24 Ways to Decorate a Sugar Cookie

We say Christmas_y_, because without the decorated trees, these would work for any winter occasion. The simple cookie shapes serve as canvasses for intricate (but still easy to replicate) designs.

To make: Glorious Treats

These cookies have a ruffled edge, but even a no-fuss circular cookie can easily be made into a flower. Your little ones will love to help with this design—every kid has his own idea of the perfect flower.

To make: Scrumptious and Sumptuous

Two desserts in one? Sign us up, please. These fun treats look like cupcakes, taste like cookies, and are prime for all kinds of fun decoration. Hey, any design goes when you're topping a cupcake!

To make: Karen in the Kitchen

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This Arabic and Indian tradition goes sugary sweet when it's iced atop a cookie. The intricate dots and lines that characterize henna will be easier to make with some sort of icing bag.

To make: Bake Fresh

Even if you don't have a cookie cutter, it's easy to make a butterfly shape—just cut a circular cookie in half, and turn the inside edges outward, pressing the curved sides together. Then, decorate as you please—after all, butterfly wings look like just about anything!

To make: My Diverse Kitchen

The best thing about these Russian dolls: There's detailed info on how to create the same look yourself! Yes, it's a little intricate, but for something so unique, isn't it worth it?

To make: Bubble and Sweet

No one snowflake is like another … meaning, it's pretty much impossible to make a mistake when you're decorating them! Add little silver balls for extra effect.

To make: Pasta Princess and More

While these cookies look very detailed and intricate, they're actually quite easy to make: Just ice a dot in the middle of the cookies and make a few circles around it (like a target symbol). Then, drag a toothpick from the middle to the edges of the cookie in lines, like you're slicing it into pieces of pie.

To make: Pacific Thyme

Perfect for a baby shower or a first birthday, these cookies can be personalized with whatever mom or the baby likes best.

To make: Mix & Mingle

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These super cute cookies are also super easy to make. You just need to ice a few simple shapes with black, then fill in the lines with bright red.

To make: Sugar Dot Cookies

These cookies demonstrate just how good kid-decorated cookies can look. Give them the right shapes and the right colors, and they really can't go wrong.

To make: Half Hour Meals

There are tons of ideas for decorating in this treasure trove of fun. The cool thing here is that quite a few are made on a simple circular cookie—meaning, no new cookie cutters required.

To make: Jesicakes

Why a bandage sugar cookie? Well … why not? It's pretty easy on your part, too, as it only requires one color and simple shapes.

To make: Sugar Dot Cookies

OK, technically this one's a cookie pop … but you get the idea. And who can resist a rainbow unicorn? The great thing about this design is that you don't need to do much to make it magical—just make sure there's a horn (only one!) and lots of bright colors.

To make: SPCookieQueen

Royal icing is used in many of these designs. It dries into a hard and smooth matte surface, so it's great for sugar cookies. This super-easy tutorial shows you how to get started and make basic shapes.

To make: Sweet Pea's Kitchen

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What a fun, wintry design! The key here is to let each layer dry before you move on to the next. It might look intricate, but the details aren't too hard to master if you just take it one part at a time.

To make: Not Your Momma's Cookie

Hey, why not make these as a rainy day project? If you've got a little time on your hands, you might not even need cookie cutters—just a careful hand. These particular cookies are fun, because the bright colors take away the dreariness of clouds and rain.

To make: FoodBabbles

Mushroom cookies are cute? Looks like it! These toadstools are basically the most adorable fungi we've ever seen—and best of all, they take little to no design skill to recreate.

To make: Café Zupas

A clever shape and just a few splashes of color make these cookies surprising and fun. There's something seriously sweet about a cookie disguised as candy.

To make: Pemberley Bake Shoppe

OK, we won't deny that these have pretty intricate designs. The thing that makes these incredible cookies doable, though, is that you can pretty much make up whatever pattern you choose. Combinations of dots, flowers, curls and lines transform any dull cookie into a mini masterpiece.

To make: The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle

Perfect for a team treat, these cookies require no cutting and minimal design work. And, you can easily customize them to your kid's team colors!

To make: Shugary Sweets

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If you're sick of Halloween candy but still want to celebrate the holiday with something sweet, these candy corn cookies are a great bet. It's just a simple stripe pattern, so you shouldn't have any trouble pulling it off.

To make: That Gal From Socal

OK, these ones aren't quite sugar cookies. They have an (amazing) honey cardamom flavor, but are decorated in the same way as regular cookies … which brings us to a point: You can decorate just about any cookie using the same techniques and designs here!

To make: Cork and Spoon

It's a cookie that looks like a chocolate covered strawberry! Umm … amazing! Just force yourself to be patient between icing layers, and the result will be beautiful.

To make: The Curvy Carrot