Organizing Your Cookie Cutter Collection

Have you reached the point where finding that one cutter you need within all of your cookie cutters is more of a task than actually decorating the cookies? Fear not. I arrived at that destination many years ago in a land far, far away. There is hope. I promise.

If you have this happy problem then, 1) you are blessed enough to own lots of great shapes and, 2) it's time to do something to make your life easier.

I realized it was time to get down to some serious organization when I bought the exact same cutter as I already owned (twice!) because I couldn't remember if I'd purchased it previously, had received it as a gift, or if it was just on my want list. There had to be a better way than relying on my already full brain.

I'm so very happy to have resolved this. Not only can I go right to the tub the cutter resides in but I can sit at my computer and know in an instant what size it is. It seems like a lot of work up front but I promise it pays off in spades (or hearts) later on. I keep all of my newly purchased items in a box until I'm ready for a photo shoot. This happens about once or twice a year. You may not suffer from the same cookie cutter collection addiction as I do so your photo sessions may be spread out even more. I both hope you do and hope you don't have this affliction. Because I care about you. And your cutters. And I want so very badly to belong to a group. Even if it's "Cookie Cutters Anonymous."

Let's fix this, shall we? A simple 8-Step Program is all you need.

Step 1: Purchase a grid pattern cutting mat. I like this one.

Step 2: Get all of your cutters out and sort them into categories. I use brown grocery bags with the category name written on the outside for this step. My categories have grown and evolved over the years but they've stayed pretty much the same for more than 10 years now. This is what makes sense in my crazy brain. 

 1) Alphabets Numbers and Text
 2) Animals Farms Barnyard Dog Bones
 3) Babies
 4) Balloons Birthdays Party Packages Bows Bubbles
 5) Baptisms Christenings Confirmations 
      (See also: HOUSES CHURCHES CROSSES)
 6) Birds Birdcages Bird Houses
 7) Bridal Engagement Shower Wedding 
      (See also: GLASSES for champagne, ALPHABETS NUMBERS for year number, VALENTINES for hearts)
 8) Butterflies Bugs Frogs
 9) Characters Trademarked
10) Clothes Shoes Hats Accessories
11) Clowns Circus Carousels Jesters Wizards Fairies Unicorns Monsters
12) Cowboy Western
13) Fish Shells Lighthouse Summer Pirates
14) Flowers Gardening Umbrella Cactus
15) Fruits Veggies
16) Geometrics and Classic Shapes
17) Gingerbread People Hands Feet
18) Glamour Princess Crowns
19) Glasses Teapots Wine Utensils Food
20) Holidays Alphabetical
      Chinese New Year
      Christmas

      Subcategories: Angels, Bells, Candles, Candy Canes, Christmas gifts & tags, Christmas Trees, Christmas Words, Jingle Bells, Lightbulbs & 

       strands, Nativity, Nutcracker, Ornaments, Other or Mixed sets, Pinecones, Poinsettias, Reindeer, Santa/Sleigh/Suit/etc, Snowflakes, 

       Snowmen, Stockings and Mittens, Wreaths and Holly.      

     Cinco de Mayo
      Easter
      Fathers Day
      Fourth of July/Maps/Patriotic/Travel
      Groundhog Day
      Halloween/Day of the Dead 
       (See also BUTTERFLIES BUGS FROGS for spiders)
      Mardi Gras
      Mothers Day
      New Years Day
      St Patricks Day
      Thanksgiving
      Valentines Day/Hearts
21) Houses Buildings Churches Fences City Skylines
22) Leaves Acorns Pinecones Trees Natural Landscapes 
       (See also CHRISTMAS re Pinecones & Pine Trees)
23) Mens Hunting Camping
24) Moons Stars Suns Planets Rockets
25) Music
26) Occupations Tools 
       (See also Ballet, Construction, Firemen, Graduation, Office, Office, School, Sewing, etc) 
27) Sports Toys Games Casino
28) Transportation

If you're having trouble deciding which category your cutter belongs in, choose the very first one that comes to mind. Chances are your brain will go back to this same spot when you want to find it again. Something like a cowboy hat could be filed to Clothes Shoes Hats Accessories but it's always going to be used with a Cowboy Western theme so that's where it resides. Same for hard hats being placed in the Occupations Tools bin. But where to put a robot? I used #27 Sports Toys Games Casino but you should use the category that makes the most sense to you.


The photos of some of my cutters and sets are copied to more than one category in the computer files but the actual cutters have to live in only one place. Naming the files allows you to do word searches later on if needed. (Step 5) 

Step 3: Photograph each cutter while on the grid mat to show the exact size. REALLY helps with planning! You don't need a special camera or equipment for this. A camera phone works fine. I place the cutter one inch inside the numbered borders so the numbers won't be blocked by the cutter. To measure I just count the one inch squares or subtract one inch from each side. See the bee cutter photo above.

Step 4: Edit your photos if needed. I usually have to crop and straighten them a little no matter how hard I try to get a straight on shot.

Step 5: Create individual files on your computer for each of the categories above. Name each image so that you can do a word search to bring up all of the heart or alphabet cutters you own. Or any other named cutters you are looking for. Put the image in the proper file and copy it to other files as needed. UPDATE: it is handy to note which category you've stored the actual cutter to in bold text in the file name.

Step 6: Purchase containers for the categories depending on the size you need. Create labels on your computer by typing in the category name, printing to card stock and placing the printout either inside for see thru or by taping to the outside if not using clear containers.

Step 7: Place the contents of the grocery bags used for sorting into the labeled containers.

Step 8: Repeat Steps 2-4 and 7 as needed after CookieCon or any other shopping binge.

Hope this helps get your cutters in order and on your way to the fun part, decorating!!!

I've taken this one step further and created files with same names as my cutter categories but followed the file name with "IDEAS." This was long before Pinterest so you may choose to do some organizing of what inspires you there. This way when you finally get around to making whatever odd cookie that you never knew you were going to need, like a pirate theme, you'll have already saved some cute ideas as you came across them. The only draw back to Pinterest is the sorting and text searching and that's when the plain old computer files win.

I'm in the process of creating a lending library for other cookiers in my area so that someone else might benefit from my sickness. At last count over 4000 cutters reside with me. But that was before CookieCon 2015. The saga continues . . .


Sweet regards,
Deborah