Kids Can Help

• If you want to have fun with the kids and make something besides cookies, let them make edible trees. Give each child their own covered workspace, a paper plate, a waffle cone, a bowl of icing with a few drops of green food coloring, a spatula or plastic knife to smooth the icing on the cone and a variety of small candies to decorate her Christmas tree. First let the kids stir the food coloring into the icing and watch it turn green. Have them turn their cones upside down on the paper plate. Then have them cover their cones with the green frosting. Allow them to decorate the tree adding sprinkles, red licorice ropes, tiny M&Ms and other small candies. Flatten a gum drop and cut out a star shape for the top of each tree to complete the ready-to-eat treats. Use the trees to top a cake, or set them around the edges of the cake display for that extra Christmas touch.

Christmas Forest

• Create a forest on a cake using pointed sugar cones, green icing, pretzel rods and featherweight decorating bags with a coupler and a tip 75. Pipe royal icing inside the inverted sugar cone and press a pretzel rod into the icing in the center of the cone's open end to form a tree trunk. Allow to set for about an hour. Being careful not to break off pretzel rod, start at the base of the cone and pipe a row of leaves using the tip 75. Repeat piping rows until the tree is complete. Arrange several completed trees on a sheet cake to create a Christmas forest. Add a couple of small forest animal decorations to create a Christmas scene.

Party Fun

• Having a Christmas gathering and want to do something different? Let guests make their own party favors. Before the party, put shredded wheat cereal in a plastic bag and crush it into tiny pieces resembling pine needles. Put the crushed cereal in a bowl, add green food coloring and mix. At the gathering, set up each person with a covered work area and give them a graham cracker square and a pointed sugar cone. First attach the sugar cone to the graham cracker square using icing as glue. Then spread green icing all over their cone until it is covered. Next have them roll the cone in green wheat cereal. Decorate with colored candies. If frosting dries, attach candies by dipping one side in green frosting and attaching it to the tree. Let everyone get creative and have a tasty treat, too. If you have large sheet cakes prepared for the gathering, decorate with the trees before serving.

Gingerbread Fantasy

• If you're building a gingerbread house for Christmas, add some ice cream cone Christmas trees made with cake decorating tools to the landscape. They are easy to make (see Section 2, above) and are totally edible. Create a scene on your Christmas table with your gingerbread house in the center surrounded by ice cream cone trees. If you're creating a winter scene, use white icing or rolled white fondant to make trees that look snow-tipped.