like when you decide that you’re going to bake cookies with your kids even though you’re super exhausted and have a million other things to get done. You bake the cookies because you know it will make you feel accomplished and your kids will be thinking “Wow, what fantastic parenting I’m receiving right now. These are exactly the kinds of moments that I’m going to remember fondly when I look back on my childhood.” The cookies come out of the oven, you let them cool, pour the glass of milk and bring them to the table in a big triumphant Norman Rockwell kind of moment. You’ve done it! You’ve gone above and beyond! And then your daughter says to you “Mom, aren’t we going to at least decorate them?”
You’ve failed. The cookies aren’t enough. You need icing! You need it now! You don’t have any store bought icing and you really don’t want to go making a big mess of your kitchen again when you thought you were two seconds away from a relaxing cookie break.
Don’t worry. We’ve got this.
Grab a few ziplock/generic brand zipper style bags.
You’re going to have delicious icing in a just a few seconds and no mess. Zero!
Wasn’t that easy?
You can either make a whole lot of icing, or just a tiny bit for a few little dots and lines, whatever works for you.
You’ll need ziplock bags, large or small, (I find if you’re going to be really intense about the squishing, the name brand ones do tend to hold up better, but dollar store bags work in a pinch too), icing sugar, butter, vanilla, and food coloring.
No matter what amount of icing you decide to make, you’ll need about 1 part butter to 4 parts icing sugar, a splash of vanilla and a few drops of food coloring. So for example, I used about 1 teaspoon of butter, to 4 teaspoons of icing sugar to get these amounts.
If you find your icing is too runny, add a bit more icing sugar. If it’s too thick, add a bit of milk or vanilla. I have to tell you though, it’s pretty hard to mess up. Fact: Sugar and butter together in pretty much any combination are going to taste amazing.
When everything’s all squished up and combined, cut a little hole (or a bigger one) in the corner of your bags and have fun decorating!
I did rice krispie squares, just cause Kennedy asked me if I would make them more often and here’s the conversation that ensued when she got home from school that day.
Kennedy (upon spying the treats on the counter): What are those?
Me (triumphant mom, for real this time): Rice krispies! Didn’t you say you wanted me to make them for you more often?
Kennedy: Yeah, but why are they so magical?
Success!!
Do you want your kids to think you’re magical too? Get lazy and throw some frosting ingredients in a ziplock bag, then pat yourself on the back!
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.