Cookie Jar Chronicles

Posts Tagged ‘custom packaging’

Everyone is Going Back to School!

If you’ve spent any time in downtown Boston within the last week (not mention thousands of other US towns), you’ve seen it — the long, steady stream of U-Hauls, trailer hitches and heavy duty dollies at every doorstep; vintage furniture and mattresses lining the city’s curbs; hugs goodbye for parents and friendly greetings for new neighbors. It’s back-to-school time all over the country, and it’s going to take a lot more than a dining hall card and some ramen noodles to keep all those students going through final exams. Why not help them through the tough times by sending a little something to ease those hunger pangs? Here are a few of our ideas:

1) A Ginormous Book that’s Actually a Box Full of Mini Cookies

The Big Book of Cookie Bites might be the answer to the study session munchies. This atlas-style book-box overflows with 48 assorted mini cookies, including, but not limited to, Chocolate Chunk, Chocolate Toffee, Buttercrunch, Oatmeal Raisin, Ginger Molasses, and White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. Once the cookies are gone, the old world map style book will be a handsome keepsake for years to come! Priced at $75 plus S&H.

2) A Little School Spirit Plus a Little Something Sweet

Back to School College Care Packages are boxes full of cookies and brownies that are custom-decorated in colors to match any student’s alma mater. YOU can specify an appropriate box style and ribbon to match the colors of any student’s school, and then choose from a list of delicious sweets for us to tuck inside and ship. Call us today to put together a custom care package for your student. Pricing varies depending on contents.

3) A Gift That Doubles as Storage Once the Cookies Vanish

Our Crocodile Cookie Collection contains eight of our mouth-watering chocolate chip cookies and eight of our crispy, sweet buttercrunch cookies. Packaged in a chocolate-brown faux crocodile keepsake box, this gift does double-duty, serving up a delicious treat at first, and then finding a second life as a handy (and stylish) storage box for photos, cds, or take-out menus. Priced at $32 plus S&H.

Weddings in Houston

Harvard Sweet Boutique was proud to have our favor centerpieces featured recently in the Houston Wedding Blog. The editors called our sweets “ridiculously delicious” and mused over the many design choices that range from the fanciful to the hip to the classic.

Whether you’re planning a wedding in Houston, Honolulu or Hoboken, email us or give us a call at 1-888-5 SWEETS to learn about some of the custom options we offer when it comes to beautiful and delicious favors and favor centerpieces.

Support for the Christopher’s Haven Gala at Boston’s Fairmont Copley Hotel

The morning of November 21st found Sue George in the grand ballroom of Boston’s elegant Fairmont Copley hotel, busily arranging some lovely centerpieces of favors in the center of each of 30 linen-draped tables. The occasion was the Christopher’s Haven annual fundraising Gala, and Sue had donated that centerpieces for the benefit. Her design incorporated silk butterflies and glittering branches of willow to help underscore the event’s spring-like theme of “The Giving Tree.”

The evening was a success, raising thousands of dollars for Christopher’s Haven, whose mission is to make a tangible difference in the day-to-day lives of children and the families who bring them to the MassGeneral Hospital for Children for cancer treatment. Christopher’s Haven works to provide comfortable housing and a supportive community for these special families.

Harvard Sweet Boutique Goes to Washington

Sue George was recently asked by Dale Blank, sister of veteran Washington D.C. journalist Craig Crawford to create a custom keepsake gift in honor of the release of Mr. Crawford’s new book. Co-authored by Helen Thomas, dean of the White House Press Corps, the book, titled “Listen  Up, Mr. President” was recreated as an oversized box, which, when opened, revealed a collection of Harvard Sweet Boutique’s political cookies, including colorful stars, flags, Democratic donkeys and Republican elephants.

Ms. Blank came up with the idea when she saw our Big Book of Cookie Bites online in September, and wondered if it might be possible to customize the package with a special cover and fill it with political-themed cookies. After giving Sue a call, a plan was hatched and one week later, the custom gift was part of Crawford’s book launch party in Washington, D.C.

Have a big idea that you think would make a great gift for a very special occasion? Give us a call and let us help you bring it to life!

New Favor Designs!

Our centerpieces and favors have become so popular, that we’ve added a bunch of new box styles and ribbon colors.  From fresh and fruity kiwi polka dots with papaya-colored grosgrain to sleek and elegant silver with navy satin. The combinations are virtually endless. Call us at 1-888-579-3387 or email us at info@harvardsweetboutique.com with your idea — we’d love to create some custom-designed favors for your special event!

Special New Gifts for Back-To-School

Whether burning the midnight oil in a serious study session, or blasting across a sports field to make the team’s coach proud, students everywhere will appreciate a gift of handmade cookies to fuel their hungry fires.
Now available at Harvard Sweet Boutique are two new options for satiating your starving student:

1) The Big Book of Cookie Bites is a handsome gift that is universally appealing to students, teachers, and even executives. This atlas-style book-box overflows with 48 assorted mini cookies, including, but not limited to, Chocolate Chunk, Chocolate Toffee, Buttercrunch, Oatmeal Raisin, Ginger Molasses, and White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies.  Once the cookies are gone, the old world map style book will grace the desktop for years to come! Priced at $75 plus S&H.

