I wish I could drum up some clever and catchy verbiage to properly introduce this week's top cookie art (because it is truly astounding), but Australian jet lag seems to still have the best of me. So rather than drone on with words that are likely to...
My husband’s birthday is coming up, and I know exactly what he wants. He’d love for us to take scuba diving lessons together. I can understand the appeal. Who doesn’t enjoy underwater landscapes and interesting sea creatures? There’s only one problem...
With your mom's big day only a week away, there's no time like the present to start working on her gift! And what mom wouldn't absolutely adore a present that's both beautiful and edible (and handcrafted with every bit of your heart and soul, of course)?!...
I know that I often tell you guys that I want you to think "outside the box" when it comes to participating in these challenges. But this time around, I have a bit of a twist. I want you to think inside the box. In fact...
I thought that cute puppy might get your attention! Now that you're here... As you are undoubtedly aware by now, last year the EU passed a strong set of guidelines aimed at protecting individual data privacy rights. These guidelines are called General Data Protection Regulation (aka GDPR)...
Has everybody seen the latest Cookie Connection tutorial by @Aproned Artist? In it, she shows you, step-by-step-by-tiny step, how to create this spectacular Mother's Day "Breakfast in Bed" cookie...
It's always a bittersweet time here on Cookie Connection when contributors come and go. A departure usually signals that someone is moving onto bigger and better things (which is GREAT), but...
A second week of special Saturday Spotlights! And this one couldn't be more special, as it's our big 2017 Cookiers' Choice Awards winner reveal! (Okay, so it's Sunday now, but who's keeping track?!)...
Oooh! I've got a super special Saturday Spotlight for y'all this week! For the last month or so, the cookie community has been busy nominating those cookiers who they believe are most deserving of our site's biggest honors, bestowed in our annual Cookiers' Choice Awards...
Phew! Time never stands still in cookie decorating land! With the New Year now squarely behind us (for all of five days), you folks have moved full speed ahead into Valentine's Day...
First off, please bear with me . . . I've had perhaps more champagne than I should have had before writing this post. But, hey, I'm entitled . . . it's my 22nd wedding anniversary after all...
As summer turns to fall (or winter to spring for those of you Down Under), you can definitely feel that change is in the air. Change was also all over Cookie Connection these past several weeks, in the form of...
Yay, I can safely say we've left summer and launched the best time of year! There's now a distinct crispness to the morning air; fading flowers are being replaced with glimpses of fiery colors on neighboring trees; and I'm already planning my annual family Thanksgiving gathering up in Maine...
After two weekends off from the Spotlight (thanks for your patience with my absence, BTW), I have little choice but to hop-skip-and-jump from the last holiday directly onto Mothers' Day! Once again, in what seemed like the blink of an eye...
I’ve been loving our October site art, haven’t you? The colors and textures are so perfectly evocative of fall...
I can’t believe that Halloween is already creeping closer! Where has summer gone? Well, actually it is right outside my window: bright sunshine and clear blue sky. But that doesn’t change that fall is fast approaching, with its long, dark evenings...
What a delight it was to return from vacation - nearly two weeks without a cookie in sight - to discover the many magnificent creations posted here on Cookie Connection in that short time!
Well, after a brief nod to St. Paddy's day a couple of weeks ago, you all pretty much hippity-hopped right on over to Easter, as confirmed by the abundance of eggs and bunnies hitting our hot list* this week.
You probably know her from her wonderfully detailed puzzle cookies, or her Blythe girls with their mesmerizing eyes . . . or her meticulously painted matryoshka dolls . . . or her interesting use of perspective...
With one week 'til the big day, it's still all about Christmas cookies here on Cookie Connection! If you're like me - with all of your shopping and baking left to do - then you're in luck, because this week's Spotlight has plenty of ideas for both...
Deck the halls with bowls of cookies, fa la la la la, la la la la! See the blazing oven before us, fa la la la la, la la la la! Oops, wrong lyrics! What can I say, all of the amazing holiday cookies posted this past week have gotten me way into the yuletide baking spirit!
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!
I have a piece of embroidery in my home that I have loved for a very long time. It's these two baby owls, in wool, metallic thread, netting, and felt by a very talented lady named Lois Edmonds*. I've been wanting to cookie it for quite a...
Well, hello there! I was BLOWN AWAY by how many of you were up to the test and participated in Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #9! Who knew there were so many different ways of piping lettering on cookies? Apparently, you all did, because the...
As moderator of Cookie Connection , I have the unique vantage point of seeing every cookie photo that hits the site - and that's a lot! Most of the time, it's the season that dictates the dominant cookie subject matter . . . like right now, we've got...
Well, well, the nominations for the 2014 Cookiers' Choice Awards are all in, and they have finally been tallied! But before I spill the beans, thank you to those who cast votes in celebration of the accomplishments of their fellow cookiers. It's...
I hope that those of you who celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah had a wonderful time off last week, enjoying family and friends. (I sure did!) But celebration time isn't over yet! Nuh, uh. No sooner than those holidays pass, we're kicking into...
