SHIPPING COOKIES TO THE MILITARY

A little bit of home and a lot of love goes into baked goodies sent to our troops overseas. To make sure your cookies get there in as good a shape as you sent them just follow these simple packing instructions:

• The best size of package to use is a USPS Flat rate priority shipping box. The one that looks like a slightly oversized shoe box, not the one that looks like a shirt box.  These boxes ship for $7.70 (at time of writing). Such a great deal! If packed carefully, you can get 4 to 5 dozen cookies safely packed into the box.

• Assemble everything you need - bubblewrap or tissue or plastic bags. This material will be used to fill up the spaces around the boxes you will set inside the flat rate priority box. Don't try to send the cookies overseas without the inner boxes. They just won't make it. Can't find a box to fit? You can cut one down, tape the edges and now you have a custom made box to fit. When I ship cookies overseas I use two white bakery boxes that fit the flat rate priority boxes perfectly.

• Wrap each cookie individually in plastic wrap, or wrap two cookies back to back. Place in the inner boxes. Once you have a layer in place, tuck pieces of plastic wrap in any small gaps. This helps prevent the cookies from shifting around. It is the shifting around that causes breakage.

• Once you have your inner boxes full, tape them shut, and overwrap with a plastic bag and tape that shut. This helps prevent moisture from getting into the package and turning your cookies into a soggy mess.

• Now you are ready to fill the flat rate priority box. Put a layer of bubble wrap into the bottom, set your smaller box or boxes inside. Fill any gaps around the boxes with crumbled newspaper, tissue, or plastic bags.

• Put your note or greeting into a baggy and place into the shipping box. Close it and give it a shake. If nothing moves inside, you can go ahead and seal it up and put on the shipping label. If you hear or feel anything moving inside the package, add more packing material.