The following events and activities are some extra things that are being planned for CookieCon. Feel free to participate in any or all of them, but they are not required.




One of the highlights of CookieCon is the Sugar Show! This is an awesome opportunity for attendees to share their talents and ideas with everyone by submitting decorated cookies to be displayed at the event. For details on submission rules and categories click here.

We know that entering the sugar show can seem a little intimidating. Maybe you feel like your cookies won’t measure up because you’re a "newbie", or maybe you feel like you don’t have a chance at winning. So why should you enter the sugar show? Here are some great reasons to participate:

• Awesome Prizes! For each category there will be cash prizes given to entries receiving the most votes. Winners are chosen by YOU. On top of that, there will be 7 “Instructor’s Choice” awards. Plus, we will also randomly draw entrants from each category for a fun “participation” prize! Everyone has a chance to win!
• To share ideas! While the prizes are good motivation, the very BEST part of the Sugar Show is just sharing ideas and seeing the variety in styles and interpretation. While everyone loves to see the jaw-dropping, “how-did-they-do-it” entries, there is also a huge amount of inspiration in the ones that seem more do-able to the average decorator. There is definitely a place for all levels of entries! You never know who you’ll inspire!
• It’s FUN! At the end of the day this is what it’s about. The more people that submit, the better the display is. It is such a highlight of the event to walk through and see all of the entries, and we need your cookies to help make that happen. Dive in and inspire your fellow decorators!

The decorating room will be open all day (8am to 4:00pm). There will also be scheduled round-table discussions going on throughout the day. You can come and go and plan your decorating sessions around the discussions you want to participate in. We just ask that you clean up after yourself when you are finished decorating. We’ll make it easy for you!

We will provide cookies, icing and other supplies for you to practice all the things you learned in classes the day before. We will be using royal icing in bags with Ateco tips 000 through 4, and PME tips #1.5. We will also have BooBoo sticks for you to use. If you need or want to use any of your own supplies (bottles, etc), you are welcome to bring it. You will be in charge of your own stuff. We recommend labeling everything well and keeping it with you at all times.

Beyond the basic supplies, we will have “Try-It Stations” around the room complete with the supplies you need to learn and practice that technique. We will have stations on:

• Stenciling
• Painting
• Fondant
• Airbrush
• Kopykake
• Specialty piping (rose tips, leaf tips, flower nails, etc)
• Wafer Paper and Icing Transfers

We will provide space at each station to try the technique right there so there is no need to take supplies back to your table. That way we keep everything together in one spot.

There will also be a large coloring station where you can make the icing colors you need, and an accents station where you can use sprinkles, sparkles, pearls and dusts.

Most of the cookies will just be generic shapes for you to practice on (circles and squares), but there will be one “mystery shape” that you can decorate and enter in our “Mystery Shape” Sugar Show category. Attendees will vote for their favorites and the winners will receive cash prizes. It is so much fun to see what people do with the mystery shapes! You won’t want to miss it.









Bring your duplicate or under-used cutters and trade for something fresh and new (to you!). We will have an ongoing cutter swap through the whole event. There is no limit on how many cutters you can bring for the swap, but you will need to trade them one at a time. Please bring only clean, gently used cutters in good condition (no rust or bent or broken cutters). Here is how it works:

We will have a “Leave a Cutter, Take a Cutter” table set up in the vendor area. It will be pre-stocked with some cutters. Come by the table anytime and if you see something you like, leave a cutter you brought and take the one you want. The supply on the table will be in a constant state of flux, so if you don’t see something you like immediately, come back a little later and you might find just what you need. The swap table will be open 1pm to 5pm on Thursday and 9am to 6pm on Friday




Swap one of your cookies for a mystery cookie from another attendee! Bring one or two cookies baked and decorated by you and we will swap them for cookies made by others. Please wrap your cookie well, and include your name and contact info (blog, facebook, etc) either as a sticker on the back, paper topper, or on a business card inside (just make sure it’s secure so it doesn’t get knocked off during handling). The amount of decorating you do is up to you. More than anything this is just a fun way to put you in touch, and share something, with a fellow decorator.

The Cookie Swap will be ongoing throughout the event. There will be a Cookie Swap table in the vendor area. At the table, a friendly helper will take your cookie and swap it with another that was left by a previous visitor. In the rare occurrence that we have run out of cookies for the moment (or you’re the first visitor!), you can leave your cookie and we will give you a ticket that will allow you to redeem it for a cookie later on. Whose cookie will you get??

The Cookie Swap Table will be open 1pm to 5pm on Thursday and 9am to 6pm on Friday

Please note that we are limiting the number of cookies you bring to the swap to ONE or TWO only.




A common question we get is is "What is the dress code for the Awards Banquet on Saturday?" Well, the short answer is casual. Wear what's comfortable. However, you are also welcome to don a decked out apron to express your creative side! Before CookieCon, design and decorate an apron however you wish. Wear it at the Awards Banquet and get ready to be admired. There won’t be prizes this year, because it’s just too hard to choose! It’s more fun to keep it light and just admire everyone’s creativity. Of course this is completely optional!




Decorator Face Off illustrations by Gini Delora. www.ginidelora.com/