Beach baby, beach baby give me your hand.
Give me somethin' that I can remember....
Making these beach balls while the kiddos were home from school for THREE SNOW DAYS had to be some sort of cruel and unusual punishment! As if we weren't longing for summer already....
They were fun though, and I love the bright colors. If bright, colorful beach balls doesn't cheer you up, I'm not sure what would. Puppies, maybe? But I digress....
These beach ball favors were shipped to Buffalo, NY for a cute kiddo's swimming birthday party. I hope he loved them, and I hope he had a very happy birthday. Happy birthday, Noah!
I'm often asked if I ship cookies. The short answer is YES. The long answer is YES, IF I HAVE TO. :) Shipping is stressful (will they get there in time, will they break, will they get lost in the mail?) and it takes me almost as long to package the cookies for shipping as it does to decorate them. I've been shipping for long enough now that I have a nearly foolproof system. I use USPS 2-3 Priority Mail which, although NOT guaranteed, almost always gets to the destination within 3 days. (Shipping at Christmas is another story altogether!) I also wrap the cookies and pack them very, very, very carefully, and have yet to have a box of broken cookies arrive at their destination. I also will only ship certain shapes. I had a request for giraffes once, but had to say no. The last thing the recipient would want would be a bunch of decapitated giraffes. We can usually come up with an alternative, like giraffe prints on circles.
Alas, once they are out of my hands, the cookies are at the mercy of the post office. I insure them for up to $50 and you may purchase additional insurance if you'd like.
So for this week's Tuesday Tip of the Week, here's how I package cookies...
First, each cookie is individually wrapped in clear food-safe cello bags. Favors are then tied with coordinating curling ribbon. Alternatively, each bag can be heat sealed.
Once they're all bagged, I gather my supplies. One 12x12x10 inch outer shipping box, smaller inner box(es), bubble wrap, tissue paper, scissors, packing tape, etc.
For sturdy cookies like circles, I cut the bubble wrap to place between each cookie. For slightly more fragile cookies I may wrap each cookie in bubble wrap.
I line the inner box with tissue paper (with extra bunched up on the bottom of the box).
Then I place the cookies UPRIGHT into the box, alternating cookie, bubble wrap, cookie, bubble wrap, cookie, bubble wrap.....
When the cookies are boxed, it is important that they are fairly tight. Give the box a good shake. Movement is your enemy. You do not want the cookies to move around at all. If you hear them jiggling, add more tissue paper or bubble wrap. When they're snugly packed, put the inner box(es) into the outer shipping box and surround the inner boxes with packing peanuts or some other sort of packing material. Again, you want everything to be snug. No movement inside the bigger box either.
Finally, close up the box and print your label or bring it to the post office. If you have a good scale at home, you can weigh your package and print your labels at home, which will usually save you a buck or two and keep you from having to wait in line at the post office.
The USPS provides free tracking on Priority Mail packages now, so you can keep an eye on the progress of your cookies.
Do you have a different way to package your cookies?
