Author: Mark Frazer

  • DIY Shipping Box Trick

    Oh man, it can be a real pain finding the right size box to ship special items in.  I’m just saying….

    Since boxes are also part of the “shipping and handling” cost, it helps immensely when we’re able to save money and time on the shipping box itself.  We often run into this when my wife Koni is shipping one of her “artfully upcycled” creations across the planet to it’s new owner.  Boxes are generally standard sizes and often way overpriced.  Especially over priced if you value your time trying to find that special size or your gas money driving around looking for one.  When you need to ship something that’s outside of the standard sizes readily available and don’t want to use an over sized box that usually makes shipping more expensive, its extremely handy to be able to quickly and cheaply make your own box.  Since much of what Koni makes is very unique, we ran into this dilemma a long time ago.  So, I came up with this method of making our own boxes that is easy, fast, and often free.   It’s hard to beat free but even if you don’t have any larger pieces of left over cardboard (TV box, appliance box, etc.) you can buy bulk sheets of cardboard at a very reasonable price here.  Usually if you end up buying bulk cardboard sheet stock it’s less than $1 per sheet and depending on the sheet size you can often get multiple boxes out of one sheet.  Since it’s a busy shipping season with the holidays already here, I thought I’d take a few minutes to film and share this trick.  I hope it helps you have a better day and solves lots of problems down the road.  Always happy to answer any questions or comments below and feel free to share this with anyone you know that gets frustrated with finding the right shipping box sizes.

  • Donning your Hero Cape and…the Fear of Flying

    Our #1 tip of all time to overcome your DIY fears….. 

    Alright so you have the bug.  You have a plan, task or project in mind to tackle but maybe you’re a little bit new to doing it yourself (DIY).  Maybe even the thought of getting your groove on and going after the challenge you’ve written on that Post-it and stuck to your bathroom mirror is giving you a little angst……a few uncomfortable jitters.  Or, maybe you’ve been around the DIY block a lap or three and you’re about to take on something you’ve…NEVER…DONE…BEFORE…..heaven forbid.  It can happen to anyone really.  Whether you’re seasoned in the fine art of “making stuff happen” or newly energized by the seemingly endless horizon of “stuffs” to make happen in your own life, that twinge of sudden panic, or dare I say fear, can sneak up on you and steal all of the good clean fun right out of your DIY party.

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  • “First Steps” for every DIY Hero

    2014-08-16 09.44.54
    Grog & Ogg

    Every Journey Has a “First Step”

    Some helpful First Step tips for those heading out on the DIY journey…

    So, as we stand before what can best be described as nature’s “eye candy”, the 14,409’ high Mount Rainier in Washington State, USA, it’s fitting to get real about the thought of climbing to the top of it. Sure, it’s quite a compelling dream and certainly not a journey without risk but considering the challenge is also a quick lesson in the classroom of life. I attend this class frequently and if you’re not already a regular attendee, I warmly invite you to join in the fun. Most certainly we’re all enrolled in the school of life so we can spend our tuition wisely or…waste it away on dreams never lived and challenges never answered. To live a dream and answer a challenge is to take a journey…much like climbing that mountain. All journeys, long or short, easy or hard, start with that “first step” and when taking on a new DIY project there are a few things to consider before heading out on that trail of adventure. If we take a small bit of time before getting started to prepare for the trip, it’s much easier to step with confidence and enjoy the view along the way. Even when we travel down a path or tackle a project we’ve never done before. Below are some helpful pointers that are arranged to easily remember. Keep it S.I.M.P.L.E! (more…)