Blog: Horizontal

Need one of Julia’s foolproof recipes? Some stunning cookie decorating ideas? Or a quick fix on Julia’s latest news and events? Well then, you’re in the right place! Here, you can stay up-to-the-minute current on everything that’s happening in Julia’s kitchen and studio – and in that always-churning mind of hers! IMPORTANT: Julia is still formatting blog entries prior to 2021 to conform to the new site layout. Please don’t be surprised if some back entries look a little wacky, and please be patient as she edits them over time.
Julia M. Usher

Bridal Bouquet Redux

A combination of decorating media and techniques – from detailed piping to modeling chocolate ribbons and wafer paper leaves – makes this 3-D bridal bouquet cookie extra unique! For assembly details, see this YouTube video by Julia, and to learn

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Julia M. Usher

Bud Vases, Back by Popular Demand

In the early days when Julia started traveling the world to teach, this project was one of her hosts’ favorite picks for class, in part because it demonstrates a lot of techniques. This trio was a redo of bud vases

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Julia M. Usher

Cookie Cake Pedestals

Pretty fun, eh? These all-cookie cake pedestals are a unique way to display small sweets (heck, even 3-D cookie cakes). Plus, they’re easy to make. Simply outline and flood, stencil, and add frosting sheet trims following the step-by-step instructions in Julia’s

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Julia M. Usher

Fabergé Panorama Eggs

Julia had a lot of fun one Easter playing around in the 3-D cookie domain. She crafted these Easter eggs completely out of cookies and royal icing, from the eggs themselves down to the detailed vignettes inside. For tips on

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Julia M. Usher

Place Cards, Take Two

A remake of the cookie place cards that Julia first made for her book Ultimate Cookies, these vibrant stunners use a combination of stenciling, rubber-stamping, dusting, and royal icing transfer techniques. They also employ the relatively easy sandwiching assembly technique,

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Julia M. Usher

Ballerina Boxes

Could it be that Julia has a box fetish? Undoubtedly so! These ballerina-topped beauties were made for the 2013 Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show, where Julia was one of two featured main-stage presenters. For basic box assembly details, excluding the

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Julia M. Usher

Personalized Plate

There’s nothing like a personal touch to signal to guests that you care. For this elegant weekend dinner party, Julia borrowed some tricks from her cookie decorating toolkit to stencil edible frosting sheets with each guest’s name. The frosting sheets

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Julia M. Usher

Dazzling Duo

You saw Julia’s pink heart box (right) elsewhere in this gallery. But doesn’t it look extra dazzling paired with this white and red box? And, BTW, if you’re ever in doubt about how to decorate your cookies, remember that you

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Julia M. Usher

Perfume Bottle Place Cards

Looking for a romantic way to set your Valentine’s Day table? Julia was too until she came across these vintage perfume bottles in her local antiques mall. She nabbed one per guest, cleaned them thoroughly, and then filled them with

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Julia M. Usher

More Stocking Up

The design variations for Julia’s stacked, stuffable stocking cookies (say that three times fast!) are limitless. Here, you see three more styles ranging from ones dominantly piped with needlepoint patterns (left and right) to another that was mostly stenciled (center).

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Julia M. Usher

Bevy of Baubles

By now, you’ve probably seen other variations of Julia’s 3-D Christmas ornaments in this gallery! But here, you’ve landed on her very first ones, made at a time when Julia was just beginning to experiment with methods for covering and

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Julia M. Usher

Ready for a Road Trip

Julia’s 3-D Christmas ornament cookies make perfect party favors, especially when filled with edible surprises. In this case, Julia loaded hers will gold-covered chocolate candies to complement the dragées on the ornament sides. But how does one get such delicate

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Julia M. Usher

Party On!

Yes, please do by enjoying this closer view of Julia’s cookie party crackers shown elsewhere in this gallery! These crackers are of the stacked-cookie ilk – meaning several cookie rings were iced together to form each cylinder. Other tips: Food

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Julia M. Usher

Easter Basket Trio

Yep, these freestanding baskets are pretty much all cookie, except for the delicate fondant handles perched on top. Some of Julia’s very first 3-D cookie designs, these baskets use sandwiching, the simplest of 3-D assembly techniques where two or more

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Julia M. Usher

Contoured Cookie Baskets

Another take on 3-D cookies, yet again applied to Easter baskets! Here, Julia contoured the basket sides using her special dough-wrapping technique; then she spiffed them up by wrapping them with colorful frosting sheets. For more information about how Julia made

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Julia M. Usher

Pretty Paper

Edible paper, such as the frosting sheets on these baskets, adds pretty details to contoured cookies – and quite fast! However, frosting sheets vary in their opacity. The particular brand used here was very sheer, so Julia had to back it with

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