Christmas Cookie Ornaments

Hanging biscuits on the tree is an old northern European habit, and this set is aimed squarely at it. The shapes speak the vocabulary of tree decorations rather than generic seasonal outlines, so what comes out of the oven echoes what is already on the branches. Thirteen files make it a proper collection instead of a single novelty, with enough variety to fill a tray without repeating yourself and enough to keep an afternoon of children pressing shapes into dough. December baking runs on volume, and one lonely cutter never quite covers it. These belong in the Christmas box, brought down with the lights and the tin of decorations, worked hard for a fortnight and put away again in January. They also earn their keep on gift plates, at school fairs, and during the annual argument about whether icing counts as decoration.