Yes, it's your lucky day. I've finally got the site's first official giveaway ready for any and all interested takers! I'm calling this one The Great Spring Summer Cleaning Giveaway, because I had every intention of doing it in the spring,...
Spring means different things to different people. For some, it's the change in temperature. For others, it's the...
Ready for it?! The complete set of rules and theme description for the third virtual edition of Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ are here, which means you can safely start planning and even making your entries! And, since the competition is online, anyone (13 years of age or older) anywhere in the world can enter!...
In this edition of Toolbox Talk, I'm zooming in on another ingredient that can mystify cookiers outside of the United States (US): corn syrup. It is sometimes listed in royal icing recipes, but it is not available all over the world...
It's hard to pinpoint the exact birthday of this (my beloved) site. It launched "softly" into cyberspace in Spring 2013 with different people getting introduced to it at various stages of development. About a month before I announced its birth...
Ah, summer. When my kids were in grade school, those first few weeks of summer vacation were like paradise. Sleeping in, staying up late, slumber parties, and lazy days - summer was everything they thought they wanted. As the days passed, however, they’d always reach a point when...
Hello, cookie competitors and those thinking about entering the 3rd virtual edition of Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™! Now’s the time to get all your questions about competition rules and theme answered! And to...
A few months ago, I made a water lily pond cookie set inspired by a couple of real ponds that I saw during a trip. One pond had pink flowers, and the other pond had white ones. That set was my...
Foregoing fancy meals or pulling decorating all-nighters in order to scratch together the change for CookieCon ? Hoping you'll win the lottery so you won't have to go another year without meeting your online cookie friends? Well, hope no...
What makes the difference between a cookie aficionado and a cookiepreneur? Profit! Remember we are talking business here, and the bottom line is the bottom line. I am going to dive right into this two-part series. Part I, Creating a Successful...
Hi, everyone! Here I am with the recap of Watch-Learn-Create Challenge #56 featuring Noriko Forster, aka mintlemonade (cookie crumbs). In her kickoff video, Noriko showcased how to create three types of...
Congrats to this week's honorees! Most are still-high-trending Easter cookies, though a smattering of springtime and Mother's Day-themed cookies also registers among the hot list. Special kudos to...
I had always intended to do a tutorial on my Halloween spiders for you all, but I just didn't fancy repeating the same cookies. So I set to thinking how I could change things a bit, and do something different. Well, for a start, I wanted to have a bit...
Cold weather got you down? Well, I'm about to warm you up with a wonderfully cheerful giveaway brought to you by the talented illustrator Claudine Hellmuth !* Thank you, Claudine! If you haven't yet had the pleasure of "meeting" Claudine's...
Hi, everyone! This month, we’ll be getting to know our May 2020 featured site artist Icingsugarkeks, aka Gabi, a whole lot better! Hurrah! Gabi also happened to be the brainchild and graphic designer behind our current June site art. Gabi would prefer...
There is something about painting on a cookie that I can't resist. People say it's a great stress release and outlet for self-expression and creativity. For me, painting is not only a very accessible and enjoyable...
When I was a kid, one of my father’s colleagues, Mr. Oshiro, introduced me to origami, the Japanese art of paper folding. Several weeks later, our local summer vacation program offered an origami course for children. That was it - I was lost.
This year's 3-D Christmas tree cookie was inspired by a project that my kids made in elementary school: a Christmas tree composed of stacked cardboard tubes (like those inside rolls of paper towels), all stapled together. Here, I made thick cookie rings and baked them close together so they would fuse into a sturdy structure. I then...
This month, I’m interviewing our May site artist, someone many of you have come to know and love through your involvement in her bimonthly Practice Bakes Perfect challenges. Yes, it’s none other than the woman who works hard to push you to new cookie decorating heights...
The first time I heard about shortening was when an American colleague couldn't find it for a recipe she planned to make for Thanksgiving dinner. When she served sweet potatoes covered with melted marshmallows, I wasn't immediately...
This project is halfway between a cookie platter and a 3-D cookie project. It is once again intended to be a treat to share with friends, with the 3-D mug offering a new and different way to arrange and serve cookies...
Valentine's Day is just around the corner and what better opportunity to talk about love? In this case, love for a cookie decorating technique: the crackle effect!
It’s almost December, and after so many years of sharing tutorials on Julia M. Usher's Cookie Connection, I declare my November/December 3-D Christmas tree cookie tutorial a tradition. This year's tree...
Even though I am now living in Thailand where it is currently 85°F (29°C), I haven't forgotten the cold of winter, which many of you are now experiencing. So, I thought, what better way to get cozy than with felt warmers on hot cocoa (cookie) mugs?!...
People ask me all the time about the lettering and painting on my cookies. I use a combination of royal icing effects and colors, and handpainted details. One of the most important things to me when I'm painting my cookies is my palette. I like...
