Forget plain ol' platters — holiday cookie wreaths are the next new thing.

Earlier this month, our friend Cynthia Hoyt, of the blog Darling Down South, shared with us her holiday cookie recipe, arranged creatively into a festive wreath. This was such a great idea that we decided to try making one ourselves, using some leftovers after testing our foolproof sugar cookie recipe. Here's how we did it.

1. Decorate your cookies, if you'd like
Pull out your piping bags, food coloring and royal icing and add a special touch to your cookies. This is a great way to involve your kids, or feel free to keep things simple by doing it yourself. You can even leave the cookies plain if you'd like. Save a little leftover icing for assembly.

2. Find your favorite display board
A holiday cookie wreath cannot stand alone — it needs a platter or wooden board on which to sit. Pick something festive! After all, 'tis the season.

3. Arrange and "glue"
Corral your cookies into a round wreath shape, stacking as needed to build up an attractive wreath shape. Use that extra royal icing to stick the cookies together, but don't go too crazy. You still want Santa to be able to pick off the cookie(s) of his choice.

4. Add festive flair
Finally, give the wreath some color with green fir branches, holly leaves and red berries. Ribbon is also a great touch here, as are sleigh bells and tinsel. Just make sure to keep anything inedbible off of the cookies themselves!

5. Put it on display!
Set your cookie wreath out where everyone can see you creation.