Short Stories: Camera Cookies

Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods

Here at Etsy, we believe that the story behind an object is often just as fascinating as the object itself. Short Stories is our series dedicated to telling the tales behind extraordinary pieces found or created by Etsy sellers.

Today, Susana of manjar shares the details on some very photogenic sweets.

The story of the camera cookies started with my mother’s passion for baking. After 25 years as a successful lawyer, she discovered that baking was her life’s calling. Her eagerness made me want to try it, and I fell in love! As an architect, I have always loved designing and building models. Baking gave it a fun twist. Plus, you could actually eat the delicious results. I immediately decided I wanted to bake cookies in the shape of my favorite things.

I love photography, and I have to credit my photographer husband, who has surrounded me with amazing cameras and images. On his birthday, my mother baked a stunning mini-cake in the shape of his favorite camera, and I thought, wouldn’t it be great to make camera cookies? I gathered my favorite cameras and worked on my representation. Then I made the cookie cutters, and baked and decorated the cookies. My mother (who is amazing with details) gave them the final touches that make them so special. I started promoting them among our photographer friends and, after a unanimous vote, we launched our Etsy shop to make them available to the world.

We started selling the camera cookies from my tiny kitchen in New York. The first order took us two days to finish, but we were determined. Fortunately, the camera cookies went viral, so it forced us to learn how to make things faster without losing any details. We now have our own bakery and the camera cookies are our bestseller, but most importantly, they are the cookies closest to our hearts.

All photos by manjar.

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3 Featured Comments

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  • SimpleJoysPaperie

    Lana Manis from SimpleJoysPaperie says: Featured

    How creative! Your designs are so fun and whimsical! That flash bulb is terrific, too!

    248 days ago

  • aostudio9

    Adrienne from aostudio9 says: Featured

    I'm a huge toy camera user and collector and those mini Diana's look delish!

    248 days ago

  • marykay4

    Mary Kay Smith from MayzeeKJewelry says: Featured

    The colors are magnificent and the styles of cameras are classic! What a fun spin on cookies! The details are terrific- especially the polaroids! I remember sitting around and waiting for the photo to develop thinking that was the coolest thing I had ever seen! :) What fun!

    246 days ago