On a hot Wednesday evening in Cottage Grove, groups of people trickle into Bohemia Park for the weekly Concerts in the Park event. Across the grass, food tents line the sidewalk. Among them is Random Acts of Cookies.
Glass jars with all flavors of cookies sit on a carefully decorated table. Judy Smith and her husband, Daniel, greet passersby with the warmth you'd expect from someone selling sweets.
The couple of 34 years are relatively new to the business. It started as a pandemic hobby when Judy found herself searching for a creative outlet. Her friend, Peg Major, had sent her a video of a cookie jewel box, suggesting Judy could make one.
“I scoffed at her, 'Yeah right.' We laughed,” Judy said. “Very sadly she passed away shortly after, and I made the cookie jewel box for her, and surprised myself that I could make something so beautiful.”
While many people were baking sourdough during lockdown, Judy was turning out more cookies than her family could eat. That’s when she began leaving them anonymously on people’s doorsteps.
“I wanted to bring a little bit of joy to people's lives, because you know, we were all dealing with a lot then,” she said. “So that’s where the name came from, Random Acts of Cookies.”
At first, she resisted turning her hobby into a business, worried it would turn a creative outlet into a chore. But demand grew, and the Smiths eventually turned their home kitchen into a licensed domestic bakery.
“We are already bursting at the seams again, but that next step is a really big one, and one big issue is there’s not a lot of places to rent–for businesses–that have commercial kitchens,” she said.
To ease the workload of decorating hundreds of cookies, Judy invested in an edible ink printer. But not everything was sugar and spice, she soon discovered that buying digital art for printing wasn’t as straightforward as she thought.
“AI is a whole new ball of wax, and so I was pretty naive about it. Unknowingly, I was supporting Etsy business owners who were using AI-generated art. I thought I was doing it the right way, paying for my art,” she said. “A lot of artists—and rightly so—feel like AI steals their art. So I got lambasted over social media.”
Judy took it as a learning experience and went to a class on AI. Then, she discovered the sweet spot: turning her cookies into edible canvases for local artists.
“I had a good friend, Marie Donner, as my first artist,” she said. “I had been wanting her art on my cookies for years and so we finally connected, and everyone loved it!”
From there, Random Acts of Cookies found its niche: showcasing local artists on cookies with a 20% commission going back to the artist. At the Cottage Grove Friday Art Walk, Judy connected with her next collaborator, Uyen-thi Nguyen, who contributed heartwarming cat art.
“People just started flocking and wanting their art on my cookies! So I’m already booking people for next year, to have art on my cookies, and I am thrilled,” she said. “It’s a win/win situation because it’s helping to promote their beautiful artwork and it’s making me have beautiful art on my cookies.”
This month, watercolor artist Dianna Bottini’s work decorated the sugar cookies. For August’s Friday Art Walk—scheduled for Aug. 29—Judy will collaborate with Charles Mattoon, a local “poetry peddler,” to print verses about cookies.
Beyond highlighting artists, Random Acts of Cookies has also raised money for nonprofits. In its first year, all proceeds supported scholarships for children’s dance scholarships at South Lane Dance Academy. Currently, Judy is planning a new project with students at Harrison Elementary School, who will design cookie art and choose a local nonprofit to receive the commission.
Meanwhile, the Smiths are preparing for their biggest event of the year: the Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire in rural Polk County. Dressed in costume, they’ll sell themed cookies alongside a dozen classic flavors with help from a team of 17.
“We sell thousands of cookies at this event,” she said. “It’s incredible and we have so much fun!”
Though for Judy Smith, Random Acts of Cookies is about more than the big events. It’s a way to spend time with her husband, support local artists, and share joy with her community.
“It makes me so happy to be able to promote other people’s artwork,” she said. “The joy on their faces when they see their art on a cookie, they are so proud. It just makes everyone have a smile on their face.”