2) Back to School College Care Packages are boxes full of cookies and brownies that are custom-decorated in colors to match any student’s alma mater. You can specify an appropriate box style and ribbon to match the colors of any student’s school, and then choose from a list of delicious sweets for us to tuck inside and ship. Pricing varies depending on contents.

Will you sell me some of your boxes without anything in them?

Here’s another question we get occasionally, from wedding planners or brides who are taken with our packaging designs. Do we ever sell just empty boxes? The answer, we are sorry to tell you, is no–we don’t sell boxes on their own. We only sell them filled with Harvard Sweet Boutique products, and decorated with beautiful hand-tied ribbons and embellishments.

It’s important to us that the packages be associated only with our high-quality baked goods, so that every person that opens one up for the first time will always connect that packaging with our cookies, brownies and truffles.

Floral Arrangement vs. HSB Favor Centerpiece: A Cost Comparison

You’ll hear us talk a lot about our centerpieces. When Sue George came up with the concept a couple of years ago, she had no idea that it would catch on so quickly. The eye-catching stacks of boxes seem to really make people’s eyes light up. When they come to realize that they get to take home one of the colorful boxes, and that it’s filled with delicious baked treats, some folks have been known to clap and giggle with glee.

One thing you haven’t heard us talk about much is exactly how much more affordable our centerpieces are than standard floral arrangements. When you add together the cost of favors for each guest and floral arrangements for every table, the combined cost can soar to heights you never would have dreamed of when you put together your wedding budget. It can be a real heart breaker. By combining the cost of both of these necessities into one line item on your budget, you can save hundreds of dollars with this one choice, and make sticking to your budget one step easier.

According to theknot.com, favors can cost as little as $1 per guest and can climb up to $20 per guest, and wedding flowers can eat up 8-10% of your total wedding budget. While it would be difficult to give an exact cost comparison, since the range of types and costs of both favors and centerpieces varies so widely, we can, at least, share an example using some commonly available cost points we researched at top wedding sites online:

EXAMPLE #1: You have 100 guests, who will be seated in groups of 10 at round tables. You are getting married in the Boston area in September, and you are thinking about using a low arrangement of seasonal flowers in the center of each of the tables, like calla lilies, roses and hydrangea–perhaps something like this simple, clean style from FTD, which costs about $140:

For your favors, you were thinking of doing a sweet treat, like candy or cookies, packaged in a little box and placed at each person’s place setting. You want the favor to be in your wedding’s colors, and the treat inside to be tasty. You decide on sugar cookies from a local bakery. You’ll place two of them in a simple white box and tie it with some colored silk ribbon. It’s kind of generic, but it still looks quite pretty. When you add up the price of 200 cookies, the white boxes and the colored ribbon, the favors end up costing a total of $4 a piece. You didn’t keep track of how much time you spent searching for each of the individual elements of the favor, but at least you were able to be resourceful and keep the cost down. You’re proud of your selections, and know they’ll look great on the tables.

Total price tag for this scenario: $1800

EXAMPLE #2: You realize that your budget for flowers and favors is going to have to be slashed, but you’re not willing to compromise style or quality. You decide to use your favors AS your centerpiece–you clever little bride! If this works out, you might just start a trend in Boston…

So, knowing that you still want to do the cookies in cute boxes with ribbons, you turn to Sue George at Harvard Sweet Boutique (how green of you to stay local!) Sue does some research and finds some adorable gold boxes for you that will work perfectly with your theme of gold and roses. The silk ribbon and tulle she ties around them is so elegant, it makes you want to weep with joy. The six handmade cookies you select to put inside are so mouthwatering, you’re not sure you want to even serve cake!

Sue suggests placing the boxes in three stacked circles in the center of the table, with the bows all facing out. Five on the bottom, then a group of four, then one on top, like a cherry. She says it will create just enough height for some color, texture and pop, without keeping your guests from seeing one another across the table.

Total price tag for this scenario: $800

Wow. You saved $1000! You’re feeling so good about it, that you’re thinking of buying 100 red roses, and laying one at each person’s place setting, to REALLY jazz it up. Why not? You’ll still be spending hundreds less than in the original scenario, and you know it will be one of the most memorable table settings your guests will have ever seen.

Ideas for Graduation Day

Do you know a proud graduate who is celebrating their big day this month? If so, you might want to help congratulate them with a custom-designed gift box of freshly baked sweets.

Harvard Sweet Boutique prides itself on using only the freshest ingredients and baking the tastiest, most memorable sweets. But it’s our custom packaging that really gives our gifts that extra “sumthin’ sumthin’” that makes folks sit up and take notice before they even untie the ribbon and take off the lid.

Let us help you select a box and ribbon in your graduate’s school colors to make their gift not only delicious and beautiful, but personal and thoughtful. Visit our site to get familiar with our products, and make a custom selection, or just call us toll-free at 1 (888) 5-SWEETS to discuss your preference for box and ribbon colors.