Just an update to all the people who commented on my posts and photos online....Last week I thought, "wouldn't it be fun to make some cookie bouquets, and send out some samples, and see if anyone was interested." Mind you, I had never made one before. I was thrilled after my 5th (surprise) order. As of today, I may not sleep until friday! My little experiment got me a total of 12 cookie bouquet orders (in just 4 days) ranging from 7-10 cookies, and then the following day I got 2 orders for 16 dozen loose cookies... Quickly to be followed by some cake orders. I think I may just sleep in the kitchen while the dough chills for 4 hours. haha. I will post the photos after I finish them all. Can't wait to get some feedback...and some sleep!! 
Sounds like you've hit the ground running!
Same exact thing happened to me! I decided to start making cookie bouquets and sent out an email to some of my friends and got orders for FIFTEEN easter bouquets. Then when I got to work (I teach high school) I sent a pic of the the bouquets to those who ordered and one of the teachers forwarded it to the rest of the staff (over 100 teachers, plus all the admin and support staff!). I think I could have brought 50 and sold out! Leading up to mothers day is going to be quite sleepless for me!
4 hours to chill your cookies? what recipe are you using? I use the NFSC and 45 min is really enough even though it says 1-2 hours. I'll use the double parchment trick also, it really helps with the rolling. (sandwich between 2 layers of parchment)
I use an old recipe passed down from a family friend of my moms, who asked that we never share it with anyone . The cookie dough itself is not sweet at all, like a traditional sugar cookie. With the sweetness of the royal icing, its a perfect combo.
As for the popularity, my bouquets happened the exact same way. All it took was one school (my mom works there)...and all the teachers wanted them, then the highschool librarian, and so on. I'm pretty excited, and hope it keeps up this way, just not 12 in a week, and an additional 16 dozen ontop of that! hahah. Good luck to you as well!!!
-Susan
Lilsis- Thanks so much! I use my own sugar cookie recipe, not the NFSC posted here, and thinned royal icing to do the background of the cookies. I then use a thicker version of the thinned Royal Icing (if that makes sense). I found out the hard way, that the Royal icing with no adjustments, just doesn't flow well out of a piping tip and creates points. So, with a few tweaks I found the right consitency. I do like the look of the cookies with the fondant backgrounds, I just don't like the taste. As for how far in advance, I ususally wait until just a few days before, so they are delivered at their freshest. If you keep the cookies wrapped, or in a sealed container, they will stay fresh for about a week. You should have no problems making some within the next couple days, if you wanted to try them for easter. Good luck with your easter cookies!!
To Alice- my pricing is $15 for a 3 cookie mug, $30 for a 6-7 cookie basket,$ 40 for 10-12. The local cookies by design charges a fortune for theirs, and they taste just plain awful. People here were so pleasantly surprised that they look good, and TASTE good....amazes me that people would pay for expensive cookie baskets that tastes awful. But hey....the cookie companys' mistake is making me money, so I can't complain!! I guess pricing really depends on how much your area average will allow.
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