After seeing all of the amazing entries submitted for our Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #39, I must say that our mission of turning Cookie Connection into "Food" Connection was a success! You managed to create some incredibly realistic looking "food" cookies, and I am...
Judging by the number of entries we had for this Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge, I would say that many of you spent more time in your kitchens than at the beach this summer! We had a whopping 55 (!!!!) entries for this challenge...
During these lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, I usually like to do a longer running and more relaxed challenge. And after our last 3-D cookie challenge, Practice Bakes Perfect #34, I think we could all use a bit of a breather, no?! So, for this challenge, I would like to...
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...
I remember many years ago when my kids were “cute”. We’d walk to school on the first day holding hands, their sweet little cherub faces glowing with the anticipation of a new school year. Now in high school...
With temperatures consistently topping 90°F, not just back in St. Louis, but also on my cookie trip to Jakarta this week, I must say I am not much in the mood for turning on ovens or generating any unnecessary body heat...
May first was Mothers' Day here in Spain. In our home, it is a very special day, and so, each year, my brother and I thank our mom for all she's done with a Mothers' Day gift that surprises her.
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!
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...
Couldn't make it to CookieCon this year? I know, I know, I too would have been sorely disappointed if in the same boat . . . But chin up! There's no reason to cry over dropped cookies (cookier-speak for "spilled milk")! I've got something...
I would like to start by saying thank you. I was nervous about my first post, but you guys gave it an overwhelmingly positive response. For that, I thank you. And because of that overwhelmingly positive response, I wrote up a tutorial to answer the...
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...
I think it's safe to say that I'm an anomaly among cookiers in that I do 99-percent of my decorating with a parchment pastry cone - aka a cornet. No squeeze bottles or disposable plastics bags for me - ever! And only on rare occasion, when I need...
Hello and welcome to the recap of Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #50! I must admit that this challenge was by far one of my favorites, as it gave everyone a chance to...
My tutorial for this month is focused on honing piping skills: basketweave, rose buds, and leaves, in particular. All of these things just require practice - and sometimes...
A couple of years ago my childhood friend decided she’d had enough of the Silicon Valley rat race. She packed up her family and...
Hi, all! Another update on some site changes . . . As you hopefully know by now, our last site upgrade was the Reactions Release, which, about two months ago, replaced our liking feature for clips, blog posts, and other content with many, many more options for reacting. I love the...
Seeing as this is my last Spotlight before Christmas (more on the Cookie Connection holiday schedule below), I'm just going to say this now in case I miss you on the 25th: MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! May you have a...
Most of my cookie projects are inspired by my memories, and so is this one, inspired as it is by some beach huts I saw in La Mer, Dubai (UAE), a beachfront with restaurants, shops, activities for children, and more. It was...
I love to take inspiration for my cookie designs from nature. There’s an imperfect quality to organic objects that I find very forgiving; things don’t have to be perfectly straight, smooth, or symmetrical. So I try 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...
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...
Fall is in the air, it seems . . . everywhere except here. Around this time of year, I start dreaming of cozy sweaters and steamy drinks, but the season is slow to take hold in California...
Every Christmas, for over ten years, decorating the tree at home has been impossible for me. The reason is called Nero, my beautiful, fluffy, and fat, but curious and naughty cat...
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.
Happy holidays! Hopefully, by now, you have cranked out your last gingerbread man, assembled your last poinsettia cookie platter, and are ready to have some REAL cookie fun! But, first things first...
Hi, everyone! Boy, do I have exciting news! Remember how I told you that Cookie Connection is getting revamped with a new responsive web design. Well, the time is nearly here for the big reveal of our new site!
In this challenge , we asked you guys to cookie a theme onto a terribly random set of cookie shapes: a gnome, a pear, a skull, a rectangle, and a fleur de lis. I thought for sure you'd either be bored or stumped. Boy, was I wrong. Each and every one...
I made these thank you cookies for the "Giving the Gift of Thank You" project with Anita from Sweet Hope Cookies - a wonderful cause of which I was so proud to be a part. If you’d like to read more about the project, which supports those living...
[EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm thrilled to announce the addition of another top-flight decorator to our team of contributors - the fabulously talented Lucy Samuels of UK-based Honeycat Cookies . Every other month, Lucy will be pushing your (and possibly her!) creative boundaries with an innovative cookie design and technique tutorial. For her debut post below, she explores an interesting twist on the wet-on-wet technique, which, as you'll soon see, is a great way to get some relief (so to speak)...
