Friday, March 16, 2012

How I Package my Cookies for Shipping

I get asked all the time about what cookies I ship. And I think people are really surprised when I tell them I ship everything.  Even delicate cookies, like champagne glasses, guitars, birthday candles, letters and numbers and yes, even Justin Biebers precious little face :)

If you ship cookies and ever worry about them breaking here is my secret to worry-free, tear-free packaging!

It doesn't really matter how you bag you cookies, sometimes I put one in a bag, sometimes I put four or six minis in a bag. I seal them, I tie them with ribbon. No difference!

So first, you just package them up in the little baggies, however you like. As long as they are laying flat.

Next I take a thin piece of cardboard, a little bigger than the cookies so there is plenty of the board to go around. Shhhhh don't tell the Postmaster I steal the small flat rate boxes and cut them up! But they are PERFECT for this!! I grab them whenever I pick up the medium and large flat rate boxes to ship the cookies in.

Place one bag of cookies on each side of the cardboard. So they flat against the cardboard.  

Wrap the entire thing in a few layers of bubble wrap. You want plenty of cushioning around the cookies to keep them safe.


Finally, place them in your box (which I also line with either bubble wrap or tissue paper) and stand them up. Package them together tight enough so they don't wiggle around during the trip, but not so tightly that they get smooshed!

Once everything is in there top it all off with more tissue paper to keep them from moving around. Plus extra tissue paper makes it look like a super awesome, present and who doesn't like to get super awesome presents?!?

So next time you are at the post office, grab a few of those little boxes (don't tell the postmaster) and keep them around for your next cookie order. I started using them only for the extra fragile cookies, but I use them all the time now. It only takes a few extra minutes to cut them to the sizes I need and I never worry about getting a call or email about broken cookies. I don't even mark my packages as fragile anymore (mostly because I forget! Doh!) because I don't really think worry about them getting damaged this way.

I hope this helps ease a few of your worries when trying to decide if you can ship an order of cookies. I know I sleep much better at night since I've started doing this!

P.S. This is the ONLY way I ship vegan cookies. If you've ever made vegan cut-out cookies you know why! They are so fragile compared to other cookies. I've only made them a few times and only recently, but I can't imagine shipping them any other way. They would all break and I would cry all night :)

Let me know if you have any other useful tips for me! I am always interested in what works for you and how I can improve on my methods!

SAP
Flour De Lis

14 comments:

Cristin (Pinkie) said...

Thanks for this Samantha. My best friend lives in Massachusetts and I ship her cookies sometimes. Her birthday is next month too. I'm curious how many cookies you can get in a box this way? It looks like you have 4 per bubble wrapped section? and maybe about 5 of those in a box? My last couple packages to my friend have survived, but I swear it's non-stop praying until they arrive and I can breathe easier! So much time and effort goes into our cookies that it is just heart-breaking when they don't survive... Cristin (Pinkie) of Cristin's Cookies

Unknown said...

Cristin I usually fit 2+ dozen in the medium flat rate boxes and 4+dozen in the large ones. In this particular box I only sent a dozen because I sent some cookie cutters, some baking cocoa and a few other things :)

carrolls.cookies said...

I will need to give this a try. I like the bubble wrap around a piece of cardboard rather than a box in a box. Thanks for sharing.

CookiePrincess said...

Yep Flour,
Do the same thing. Has worked pretty well so far. Learned this through trial and error. Wish someone would find a way to package cupcakes!!!
Thanks for the post!

Sue said...

You are a lifesaver! Thank you so much, Samantha! I am going to go to the post office on Monday and get some boxes...mum's the word:)

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for this!! I need to pack and ship some cookies in a few weeks...my first time shipping!

Unknown said...

I know Cookie Princess!! I get so many requests!! I need to try that! I've been to afraid so far, but I'll have to give it a try :)

Anne said...

If you have access to a shredder, the shredded paper makes great packing material. I package each cookie in a cello bag and seal it, then I put a sheet of bubble wrap on the bottom and up and over the sides of the box. I add a layer of shredded paper, a layer of the cookies laying flat, another layer of the shredded paper, and so on. When all the cookies are packed, I add a final layer of shredded paper (to fill the box to the top) then I fold the excess bubble wrap (hanging over the sides of the box) snugly over the contents and tape it closed. Tape up the box and it's ready to go!

El Salvador Shipping said...

Great job!

-Panamerican Shipping

jeannette Chavez said...

Thank you Sam for this wonderful tutorial...will try this next week to ship an order to Boston (crossing fingers).
Anne, your idea with the shredded paper is wonderful too...in my household we throw away so much paper.
Thank you both!!

Unknown said...

You can get the boxes shipped to your house too..free of charge! Check out the shipping supplies section at the usps.com website :) I also use their "we pick up prepaid packages at your door so you dont have to rush all over town" feature. LOVE it! :)

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