Hi, everyone ! Today we travel virtually all the way to Tokyo, Japan to meet Noriko Forster aka mintlemonade (cookie crumbs), the featured guest of this Watch-Learn-Create Challenge #56. Noriko is best known in Japan as...
Hello, my intrepid cookie peeps! Welcome to Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #33. This challenge comes to you thanks to a suggestion by the winner of our last Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge - Talia! Inspired by Sonja Galmad's entry to Challenge #32, Talia suggested that we...
Next up in our site artists series is Marie Elgaard of Lille Kage Hus in Randers, Denmark. Marie, as you may recall, won top honors in Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #13 for the banner and backdrop she designed for the month of February, which are now beautifying our site.
Because I so much liked using the wet-on-wet technique to make the sunflower in my last tutorial, I decided to use the same technique to make a poppy this month. Poppies are wild; their stalks are irregular; and their petals are always messy. In other words, they're ideal...
Spring is in the air! Can you feel it? Flowers and trees are coming to life again, and everywhere you look the colors are changing from brown to bright green...
Ooh, I love giveaways, and there's nothing better than one that comes close to Christmas time! I'm not sure I could ever part with the contents of this giveaway if I were to win, but they sure would make wonderful Christmas gifts for anyone who loves...
While creating last month’s bamboo tutorial, I stumbled upon the idea of painting wafer paper with royal icing. This month, I was eager to explore the idea a little further...
I like sunflowers. I remember, as a little kid, asking my parents to "kidnap" a huge sunflower that I had seen for a while towering strong, wild, and lonely along a road near a sunflower field. They finally said "yes", so we transplanted the sunflower in a large vase to our terrace, and I took care of it...
Hi, everyone! Thanks so much for the brief reprieve from the Spotlight over the last two weekends. Having a week off did me a world of good! I can finally think clearly enough to resume my cookie work! I sincerely hope you...
Say hello to our new site sponsor, Mama & Madison , maker of lovely custom aprons with a definitive retro flair! They're perfect for CookieCon 's Blinged Out Apron Contest or milling about CookieCon and other baking events in style. Heck, they're even great for those stay-at-home decorating days when your sweats are taking a few much-needed cycles through the wash! As our luck would have it, Tracie Esposito, owner and chief apron-maker of Mama & Madison, has very...
Woo hoo! That's right, registration for the third virtual edition of Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ opened on March 30 at 5 pm CDT! While the complete set of rules and theme description for the competition were announced in mid-February...
I don’t know about you, but I have faced many challenges in my lifetime, the biggest of which knocked me down so hard I thought I would never survive. Oddly enough, it was through that challenge that I found my true calling and built a small...
Well no one's ordered any autumn cookies from me this year, and I do love a collection of pumpkins and gourds. I always have a few in the window where I work. I particularly love the quirkily shaped, knobbly gourds, both beautiful and funny! Though...
My parents recently moved, and while I was packing some of their boxes, an old Fathers' Day card, made by myself about 40 years ago, popped out from a drawer. I remember drawing that card at my elementary school like it was yesterday...
This post is all about my introduction to meringue powder, one of the subjects that initially spurred the idea for this Toolbox Talk column. Questions about meringue powder come up regularly on Cookie Connection, as there seem to be many differences between brands...
This month, I have a quick and easy 3-D basket cookie suitable for many occasions, including Easter, May Day, Mother's Day, weddings, and more! The basket is contoured and...
I love lanterns, their warm light, and the ambiance they create in every season, both inside and outside the house. And so, for this tutorial, I decided to create a 3-D cookie version...
Well, hello, sweet peeps! I have a great challenge in store for you this time. Our subject is lace, and with so many "lacy" holidays coming up - Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter - I am looking forward to...
Fellow cookiepreneurs, the holidays are upon us, and I hope this month’s post finds you in high spirits and looking forward to the coming days. Before I begin, I wanted to share that I recently received feedback that some of you would be...
With Mothers' Day just around the corner here in the US, it seems only fitting to highlight the top-trenders in this clip category tonight! And because we all know moms everywhere...
The sun is shining; the birds are singing; it’s a warm, wonderful spring that's quickly turning into summer. It's a time for new beginnings! I’ve missed all things cookie while I’ve been away, and so it’s with great pleasure that I...
When I first started decorating cookies two years ago, one of the difficulties I encountered was putting together a satisfying set of cookies with the harmony of shapes and colors that I admired in the sets of veteran cookiers. It was hard...
The initial idea for this project came while sketching Christmas trees on paper. The triangular shapes soon became a pyramid, which reminded me of the playing card towers I used to build as a child...
Creating dimensional royal icing designs on my cookies is one of my favourite techniques. I especially love the more complex designs that make cookies a thrilling challenge.
Well, I've got a bit of exciting news - for me and for you! Admittedly, this announcement feels a little anticlimactic, as I've been privy to this information for close to a year. Around about January, my book Cookie Swap , first published in 2009,...
