I just made my first bouquet, and I am not happy with it.
Would you help me understand, what should I use inside the basket. I tried the green florist stuff (from Michaels) and it was horrible, it made green powder and shredded, so I pass it, then I cut our 3 circles from white foam board, and it looks unstable.... I just did not see any chunk of the white foam (or what you call it) in the store, just boards. So how do you fill the container? And other Q : I do not like the look of cookies wrapped in the cello, it is loosing the clean look, any suggestions?
Thank you!

There's two kinds of florist foam, the crumbly kind and the hard kind. The hard kind costs a little more but it doesn't make powder. That's what I use, and then tissue paper on top of it.

I buy basket wrapper bags from Dollar Tree for my cookie bouquets. Just put it in the bag and then tape the corners under before you tie a bow at the top, and they work great.

ZlatkaT - I just buy the green foam from the dollar store. works great for me.
Your bouquet looks very nice btw.

Firstly, i LOVE your cookie bouquet! The basket is a wonderful addition.
I know exactly what you are talking about with the foam leaving a powdery mess. I use it for all my bouquets but i cover the foam with either tissue paper or saran wrap, this way that stuff doesn't get on the cookies. When they pull the stick out it will have some of the foam powder on it but they don't eat that part anyway. HTH

Thank you everyone for your kind words and help. I will look next time on the harder green florist foam.
Now, how do I deal with the cello bags, I don't like the corners sticking out, I think I am loosing the "cookie display". Do you cover the cookies in food wrap? I was thinking to wrap the entire bouquet in basket wrapper, but I was worried that those cookies sticking out might break or shift....

Here are some cookie bouquets I did (a couple, I did like 15 of these UGH) last Christmas. I wrapped the cookies with regular plastic wrap (I like you wanted the clean look, didn't want to spend the $ on 15 shrink bags, but wanted the cookies to be free from dirt/hair/whatever else floats around in the air we breath)

I just cut a square of plastic wrap laid the cookie face down on it, gathered it all in the back and twisted it together and stuck a square of packaging tape (nice and strong) onto the twist of plastic wrap in the back, worked perfectlly!

Just make sure your cookies are completely dry before wrapping LOL mine weren't and the colors started to bleed, other than that I think they look nice with the plastic wrap, makes em' a little shiny....but doesn't give them a "messy" look like the corners on the cello bags do

What if you put the cookies in unwrapped and then wrap the entire basket?..... Just a thought. Love it though!

Jen

I was going to suggest the same thing.
I, however, like to wrap each cookie, not only to preserve the freshness, but also to ensure that if there are any sparkles or other decos, they dont get all over the place in the basket.

KHalstead
wow, your bouquet is fantastic. It really does look like, that the cookies are not wrapped at all. I will definitely try it next time. Only how do you cut the plastic wrap in squares and don't get them all stick together. Do you mean the regular kitchen food wrap? I sometimes get mad, when I try to cover just a plate

I mainly use plastic wrap to cover batches of cookie dough that i put into freezer bags and freeze. That's frustrating in itself. Or is there a specific brand that you use that would make it easier to cut squares and wrap cookies easily?

If you have a Sam's near you, you can get professional grade plastic wrap there. It's is a big box, not overly expensive, last a long time, and is easier to work with than reg store brands.

Do you think the one they sell at BJ's or Costco would be the same as what you're talking about? This is such a good idea.

I use a generic plastic wrap from Save a Lot, i've never found it hard to deal with.......actually it doesn't stick to anything but itself (which is usually more frustrating than having it stick to EVERYTHING)!

I just cut it with a pair of regular scissors, doesn't have to be exact just make sure it's enough to wrap all the way around the cookie!

That's the problem with cutting out squares of this wrap. It keeps sticking to itself making it impossible to use it neatly.

I don't find it difficult at all to cut with a sharp pair of scissors. I pull out a sheet and lay it on the counter (sometimes when I'm bein lazy or can't find scissors I'll just use an exacto knife to slice it into 4 squares) and then cut it into fourths, hasn't ever been that difficult. I think the generic stuff is not as sticky as Glad brand.
Even the stuff at the dollar store appears to be the same "not as sticky" kind that I use.

Tina - I love the look of your cookies wrapped that way. So nice and neat!

To the OP - your cookie bouquet looks great!

