Hello, cookiers! This post marks the first of my announcements about my 2026 cookie art competition (yay!) – and there are two big changes this year!
Let’s talk about the first one, which you may have caught in the title above. I’ll cut to the chase . . . I have decided to retire from cookie art by the end of 2026 in order to focus on other professional and personal pursuits that have been calling to me for some time. While I have cherished every aspect of my involvement in the cookie community over the last 17 years, and there are still many transition details to sort out, I have already curtailed all new cookie content creation in order to apply most of my remaining time in 2026 to this competition and maintaining Cookie Connection, my community-based platform that supports the competition. (For more background about my decision and how it might impact Cookie Connection and my other lines of business, please read my January 15 announcement on Cookie Connection.) My hope is that this fifth and final edition of Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™ will be the biggest and best ever, and serve as an indelible reminder of the magnificence that this community can create when talented forces – creators, media partners, judges, and sponsors – come together with the common purpose of elevating and showcasing cookie art. I consider this competition my last hurrah, a parting gift to the cookie community, if you will. And I would be most honored if you would consider accompanying me on this final leg of my cookie journey as either an entrant or a sponsor. ❤️
As for the second change . . . For the first time in my competition history, I’ve joined forces with a prominent international media company to give my sponsors more exposure on both digital and print platforms, and to help take competition participation across the world to the next level. I am beyond thrilled to announce that the competition’s exclusive media partner is the esteemed D’licious Magazine, founded by the incredible Kelly Jane. Together, she and I have added a new “Headline Sponsor” level this year with sponsor benefits that extend into D’licious Magazine’s online platforms and monthly print publication. Our hope is to attract more sponsors than ever, again in the spirit of making this competition (and its prizes!) the biggest and best in its history! (For sponsor levels and benefits, please see the 2026 Sponsor Offering.) Kelly Jane will also be offering additional prizes and perks to entrants and winners, including a special winner feature in D’licious Magazine. More details about these prizes and perks will be provided in the official 2026 Competition Overview post, coming on February 20 to Cookie Connection. And, if you’re not already familiar with D’licious Magazine, I encourage you to check it out – and subscribe – in the meantime. It contains a wealth of tutorials, articles, and information that is sure to inspire!
Like the last few years, the competition will be online so that entrants from all over the world can participate. The more, the merrier – so please spread the word to any cookiers who might be interested. Again, the official 2026 Competition Overview with the complete set of rules will post on February 20 (give or take), but to jumpstart the excitement (and your planning!), I’m announcing the schedule and theme today!
But first . . . If you’re not familiar with my competition, a key thing to know is that Cookie Connection is its home base. All news related to the competition will post under the “Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™” blog category, including the rules when they go live. Entries will also get uploaded in video and photo form to secure Cookie Connection databases before entries are due (May 31). For a flavor of past competitions, just scroll through the competition blog category (link directly above). Please note, however, that the 2026 Competition Overview will NOT be the same as last year. Theme (of course), some rules, and a few other things will change.
Another thing to know about my competition is that the cash and other prizes have typically been off the charts, totaling in the tens of thousands of dollars each year. Sponsor outreach has just begun, so I don’t have any numbers to report just yet, but, this year, I hope to be able to deliver even more impressive prizes (in 2025, the prize tally was over $21,000 with a record-breaking $9,600 of that total being cash!) Psst! If you’re a prospective sponsor who’s interested in getting involved, again, please check out the 2026 Sponsor Offering. You can also email me at any time to discuss participation. I thank you in advance!
So when is everything happening this year? Check out the graphic below for all of the competition’s key milestones. I’ve started the competition cycle a bit earlier this year, so entrants will have even more time than usual to prep their creations (more than three months, to be exact, between the opening of registration on February 20 and its close on May 31). Please note that the dates below are subject to change, depending on the number of entries received – and what life might throw at me and my judging team along the way. However, we will try to follow this schedule as closely as possible.
As noted above, the next big milestone for entrants will be the release of the 2026 Competition Overview (February 20), which will contain a description of competition categories, skill level classifications, judging criteria, and all of the detailed rules, which, again, will reflect some changes. The special added prizes and perks offered by D’licious Magazine will also be revealed at this time. This overview, which will post to Cookie Connection, will ultimately be your reference point for everything competition-related.
For those of you who have never entered my competition, entries must always be designed afresh (no recycled work is permitted!) and guided by the theme that the judges have selected for the competition. This year, that theme is . . .
Architect of Your Dreams: Just as I am reimagining my career and life as we speak, I encourage you, with this year’s theme, to express how you would like to design and build your future. Your cookie entry can interpret the theme as literally/representationally or as figuratively/abstractly as you would like, but it must convey (1) your biggest dream(s) or aspiration(s), (2) a “design” or “plan” for how you intend to realize those dreams, and (3) you in the context of that plan as its “architect.” Displaying architecture, architectural elements, and/or architects’ tools in your entry is not required, but, if these design elements help to tell your personal story, the judges would consider them a plus. So let your imagination soar, and show our judges the “blueprint” of your dreams in cookie form!
As noted above, the competition’s complete set of rules – including minimum/maximum cookie counts, entry sizes, work-in-process photo requirements, and more – will come in about a month, so for now, this theme announcement is just intended to get your creative juices flowing – and to pump you up! That said, don’t get too ahead of yourself with entry-planning until all of this information is at your fingertips.
To be assured that you’re always on top of competition news, the best thing to do is to join Cookie Connection and follow the “Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™” blog category on that site. You can join the site for free on the home page (upper right in laptop/landscape mode) and follow the blog by clicking on the teal link above. You’ll also see the photo below on the far right of that site (again, in laptop/landscape mode). Whenever you click on it, it will shortcut you to the top of the competition blog category, where you’ll see the latest competition blog post.
And that’s a wrap for now! I’ll be back with a more detailed overview of the 2026 Sponsor Offering in a few days, and the 2026 Competition Overview in about a month. If in the meantime you have any questions, please leave them in the comments under this post so that all entrants can benefit from my answers. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway . . . I am super excited to see what you create for my final hurrah – this fifth virtual edition of Julia M. Usher’s Cookie Art Competition™!
P.S. Don’t forget to spread the word! Please share this post on social media via the links under “SHARE”. 😀
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Live sweetly, Julia