While contemplating paths in the cookie world, a Cookie Connection member recently commented in one of our forums about the seemingly endless choices for cookie expression. Should she blog? Expand her for-profit cookie business? Teach classes?...
How many of you have found yourself at one time or another plastered to the computer, feverishly monitoring your Facebook page with the hope that your latest cookie post would send your fan count soaring? Or maybe the better question is: how...
In my last tutorial, I lauded rice paper as an incredibly versatile medium and listed off some of the different ways I've put it to use. Here, I have yet another example for you. This jellyfish design plays to...
The fruit tart is an iconic summer dessert. A barely sweet, buttery crust filled with silky smooth pastry cream and topped with an abundance of perfectly ripe berries - it’s everything I want on a hot summer’s day (or any day really). This miniature version is...
Hello, fellow cookiers from around the world! As mentioned at the start of this challenge, one of the most amazing things about Cookie Connection is that it allows us the wonderful opportunity to connect with cookiers from across the globe. It is here that you...
Hi, all! Happy fall! We're in that inexplicably odd time zone where people tend to jump from Halloween cookies right into Christmas ones, forgetting about that wonderful Thanksgiving holiday that falls in between! Fortunately for us...
Fall and its vibrant colors are a joy for the heart and a great source of inspiration to me. Mums, pumpkins, and wagons surely have been my favorite things to “cookie” in past years...
Summer may be coming to a close, but it continues to live on through the stunning array of floral masterpieces submitted for this challenge. From the traditional to the unexpected, our entries showed that...
When I used to sell my cookies, practicality was my worst enemy. It was an infuriating little voice in my head whispering sad truths: “too fragile”, “ too big”, “too sticky”. Every design had to live in a little bag without risk of breaking, smudging, or becoming stale on its path to the customer’s event. Now...
When my kids were little, they loved advent calendars, especially ones with hidden chocolates. They’d start hounding me to buy them in the beginning of October, long before I wanted to think about the winter holiday frenzy. I assumed it was the (subpar) chocolate that appealed to them. But...
We're still three weeks away from trick-or-treaters descending on Webster Groves (my little Midwest suburb), and only a few of my neighbors' homes have taken on their usual spooky garb for Halloween, but you Cookie Connection cookiers are no slackers...
Just a few days ago, I had the pleasure of touring Stencil Ease, the country's largest manufacturer of household and industrial stencils. Conveniently for me, it's located in Old Saybrook, Connecticut which is mere minutes from my family homestead in Guilford...
Welcome to the latest Practice Bakes Perfect challenge! This time around we are going to work on a specific, and very versatile and useful technique - stenciling. And, I must confess, this challenge is challenging for ME!
As I said on our Contributors page, it takes a small community to keep a large community like Cookie Connection going . . . but what I really should have said is: it takes a small (and ever-growing) community of passionate, talented, and tireless volunteers to keep it going!
Okay, Halloween has now passed. Thanksgiving turkey preparations are about to get underway in the US. Christmas sweets and decorations are being set out in stores, and the smell of gingerbread is in the air! This can mean only one thing...
Let’s wrap up this texture challenge so that we can all start brainstorming the " frankencookie" challenge !! I don’t know about you, but I love a good frankencookie . . . First of all, thank you so much to Rebecca for allowing me to play...
Easter may be a bit later than usual this year, but that's given me plenty of time to come up with a new design to share with you. I'm particularly fond of these little fellows. They're such solemn owls, with an important job of caring for those eggs,...
Thank you for this opportunity to share a fun Christmas gingerbread collaboration project. For me, it started when I found the cookie community, nearly a year ago now, and just fell in love! I loved the art, the clear camaraderie of everyone blogging...
My dear cookie friends, I was asked about the heavy horse cookie that I posted here a few days ago: http://cookieconnection.juliau...com/clip/heavy-horse . So here it is again . . . in more detail for you. ...
Welcome to our second Cookier Close-up of the summer. You're in for a treat! Every cookier puts her/his own distinctive mark on the cookies s/he creates - that’s part of what makes this cookie decorating community so darn appealing! But...
