what do you put inside your base for the cookie bouquets to have enough weight so they don't fall over?

I use marbles or dry beans

I have used a bag of jolly ranchers its sorta like two treats in one!

Sand

I saw Paula Deen use rice the other day on her "Cookie Exchange" show and then they poured a jar of colored sugar crystals over the top. I would probably go with whatever is cheapest at the time between beans, rice, marbles, etc.

Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't use sand unless you could cover it with something to ensure it couldn't come in contact with the cookies. You could substitute Sugar in the Raw if you like the look of the sand but I think it's pretty pricey.

K

I've never used anything other than the green foam that the cookie sticks get pushed into. I've never had a problem with it tipping. However, I also saw the paula deen show where they put rice in and then covered it with sprinkles. It looked so nice that I might start doing that.

When I have a very light pot and/or top-heavy cookies, I will put those class rocks for fish bowls down in there. If I'm using a glass container, I stick candy or jelly beans in, then the green stuff on top wrapped in tissue (so you don't see the green stuff)

start saving all the packing peanuts that come in boxes...they're free, and work perfectly...i fill up the bucket 1/2 way with the peanuts (or pea gravel purchased from lowes gardening center), then glue a foamcore circle on top, then hotglue small plastic portion cups on top of that. i have a tutorial floating around out there in the forums...

I have used jelly beans. Found a huge bag at my local cash n' carry for not much money.

thanks for the suggestions everyone.