The Sweet Designs Shoppe

“Cookie decorators, settle this debate…”
TEAM FLAT 🤍 or TEAM DIMENSION 🌸?
I love dimensional flowers because they add so much texture and detail… but there’s also something about flat florals that feels classic and elegant every single time.

Honestly, I can’t decide 🤍

Which one would you choose and why? 🌸👇

Ever wonder why the same cookie recipe works perfectly for one decorator and differently for another? 👀

While visiting family in Mexico, my niece, and I were troubleshooting her sugar cookie dough using my roll-out sugar cookie recipe.

The culprits?

✨ Her mixer paddle wasn’t reaching the bottom of the bowl.
✨ Her kitchen was warmer than mine.
✨ Her butter seemed to have a little more water content.

A few simple adjustments—lowering the paddle, adding a little flour, and chilling the dough—made a huge difference.

It’s a great reminder that baking isn’t just about the recipe. Your ingredients, equipment, and environment matter too.

Comment LEMON RECIPE and I’ll send you the link to my Lemon Almond Roll-Out Sugar Cookie Recipe 🍋🤍

Beginner Tip Tuesday ✨

If your puffy letters keep spreading, your icing is probably too thin.

For this cookie, I used outline consistency for “back to” and to outline school. Then flooded with thick flood consistency for “school” to create that soft, chunky look.

Comment BEGINNERS GUIDE and I’ll send you my free Royal Icing Guide, where I explain the different icing consistencies and when to use them 🤍

Save this for Back-to-School season ✏️🍎

Just keep trying! I promise your flowers will be beautiful!!

After 14 years of decorating cookies, I’ve learned that not every task needs the same royal icing consistency.

Sometimes spending a few extra minutes making multiple consistencies actually saves time in the long run.

For large plaques and big background areas, I often use a thinner flood consistency because it settles beautifully and gives me a smoother finish with less effort.

The right consistency can make a bigger difference than most decorators realize. 🤍

✨ If you’ve been thinking about starting cookie decorating…

This is your sign.

Start before you feel ready.

The first cookies won’t be perfect.
Neither were mine.

But every expert was once a beginner.

“Why does royal icing feel SO confusing at first?” 😵‍💫👇

Because one person says “10-second icing.”
Another says “stiff peaks.”
Another says “add a splash of water.”

…and suddenly you’re standing in your kitchen wondering why your icing is either:
💧 soup
or
🪨 cement.

The hardest part for most beginners isn’t decorating the cookie.
It’s understanding that tiny amounts of water completely change royal icing consistency.

A few drops can take your icing from:
• piping consistency
• to outline consistency
• to flood consistency

…and nobody explains it in a simple way. 🤍

The internet can make cookie decorating look overwhelming, but I promise you this:
✨ you do NOT need to know everything to start.

Every cookie decorator you admire started with messy icing, uneven lines, and confusion too.

Once consistency finally “clicks,” everything becomes so much easier.

If you’re a beginner and feeling stuck, I have a free beginner royal icing guide on my blog that breaks it down in a much simpler way. Comment “Beginners Guide” and I’ll send it to you. 🤍

So much prep! And I couldn’t be more excited!

Are sardines still trending?? Because I’m in love with this sardine can cookie cutter from our 2026 Valentines Cookie Cutter collection!
I used a straightforward font and three sardines per can, and I’m sharing a step-by-step decorating guide.
You can also make transfers for the sardines!