It’s time to deck-orate the halls with boughs of cookies! Decorating perfectly symmetrical cookies without the help of a personal food stylist may seem overwhelming. However, with these tips, you’ll be tricking out your holiday treats in no time!

Tools of the Trade  
First, you’ll need to pick up some small piping tips, including plain, star, and closed star. You’ll also need to buy piping bags or use plastic food storage bags with the corners cut. A small offset spatula, paintbrushes, quality food dye, edible ink pens, scissors, toothpicks, mixing bowls, and a ton of spoons should also be included in your setup. 

Beginner Basics
Now that you have gathered your tools, you can start practicing some basic designs. Practice makes perfect, so make sure you start with simple patterns like snowflakes or snowmen. These specific designs help you practice your straight and curved lines. As you become more comfortable, you can start working your way up to other complicated shapes. 

Royal Icing vs. Water Icing
We recommend making royal icing over its simpler counterpart, water icing. Royal icing contains egg whites, making it stretchier and easier to pipe. Plus, it will dry completely hard overnight, while water icing will remain soft. This allows you to pipe multiple layers of icing on top of each other to create detailed designs.  

Practice Patience
Cookie decorating requires patience, and the process shouldn’t be rushed! You need to be sure your cookies have completely cooled before trying to add any designs, otherwise, your icing may become too runny. If you want to include more intricate artwork, you may even have to wait for your first layer of icing to harden. A pinch of hard work and the dash of time you put into these cookies will yield the perfect holiday dessert!