I whipped up these little tie-dye (tie-dye-esque?) cookie bites to bring to a party from leftover cookie dough and icing. I used the cutest little square cutter from this set I found at Ikea ages ago. The best thing about leftover cookie dough and icing bags you already have is that you can do whatever you want and you don’t have to worry about messing up. Plus, I find that people love cookies and are easily impressed.

To make these, I cut out little squares of cookie dough, baked and let cool according to the recipe. I used my royal icing, thinned just a bit, tinted with Americolor Soft Gel Pastes (Bright White, Electric Pink, Orange and Egg Yellow, but use any colors you like), and filled disposable decorating bags that were fitted with couplers and size “3″ or “4″ decorating tips. (For tips on finding supplies, click HERE.) I then outlined each square with white and let set a bit. Working with a few cookies at a time, I piped three stripes of color, then I swirled a toothpick through the icing. For Basic Cookie Decorating how-tos, click HERE. Let the cookies dry for several hours or overnight before handling.

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You may not be able to tell from the photograph, but these cookies are small. A mere 1 1/2 inches square, to be precise. And they are easy to decorate, so you can make loads and loads of them for snacking, wrapping and giving, serving on a platter at your party, hiding in your stocking for yourself… whatever. I won’t judge.

Find the full post with how-tos HERE at Celebrations.

I’m all about simplifying my life of late, and these are about the simplest little Christmas cookies you can decorate. Or, skip the bow and just make dots and stripes with the white icing. Or swirls. Or plaid. Or… I’ll just let you make what you like.

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Sparkle, shimmer and glitter! Despite the annoying specks of glitter that inevitably will sit for weeks on your carpet. And your table. And your hands. And your forehead, I love the sparkle and shimmer of glitter. That’s why I use sprinkles so much when I decorate cookies (that and it’s an easy decorating tool that covers mistakes). So when I got the best box of holiday packaging awesomeness from EK Success Brands to test for this GIVEAWAY over at my other gig, Edible Crafts, I was thrilled to get a 24-set of Martha Stewart Crafts glitter. Um, for free. And that stuff is expensive. I also got all kinds of packaging and decor for the holidays, including Martha Stewart Crafts glitter set,  bakeable trays, treat boxes, beverage labels, treat bags, garland, Christmas light window clings, and Jolee’s Boutique Christmas lights stickers.

And one of you can win the same! This giveaway is hosted by Edible Crafts at Craft Gossip, so you MUST enter over there. Find the details and enter HERE.

how to make glittery mason jars of cookies

to make the mason jars, you will need:*

Martha Stewart Crafts glitter

craft glue

paint brush

mason jars

wax or freezer paper

*I used the small mason jars, 6-ounces, available at grocery stores, craft stores and some hardware stores, but you can use any size you like.

What to do: Cover your surface with wax or freezer paper. Remove the two parts of the mason jar lid. Paint both parts with craft glue and immediately coat with glitter. I used the green, purple, red and blue glitter. Turn over to remove excess and set aside to dry completely. I funneled the excess glitter back in to the glitter container to save what I could.

to make the sparkly cookies, you will need:*

cookie dough

royal icing

circle cookie cutter, 1 1/4- inch

food coloring to match glitter lids

matching sprinkles for each color

disposable decorating bags

couplers

size “4″ or “5″ decorating tips

*I suggest Americolor Soft Gel Pastes (Red Red, Electric Green, Electric Purple, and Sky Blue used here). Find the cookie cutter (perhaps as part of a set), decorating bags, couplers, tips and sprinkles in the craft store. For tips on basic cookie decorating, click HERE.

What to do: Prepare cookie dough according to the recipe, chill, and cut out little circles. Let cool completely. Prepare icing, divide and tint preferred colors. Prepare decorating bags with couplers and tips, fill with the icing colors and close with rubber bands. Working with one color at a time, pipe and fill a circle of icing on a cookie and cover with a matching color of sprinkles. Let the cookies dry overnight before packaging in the jars.

REMEMBER: You MUST enter the giveaway for the Martha Stewart Crafts prize package HERE at Craft Gossip!!! Comments left here (while always appreciated) are NOT entered in the giveaway!!

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A couple months back I made my mom bite-size cookies in a jar that pictured all her interests and hobbies. (Remember? Here they are.) She put in a request for tennis-themed bite-size cookies in a jar, and I couldn’t refuse. We’re all tennis players in my family. Or rather, in my case, used to be a tennis player. I haven’t picked up a racquet in years. I played competitively in high school, and I could have been good. Really good. Except I had this terrible habit of choking at the end. Sooo close then, “oops!” I didn’t kick the habit, either, when I took up shooting pool years later. This choking thing is tough for one as competitive as I. (Don’t ever mention the “Monopoly incident of ’05 to my neighbors.”)

Since I was barely big enough to hold a racquet, I and my siblings would walk the mile or so take lessons from the matriarch of a local family estate, an estate equipped with a court, of course. Thirtysome years later, she’s STILL giving lessons and organizing games. My mom has continued playing all these years. She’s giving these cookies to the terribly impressive tennis-playing matriarch.

It’s no secret I love bite-size cookies. So cute, so perfect for snacking, and so easy to fit into the best invention ever after my TV, the mason jar.

To make these, I just cut out little 1-inch circles and 1-inch ovals (pinched at one end) from my cookie dough, baked and let cool. Then I made my royal icing, divided, and colored with my Americolor Soft Gel Pastes (Orange, Egg Yellow, Electric Green, Sky Blue, Electric Purple, Super Black and Bright White.) I prepared decorating bags with couplers and decorating tips–sizes 1, 2, 3 and 4–and filled with the icing and tied the bags closed with rubber bands. Then I piped and filled circles for the tennis balls, using a 2-tip white to pipe the accent on top. For the racquets, I piped the racket and handle with different colors and black icing, using 3 tips. I filled the centers with white icing, then topped with the strings using a 1-tip black. I let the cookies dry well overnight and packaged in a mason jar. For tips on finding supplies, click HERE. For basic cookie decorating how-tos, click HERE.

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These are likely still fresh in your memory, but given the Summer Olympics are right around the corner, I figured a little reminder wouldn’t hurt. That and I’m nowhere near my own kitchen to make something new, since my daughter and I are currently living as nomads from grandparent’s house to grandparent’s house while construction workers punch lots of holes in the lead-filled walls of our 1930 house.

I made these Olympic ring cookies and Olympics mini cupcakes for the Spring/Summer 2012 issue of Bird’s Party Magazine. You can click HERE for the full-how-tos (flip through to page 17 through 20) or buy the paper copy HERE.

You can also find the how-tos for the Olympic ring cookies featured HERE at Bird’s Party Blog. And just in case you missed it, remember Bird is giving away a Sugarlicious Prize Pack, too!

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Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!