I need to make cookies today and don't have a cookie cutter for the shape I need (or anything close to it).

I can draw the shape, do you think there is a way to make a cutter out of cardboard or anything? Think I could cover the cardboard design with contact paper and lay it on the dough and then cut around it with a knife?

Will that work or am I asking for trouble?

Any other ideas?

Sure, can use the cardboard as a template, cut around it. It will just take a lot longet than a cookie cutter.

If you have the time, go buy one of those large metal cookie cutters (sometimes they're on clearance 'cause they got bent) and reshape it to what you want. I've done that many times. Find like a large heart shape or something like that so there's few bends in it.

you can buy a "Cookie Crafting Kit" at Michaels to make a cookie cutter. I have personally never seen it but I hear it works really well. I have also used a cookie cutter and reshaped it. I was surprised how well it turned out.

you can also just go to Lowes/Home Depot/etc. and get either piece of tin or copper sheeting

cut into strips, roll one edge and then bend away using needle nose pliers.

WARNING!!!!.....metal edges are very sharp, wear thick gloves -- goggles too!

I know you can use strips of copper or thin metal if you have access to any of that because my grandfather made a duck cookie cutter, actually it was for a mold for pancakes, out of thin metal. He put a little handle on it so that you could put it directly on the griddle and pour the pancake batter in it and it would come out looking like a duck pancake. OK you are probably wondering why he did that. Well, we have a thing in our town called a Duck Derby. It is a fund raiser for a community action agency. They go to the water park and dump a bunch of rubber ducks with numbers on the bottom of them into the lazy river and the person's duck who gets to the finish line first wins. Corny but true. I live in a small town what can I say?

Here's a website with instructions on making cookie cutters.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/CookieCutters.htm

Good luck.

Hi, Check out this link. I got the info from a thread that 'Darra" had a few weeks back.
Good Luck!
http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/CookieCutters.htm

After I read subaru's post about making the template out of cardboard I just went ahead and tried it. I ended up using a heavier card stock instead of corrugated cardboard, easier to cut.

It worked great! My cookies are cooling now.

Then I came back on here and saw all of the other suggestions! Great ideas!

I only had 25 cookies to make so it wasn't a big deal to do them with a knife. I just kept popping the dough into the freezer for a few minutes when it would get too soft to make a clean edge. Now if I had to make 200 cookies....that would be another story! LOL!