Quick Halloween Costumes using Shipping Supplies

Halloween is fast approaching. Have you purchased a costume for you or your child yet? Halloween costumes can get expensive, and sometimes you find Halloween is days away and you have no costume! But don’t worry, because you can make your own simple but fun Halloween costume at home with items you already own! The type of materials you will be using include boxes, tape, and paint. So go ahead and read on for some great costume ideas!

Rubik’s Cube- Materials: Corrugated box, black electrical tape, and paint

You will need a large, cube shaped box for this. Start by cutting holes into the box where you will be standing and where your arms will need to be free. Once the base is assembled use black electrical tape to map out the small, individual cubes on the box. When this is finished you can paint each small cube the color you desire!

Mummy- Materials: White clothing, white Duct tape

Choose white clothing that you don’t mind losing to this Halloween project, then wrap the white Duct tape around the clothing items to look like a wrap. For the head, use a ski mask and wrap Duct tape around that. This will stay in place more easily than gauze while still being recognizable!

Robot- Materials: Corrugated Box, paint, dryer vents, aluminum foil

To start with, follow the same steps as you did with the Rubik’s cube, cutting in space for you to stand, place your arms through, etc. After this is complete, paint your box a grey/silver color like a robot. Your creativity can take this costume anywhere, but we recommend dryer vents for the arms, grey pants for the legs, and aluminum foil around an existing pair of shoes. The face and buttons of the robot is up to you. You may choose to create a silver hat, use a second box as a head, make buttons from paint, paper, tape…the possibilities are endless!

 Jack in the Box- Materials: Corrugated Box, paint and markers, clothing pieces (for Jack)

Just like the rubik’s cube and robot, start by cutting out an area to stand in of the box. With this costume you will not want to make a space for your arms to stick out of the box. Instead, they should be above the top of the box. Once this is finished it is time to decorate your box! You can paint it any color you wish, and write “Jack in the Box” on the front. Feel free to add other decorations to the box to liven it up. For this costume to work, you must also dress up in an outfit akin to a jester. You’ll want some colorful clothing and a floppy hat. Consider adding some clown makeup as well!

Where’s Waldo- Materials: Clothing (white shirt, hat, and jeans), red duct tape

You can easily portray this classic character in just a few minutes! First put on your favorite pair of blue jeans. Next, take a long sleeved white shirt and use red Duct tape to make stripes on it. Do the same with a white winter hat, and you have a recognizable costume ready to go!

Barbie- Materials: Corrugated Box, paint, clothing (for Barbie)

This costume will take a bit more cutting. First, take your corrugated box and cut in an area for you to stand in. Next, you will need to cut a “window” out of one side of the box, so your head and body can be seen. Please note that your entire body, besides your legs for walking, should be inside the box. Make sure to leave sections of the front of your box so you may paint and write on it. Next, paint the box pink and write “Barbie” on the box. When inside the box, dress up in fashionable, fun clothes to get the Barbie look!

Stick Figure- Materials: White clothing, white paper plates, black electrical tape

Start off with a wardrobe of all white, including a long sleeved shirt, pants, and shoes. From here, use one piece of tape to make an outline of the body. This includes one line down the shirt, a line down each of the sleeves, and a line down each of the pant legs. Next make a mask out of a paper plate, with holes for eyes and a smile made out of tape. Just like that you have a fun, unique costume!

We hope you enjoyed reading about these costume ideas. Give them a try! None of these take too many materials or too much time. Happy Halloween!

Properly Pack and Ship

Whether you are used to shipping items or new to the business, it is always good to take a refresher on the proper way to pack, ship, and send out products. This month, we’re going to explain how to prepare your items for shipping.

The first step you must take is to choose what type of packaging you will be using to ship your items. This varies greatly depending on what exactly you are sending. A corrugated box may work best, and is most common when it comes to shipping. Other options include bubble mailers, mailing tubes, and much more. You should try to use new shipping containers whenever possible. Not only that, but be sure the container you choose is sized to the product you are sending, as well as strong enough to support its weight. It’s very easy to test the strength of a shipping container and check the dimensions to avoid errors while packing you items.

When packing your products to be shipped, you must be sure to include the appropriate padding protection. Parcels can face some rough treatment while in transit, so it is important you protect the items you are sending. You can do this in multiple ways. If you are sending multiple items in one shipping container, make sure each is wrapped separately. You must also make sure the item you are shipping is protected from the walls of the shipping container. You should use enough cushioning in your shipping container that the item you are shipping does not shift very much, if at all. Good choices for cushioning your items includes bubble wrap, loose fill, foam, and more!

