haai Laegwen, I think the prospect of a card board box under a bridge is what keeps cookies as a hobby for many people!
In the latest comment on "https://cookieconnection.juliausher.com/topic/fondant-on-cookies" fondant is mentioned as a base for royal icing details. It could save you thetime for icing the base layer, but probably still cost you in colouring the fondant. At least there are machines for rolling it out!
I really hope you find a solution.
I wonder why, there are really nice boxes availabl *lol*
I had considered fondant as an option for coating and have not totally ruled it out, but fondant tastes, well, awful. And the coating is only between 1-3 minutes, depending on cookie size and shape. Fondant needs to be colored, too, rolled out, cut, the edges smoothed, glued to the cookie. I wonder if it saves more than, say, a minute max.
And for the decoration itself fondant is hardly an alternative in most cases. Making embellishments with molds just as time consuming as piping...
Darn, if I had fallen in love with sewing, people would be willing to pay appropriate prices, as e.g. a quilt is something lasting. A cookie isn't lasting and small in addition. Maybe I should call them non-edible and make them large as quilts 