Bridal Buzz

Margaux Anbouba, a wannabe do-it-yourself expert, has strapped on her apron and plugged in the hot glue gun. While she admits that she’s a DIY fan, she isn’t claiming her crafts are Martha Stewart worthy. So, every other Wednesday, she’s whipping up a DIY party favor so easy that she was able to do it all by herself! If you’re attempting a few DIY elements to your wedding (or at least considering it), check back to see her final products. If she can do it, so can you!

Well, this project reiterates the “wannabe” in the above intro. When I saw images of chocolate covered fortune cookies online, I was instantly inspired. This morning I woke up at 4 am with only one thing on my mind – this project. By 7 I was up and ready to conquer the Chinese food delight. I originally attempted to make these fortune cookies from scratch, but after an unfortunate series of fails, I knew I had to take this project to a place I usually try to avoid: a project similar to those seen on Sandra Lee’s cooking show, Semi-Homemade. Luckily, this took my DIY from simple to simpler by using pre-made cookies, which makes it a great customizable wedding favor option. These party favors were so inexpensive, and easy to make, that it’s hard to calculate out an exact price per cookie. Sounds good, right? Check out the details after the jump.

I started out this morning well intentioned – the recipe for fortune cookies looked simple enough. False. Very False. While the assembly and baking of the cookies was easy, it was the folding motion to create the recognizable fortune cookie shape that was a challenge. After eating ten misshapen fortune cookies (ahem, breakfast), I felt as if there had been enough failures for one day and resorted to “Plan B,” which can also be referred to as “Steal Fortune Cookies from Pei Wei.” So, obviously, I wandered into Pei Wei, trying to look casual, and quickly stuffed my pockets with as many cookies as they could hold. While I’m aware that these cookies are already stuffed with (not very good) fortunes, I figured out a trick that will let you reopen these cookies so you can replace the fortune with one of your own.

What you need:
- Fortune Cookies – either homemade (good luck with that) or pre-made – free if you’re okay with smuggling them out of your local Asian eatery
- Chocolate chips or colored candy melts – $0.99 a bag
- A microwave and double broiler (double broiler optional)
- Edible flower candies from Fuzziwig’s Candy Factory – $3.45 for about 1/2 a pound
- Paper cut to fortune size with personalized message on it
- Cupcake tin

1. If you are planning on making your cookies from scratch, may the wedding force with you, and check out this link for instructions. The rest of this tutorial will be for those of us who are craft-challenged or choose to use pre-made fortune cookies.
2. Print out your personalized messages for your guests to enjoy when they break open your adorable wedding favor.
3. Unwrap your cookies from their plastic wrappers. One by one, wrap a cookie in a damp (not soaking) paper towel. Microwave for about 20 seconds, until the cookie is malleable.
4. Unwrap the cookie from the paper towel and gently open. Quickly replace the fortune and refold the cookie to its original shape. Place the cookie within a canister in the cupcake tin to keep it shaped until it has cooled.
5. Once you have replaced all the fortunes in your cookies and they have cooled, melt the chocolate chips or candy melts (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, but candy melts like these from Michael’s can be a great way to add color to your favors) in either the microwave or double broiler. Be careful not to scorch it!
6. Dip the open edges of your fortune cookie in the chocolate. Have fun embellishing with candy flower, sprinkles, or frosting to match your bridal colors or theme!