Next, make sure you close your shipping container tightly. You don’t want the shipping container to open while in transit. How you do this really depends on what you are shipping, though tape is the most common way.

The last step is no less important than the others…label everything correctly! You want to be sure you have the correct address on your label, as well as your correct return address. Incorrect labeling creates huge headaches when you are trying to send stuff out.

We hope these tips can be of some help. Check back every month for shipping tips, information on our latest sales, and more!   

Packing Fragile Items

It’s nearing the end of the month, meaning many young adults are heading off to college. Packing up your life and moving to a new place is very daunting, no matter who you are, and this is particularly true when one has a lot of fragile items to transport. Having corrugated boxes isn’t enough. You need to have a strategy to pack your breakable items so they stay intact throughout a trip. If you find yourself at a loss, don’t worry. We have some great tips that will make this process much easier on you.

The item people probably think of first when it comes to protecting breakables is bubble products. Bubble

products have been used for decades as excellent padding to keep items safe. You can use bubble products in many ways to keep your items safe. Use bubble wrap to pad your items and pack them into a corrugated box. This is a simple but effective strategy. Something many people don’t realize, however, is that you can purchase more than just bubble wrap. You can also purchase items such as bubble pouches. These pre-made pouches allow you to simply insert items, no wrapping or cutting required! There are advantages and disadvantages to both options, so it is important to find the method that works best for your needs.

Another great item you can use to protect items is foam products. You can use foam in multiple ways. First, you can use it to actually wrap up your items. You can also use it as a cushioning layer between items. This is very effective with dishes. Foam is very lightweight and won’t scratch up your items when you use it. This makes it a good option for your valuables.

Newsprint is a great economic option for packing and moving fragile items. You can use it to wrap and pack multiple items into one box! You can use it to pack around any shape of item, whether it is something as standard as a plate or a more complicated household decoration. Newsprint isn’t only good for wrapping items. It also makes great void fill. Use it to stuff between objects in a corrugated box to stop the items from moving around and bumping each other.

Speaking of void fill, you may be looking for an item specifically meant to add extra cushioning in a box. Loose fill is the answer to that problem. It acts as a shock absorber for your products and fills in some of the space in boxes to add protection while your items are in transit. There’s a reason people have been using loose fill for so long…it works.

There’s additional ways you can pack fragile items as well. Try wrapping fragile items in towels or clothing. They offer a great deal of protection. Styrofoam is another good option, particularly for larger items. It’s always a good idea to save the box and Styrofoam large electronics came in to safely pack them up again later.

There you have it! Those are our best tips on how to pack up fragile items. We hope that we’ve been of some help to you.

Unique Uses for Boxes

Here at ShippingSupply.com, we know why people use corrugated boxes. For shipping and packing, of course! However, there are other fun and unique things you can do with your corrugated boxes. To show this, we’ve compiled this list of our favorite ten things to do with corrugated boxes!

1.       As a sign.  Why spend the money on a sign to promote something like a rummage sale or lemonade stand when you can save money by making one yourself? Just cut up a box, write your message, and post your sign! You can even get extra creative by using paint and drawing art on the sign to make it stand out.

2.       As a toy box. This is a great idea for boxes that come with removable lids. Paint the box with bright colors! Add stickers and cut-outs, or let your child decorate it all on their own. Then use it to store toys they regularly use.  

3.       To wrap presents. Many companies offer boxes for sale during the holidays to wrap your presents in. Save your money by recycling old corrugated boxes! Plus, you can make it a game. Wrap a DVD in a garment box with lots of padding. Or wrap up a scarf in a small cube box. It will make it harder for people to guess your gift.

4.       For costumes and costume props. You could use the cardboard to make props, such as swords, or as

the base of the entire costume! Cardboard is fairly lightweight, so it works well for costumes.

5.       For crafts. There’s tons of crafts out there that use corrugated boxes, from simple crafts for kids to elaborate projects for adults. Find a craft book or do a simple Google search to find hundreds of great projects!

6.       Toys for kids. It’s a common joke that you spend tons of money on toys for kids, and they’ll spend days playing with the boxes the toys come in. Hand off the boxes and let kids go wild, or make something! You can make houses, cars, rockets, and more!

7.       To store mementos. Do you like to save items and souvenirs that you can’t incorporate into your décor? For example, do you enjoy saving play bills, movie tickets, etc? Using a simple cardboard box is a great way to store these items all in one place! Next time you’re feeling nostalgic, everything will be there in one place for you.

8.       To store everything. Why spend the money on large plastic tubs when you can do the same thing with large corrugated boxes? Sure, it may not look as pretty, but it will save you a lot of money. All you have to do is label the boxes to know what’s inside.