I think your cookie bouquet looks great. However, if you want something extra, try putting in some colored tissue paper in between the cookies, or just the back, to show off the cookies. I read a tip on here somewhere about attaching the tissue paper to sucker/cookie sticks and then pushing them in where needed. You might just need them around the sides and the back so that the cookies stand out against the background.

That's a great idea! I usually just put tissue paper in the back for accent and then try to wedge it through to hide the floral foam.

Your cookies are fabulous! What a great job you did on them.

The arrangement might look better if the cookies were separated. In your pic you have the orange Thank You cookies all together and the others tucked in the back. I think putting the Thank in the back up high then a row of the other ones in the middle just a bit lower and then the YOU down in the front would break it up and make it more interesting to the eye. And you can play with alternating the heights of each cookie in a row. It's like arranging flowers. You can lay your cookies out on the counter and play with placement and then spread out the rows when you put them in the actual bouquet.
That is a lot of work on those cookies and they look yummy!

Good points here, I am going to make another bouquet on Friday, and will use those tips. Thank you so much. For me it was not easy to stick them in the foam, I will need to check some other once in the Michael's......... I learned a lot here!

I like to bag each cookie, I think it keeps it fresher. The cello bags come in different sizes and I try to use a bag closest to the size of the cookie so there isnt as much corner showing.There are different quality of bags as well, some have a milky look to them like sandwich bags...the more expensive cello bags are crisp and shiny-but more expensive, I prefer to go mid quality-I dont know if its polyethlyne or polyproplyene(?) I just compare at the cake store I shop at and get the clearer ones. I also use the green foam wrap it in tissue, then I cut squares of tissue and with each cookie, I skewer the tissue onto the cookie stick and stick it into the foam. Here is a recent example and I dont think the bags are too distracting.

That is a beautiful arrangement!!! What does it look like from the back?

Thanks, For the back I usually put more tissue in and if I have to,I use a little tape to attach it to a cookie stick, so you're just seeing mainly tissue paper and not the naked backside of the cookies. I have done 2 sided bouquets for a centerpiece before and I'll try to arrange the same amount of cookies on the backside so that both sides look the same.

That would definately answer my problem with the sticks showing in the back. (i tape the sticks to the cello bag and put the cookie in that). Taping a square of tissue to the backside would cover those. Thanks for the idea!!

Do you cover the whole arrangement with cello or just leave it as is. I guess i've been covering the whole thing cuz i've been afraid of the tissue paper, or cookies for that matter, falling out or moving around.

No I deliver them as is, They're in there pretty good. I havent lost one yet...ok now I've jinxed myself.
The only time I've used a basket bag on a bouquet is when they were for a raffle/auction, because I didnt want anyone to "sample" any of them before the basket was awarded.
I've got a couple bouquets to do for the weekend, if I think of it, I'll take a picture of the back-but its not a thing of beauty- its definitely the back.

I like to use tulle that comes on a roll for my cookie bouquets. It is cheap, 2.99 a roll, which does about 5 bouquets. The dark colors work best.

Here is a pic of Halloween ghosts, I was mad at myself for not arranging them better. I made 3, but got the pic of this one

That is a very nice bouquet! The tuille actually is perfect for that theme.

I like to wrap mine individually too and then attach the stick to the back of the bag with packing tape. I just use the clear Wilton bags that I get at Walmart. I put each cookie in a bag and then carefully pull as much of the plastic to the back side as I can. If I need to I trim off excessive amounts of the plastic for smaller cookies. Then I attach a piece of clear packing tape and try to catch all the edges that I pulled from the front. You have to be careful that you don't pull it too tight or it can break the cookie. After that is done I use an additional piece of tape to attach the stick.

I have a few cookie bouquets in my photos that used this method if you want to check it out. I had never made a decorated cookie or cookie bouquet before I found CC. I've learned everything I know so far form the great folks here.

I like the idea of skewering a piece of tissue with the cookie on a stick before putting it into the foam. I'll be doing that from now on. Also, great idea to use the beans in the bottom of the container. I'm going to check on buying beans in bulk. I wonder how much $ they'd be?

I, personally, don't like the look of a stick attached to the bag...
I put the stick inside the cookie when they are hot.
next time I'm doing a cookie bouquet, I'll try to shrink wrap them. (I'll buy some from Noble Gift packaging next week, in their catalog it says that it's food safe), It's like 16.25$CAD/500 (6"X6")..So it's about 3 or 4 cents per bag!