I got hooked on the work of Lorena Marin of Au Claire de la Lune when she posted this clip for a Cookie Connection contest well over a year ago. My first impression of that entry was that it seemed to tell a little story. Further...
[EDITOR'S NOTE: It is with hugely mixed feelings that I announce that this post will be the last in our beloved Dear Yankee Girl series. I'm sad, because Kari is just about the best tutorial writer I could have ever imagined, so she will be greatly missed! (A gross understatement.) But I am happy, because Kari wanted to clear the decks to pursue some new and different things - which, knowing Kari, can only be great stuff. I'm looking forward to seeing where she takes her cookie...
Well, you sure pieced together some cool cookie creations for last month's frankencookie challenge . I asked you guys to combine two or more cutters into one shape, and it was almost frightening how many cool shapes you came up with! Can't wait to...
Hands down, teaching is the thing I like most about cookie decorating. Not only do I get a huge kick from seeing students’ eyes light up when they master my projects or a new technique, but I also learn a ton from everyone attending –...
Halloween isn't quite over yet . . . Hold on a sec, I think I hear trick-or-treaters at my door . . . Ahh, so cute, a little troll and her baby jack-o-lantern brother . . . Sorry, where was I? Yes, it's not quite over, but I'm scraping the...
Is it too early for Halloween? Hmmm . . . judging from the quantity of eerie (but gorgeous) cookies hitting the site lately, I'd say no! Plus, by the time you design, bake, and ice, Halloween will be upon us in no time flat. So, sit back...
We marvel over her delicate handpainting. We mutter oohs and ahhs at the sight of her intricate piping work. Heck, we stop dead in our tracks nearly every time she posts something to this site! Yes, I’m talking about Evelin Milanesi, aka...
Sometimes a personality or product becomes so recognized that the brand name turns into common vernacular for all such similar things (like “Kopykake” as shorthand for “projection device” or “KitchenAid” for...
Just two or three weeks ago, I was worried that I might have sprung fall cookies on you too soon. But now I'm wondering if I didn't start early enough! Given the abundant crop of autumn-inspired cookies posted to Cookie Connection in recent weeks, I...
Hello, cookiers! What's on your docket this Labor Day weekend? Are you hanging up the pastry bags to dry or are you settling in for some soothing, uninterrupted cookie decorating time? Unfortunately, you won't catch me chillaxing at any...
Though perhaps best known for her blockbuster blog, Glorious Treats, which delves into everything from cookies and cakes to all-out dessert parties, Glory Albin is far more than her online presence. In just over three years, she’s become...
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...
At long last, we’re catching up in depth with our wonderful July 2023 site artist Lori Todhunter, aka Cookies on Cambridge. (Aside: I always love finding out the real names behind cookies names, don’t you?! They seem so much more personal to me.) As we learned in...
In 2018, I bought a pack of 100 sheets of wafer paper to make a teeny tiny greeting card for a Mother’s Day cookie. Since then, I’ve used wafer paper in one other project to make a couple of small oak leaves. Between the two projects, I’ve...
Summer is in full swing in my area. It's hot and humid, and the farm stands are overflowing. My house has also been...
Judging by online searches and tutorials, the cookie community adores puffy royal icing. I, too, love that soft, pillowy look. But with puffy icing also comes sloped, rounded edges. Sometimes I don’t...
The holidays are right around the corner, and I’m feeling mixed emotions. On the one hand, I have all of the joyful anticipation of family gatherings and delicious food. On the other hand, there’s the shopping. In real life, I haven’t even started. But in my cookie fantasies, everyone wants a...
Hi, everyone! First, I apologize for the skipped Spotlight (last week) and the delayed one (this week). It was the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US and so I decided to take off from work to be with family, to recover from my mother's move to St. Louis the week prior, and to do some things (besides cookie decorating) that I like to do. I hope that all of you who celebrate...
I've had weeks and weeks of change and uncertainty, which show limited signs of abating. On Thursday, after months of preparation, my mom moved out of our family home of 50-plus years and across the country to live closer to me. While she was readying her 1790s house for sale on her end (read: correcting lots of deferred maintenance), I was...
Woo hoo! Registration for the second virtual edition of Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ is now open, and almost anyone anywhere can enter! But . . . before you hop on over to the competition's registration page on Eventbrite, please read ALL of the information in this post...
Meet my muse for this cookie: my Great Dane, Atlas. Atlas is a giant goofball, literally and figuratively. He jumps like he’s on a pogo stick, he flings slobber to unfathomable heights, and he sleeps folded in half like a pocketknife.
These delicate floral Easter cookies were inspired by a lovely (free!) vintage graphic from an old greeting card. The image depicts a cluster of daisies forming an egg shape, framed by a spray of dark greenery. I was immediately...
Hello and welcome to a very special Practice Bakes Perfect Challenge #50! In recognition of this extraordinary milestone, I thought it only fitting that we mark the occasion by giving you an opportunity to participate in not one – but 50 different challenges! This means you have...