9.       As drawer dividers. Do you have a drawer with multiple items inside it? Pieces of cardboard make for cheap and effective dividers. Simply cut up some boxes to place layers of cardboard between items. Or, if you are more crafty, you can design a full system out of cardboard!

10.   To ship items, of course!

We hope that some of these ideas come in handy for helping you give purpose to your leftover corrugated boxes! And if you’re looking to buy corrugated boxes, we have a huge selection on our site, HERE. 

Save with Shipping Supply

We’ve not featured any of our sales on this blog in a while, so this month we’re going to as a reminder of the great deals you can get when you shop with us. Now through June 23^rd, all of our ties & fasteners are 12% off! And all you need to get this sale is the code SALE12.

These small items bring big convenience to your business. You won’t believe the large variety you will have to choose from when you browse ShippingSupply.com. Whether you want cable ties, cotton twine, or rope, you will be sure to find it on our site.

So don’t wait! Celebrate the start of summer with us with this great sale. Are you interested in shopping our large selection of ties and fasteners? We want to make it easier on you! If you have any questions feel free to give us a call at 1-877-501-PACK (7225).

We have sales like this every single week. If you’ve been missing them, it’s probably because you aren’t subscribed to our weekly email newsletter. Sign up HERE for great sales! Plus, when you sign up you will receive a 10% discount towards your first purchase. There’s no reason not to sign up!

Not enough deals for you? Well, do you keep up with our deal of the day? You can find it daily on our Facebook page. Every day we post a discount on an item online. Today the deal is on:

9 1/2" x 6 1/2" x 2" Kraft Easy-Fold Mailers

Deal Price: $17.19
Normal: $19.10

You will see great deals like this every day when you like our page or follow us on twitter!

We just wanted to remind everyone of all the great ways you can save when you shop with us. So don’t wait! Get shopping for our great products and great deals!

Moving Tips

May is here, and it is a big month for people to move during. Whether you are moving to a house, a new apartment, or have college grads moving, moving is a lot of work and often requires a lot of packing supplies. That’s why we want to offer some of our best tips to make your move as easy as possible.

·         Pack your heavy items in small boxes and your lighter items in large ones. It may be tempting to fit as much as you can into a large box, but you don’t want to make it so heavy that it's impossible to move.

·         If possible, pack electronics in the original box. If not, use bubble wrap to protect them.

·         Tape your boxes closed. During a move, boxes may tip over, someone may drop the box while walking, etc. If the box is taped your possessions will be safer.

·         Use unprinted newsprint instead of newspaper to wrap items. Printed newsprint could stain your items.

·         Pack your boxes by room. It will make the entire experience much more organized.

·         Use wardrobe boxes. These boxes allow you to hang your clothes on hangers inside the box. It will save a lot of time.

·         Always label your boxes so you know what is inside them. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck opening each box to find what you need.

·         Start packing early. It takes much longer than you would expect it to, so start packing the things you don’t use as far in advance as possible.

·         Pack a box of essential items such as a change of clothes, your toothbrush, and other similar items. Have it accessible right when you move in.

·         Pack your items tightly. Do not leave empty space in the boxes. Any item can be damaged. Fill this space with towels or packing paper.

That’s just a few tips for making your next move easier. Looking for moving supplies? ShippingSupply.com has a large selection of items such as boxes, tape, and more that will be a huge help with your new move! 

Keep in Contact

ShippingSupply.com is one of the leaders of the packing and industrial supplies industry. It’s been in business since 1994 and carries a wide range of products for its customers.

All of us here at ShippingSupply.com want to make your experience with our store as positive as possible. Today we’re going to show you all the ways to keep in contact with us, and how to keep up-to-date on our sales! 

First, let’s discuss contacting us. There is a multitude of ways for you to do that. First, you may try calling us. You can reach us at 1-414-290-1073, or toll-free at 1-877-501-PACK. If you prefer not to call, we also have a contact form on our site. All you need to do is add a bit of your personal information, write your message, and send it along. You can find that HERE. Or do you need help right now? We also have a live chat option that is available the majority of the day on weekdays. You can find that HERE.

Do you keep yourself informed of our deal of the day? Every weekday we post our daily deal online for our customers to take advantage of. This daily deal could be on anything. Sometimes it is for contains. Sometimes earplugs. Maybe we’ll have a deal on a specific poly bag, corrugated box, or tag. You never know. We post these deals to both our Facebook page and our twitter account.

The best way to keep updated on our latest sales, products, and more, is to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter. And if you haven’t signed up yet, you’ll receive 10% off when you do. Who could pass up on that offer? You can sign up for the newsletter HERE.

We hope that some of these links can be useful for you. As always, we will see you at the next blog entry. Goodbye!