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Stamped Chalkboard Art Cookies

Written by Mike Tamplin • Dec 15, 2013

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Chalkboard art, and hand lettering in general, is so popular nowadays. With good reason, it just looks really cool and retro. I'm in awe every time I see an artist's hand-lettered work on chalkboard. Case in point: Arty McGoo's awesome chalkboard cookies. She has created one, after another, and after another example of this beautiful technique.

Now, I know possessing this incredible amount of artistic talent is hard to come by. However, I think I found a manageable way to get a similar effect with the use of rubber stamps.

Christmas hand-lettered rubber stamp from Paper Source

Because of its popularity, it is pretty easy to find rubber stamps that have the hand-lettered "look" at any local stamp store. I found this particular holiday rubber stamp at Paper Source. If you don't have a Paper Source, or a specialized rubber stamp store near you, I've seen hand-lettered stamps available at craft stores, like Michaels and Jo-ann Fabrics.

After finding a hand-lettered stamp that you think might work, here's how to create the effect of chalkboard art on cookies.

Stamped Chalkboard Art Cookies

Materials Needed

Americolor white food coloring
Vodka
A small container for the paint mixture
A small sponge (I used an unused makeup sponge left over from Halloween. A paper towel would work too.)
A tiny, food-only paintbrush. (I used a 10/0 spotter paintbrush. A liner brush would work great too.)
Rubber stamp
Plenty of black flooded cookies
Optional: Black construction paper

Decorating Process

1
Preparing the Cookies
Outline and flood your cookie of choice with black royal icing. For the shape of these cookies, I went with the small square frame cutter from KarensCookies.net. I made plenty of extra cookies in case there were stamping mistakes (which are sure to happen, so be prepared!).
Make sure to pop any bubbles in the icing to ensure a smooth, even, flat top surface when the icing dries. Let these cookies dry completely for 24 hours.

2
Preparing and applying the white mixture
The next day, once the cookies are completely dry, it is ready for stamping. Using just the Americolor white coloring alone, I found it was drying too quickly on the stamp before having a chance to stamp the "ink" on the cookie. I was able to prolong the dry time by mixing 1 Part vodka to 3 Parts white food coloring. Don't add too much vodka or the mixture will be too thin and runny.
Using a small sponge, or paper towel, apply the white mixture to the surface of the rubber stamp.

3
Practicing on Paper
This step is optional but highly recommended. To make sure you apply the correct stamping pressure on the cookie, practice on black paper first. Too much pressure will smoosh the stamp design (and could crack the royal icing on the cookie later). Too little,or uneven pressure won't transfer the design. Make a few attempts on paper until you are happy with the outcome. Establish some muscle memory before moving on to the cookies.

4
Stamping on Cookies
Once you think you got the right pressure from the paper practice, it's time to try it on a cookie. Apply the white "ink", center the stamp above the cookie, take a deep breath, and press down.

5
Correcting Small Mistakes
Stamping on cookies doesn't produce great results 100 percent of the time. However, even with some stamping mistakes, I was able to add missing details with a tiny paintbrush. If the stamp gives okay results, there should be enough indication where to hand paint the missing details with the white vodka mixture.
Unfortunately, there will be times a stamp just doesn't work when applying it to a cookie. See the cookie at the very left in the picture below? This is why it is important to make extra cookies for when mistakes happen. Overall, I think I came away with 75 percent decently stamped, paintbrush-corrected cookies.

As mentioned in the last post, these chalkboard art cookies were part of the platter of Rudolph cookies in my guest post at Sugarbelle's blog. To see how to make sleigh bell cookies, you have to head over to Sugarbelle's and check out her tutorial!

For more helpful hints on stamping on cookies (and chalkboard cookies), check out these links:

This post is linked up to these link parties.