Here are some tips on decorating, storing and shipping your Christmas cookies.

Decorating

To get confectioners' sugar to stick, roll cookies in sugar while still warm.

To make an easy colored glaze for kids to paint on cut-out cookies, combine egg yolks with food coloring and let them apply the "cookie paint" before baking.

Use a stencil or paper cutout doily to quickly decorate cookies, cakes and other baked goods. Put stencil on warm baked goods and sift confectioners' sugar or cocoa over them. Remove stencil carefully, leaving design.

For an easy icing job, use a resealable plastic bag. Fill with icing, squeeze out extra air, seal and snip off a tiny part of one corner.

Storing

Cool cookies completely before storing.

Store cookies -- especially decorated ones -- between layers of waxed paper in shallow tin to prevent smearing and breaking.

To keep cookies fresh, store with a slice of bread, which must be changed daily.

If storing for longer than a few days, refrigerate cookies in a covered container.

When making drop cookies, make a large batch, form into balls and freeze on a cookie sheet. When frozen, put into resealable bags and store in freezer. You can remove what you need and bake while still frozen -- just add about 5 minutes to the original cooking time.

Shipping

Plain, sturdy drop cookies such as chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin hold up best when shipped. If you want to send cutout cookies, small cookies are less likely to break than large ones.

Pack in a rigid tin between sheets of waxed paper, using crumpled waxed paper to fill any extra space. Pack tin in a larger, sturdy shipping box padded with additional crumpled paper or bubble wrap.

And in case of shipping mishap, remember that brownie and cookie crumbs make great ice cream topping.

-- From Cheri Sicard at www.seedsofknowledge.com