Project Al Fresco: Live Painting Cookies for a Baby Shower
The Ask
Setting up for an afternoon of live painting cookies. Photo by @photosbymaxi.gallery
Let me set the scene. It was a sunny summer afternoon with a gentle breeze blowing through the trees. The backyard was filled with tables draped in linen and floral arrangements at every turn.
A gelato cart to my left and a drinks station to my right. Guests trickling in down the cascading wooden steps.
There couldn’t be a more perfect environment for an afternoon of live painting cookies.
Behind the Scenes
A client reached out asking if I was available to live paint 4 dozen cookies for their baby shower in July. The theme was “Here Comes the Son” and the colors were yellow and blue.
We exchanged a few emails discussing which floral designs they preferred and I got to work behind the scenes prepping for an afternoon of live painting.
Floral Design Reference Sheet for live painting cookies. Photo by @photosbymaxi.gallery
I narrowed the design selection to down to 12 flowers. Once I knew exactly which flowers I was going to be live painting, I created reference sheet for myself in the colors I would paint the flowers.
The shower started & cookie painting commenced. Photo by @photosbymaxi.gallery
Having a reference sheet meant I knew what order I would paint flowers in to keep an equal amount of yellow and blue flowers being set out for guests while ensuring the designs were varied.
Because I was contracted to live paint for a few hours, I had to paint some of the cookies ordered ahead of time to ensure all the cookies ordered would get painted.
The benefit of having some cookies pre-painted is that as soon as the guests arrive, they already have cookies available to them.
Bonus: When some cookies are painted ahead of time, the cookie table display looks gorgeous from the start.
The strategy for live painting cookies is definitely different than painting my regular orders.
For regular orders, I paint all the petals of one color and then go back to do all the stems and leaves. This allows me to paint faster and work on 9+ cookies at a time.
For live painting, the priority is getting completed cookies out for guests. So my strategy was to complete 2-3 cookies at a time, which was slower for me but a better experience for guests.
The first few guests to hover around my table were elementary aged girls. So I talked them through step by step how to paint a daisy while I painted one.
As more guests arrived, I had the best time interacting with them while I painted. It was so lovely seeing guests move from station to station with excitement at every stop.
As a cookie artist, I’m often not present during events - live painting is the exception!
Live Cookie Painting; content captured by @cookicaseymedia
The Delivery
Because this was a live painting event, the delivery was painting all the cookies by the end of my contracted time. Live painting is interesting because with an audience watching you never know if you’ll paint faster or slower, but at this event, the timing worked out perfectly.
All of the cookies were painted at the end of the contracted time and cookies were left out for guests to enjoy for the remainder of the baby shower.
The Results
The soon-to-be parents were thrilled with the shower and their guests enjoyed the experience!
My favorite guest interaction was having a guest bring a friend to my table to show her my live painting while she explained, “They’re almost too pretty to eat…but then it’s so good to eat!”
“Your live cookie painting was absolutely beautiful, and the cookies turned out even more stunning than I imagined. They were so aesthetic and fit the theme perfectly—everyone was so impressed watching you paint them and they were so yummy!!”
The sweetest email received from the client the day after. Photo by @photosbymaxi.gallery
Let’s Create Something Beautiful Together
If you’ve got a launch, event, or idea that deserves something a little extra special, I’d love to dream it up with you.
Fill out my inquiry form and let’s make something unforgettable
