Scrap-n-Craft

Everytime you buy food supplies at a supermarket or store, the cashier assistants give you with carryout paper bags or paper sacks to hold your items in for bringing them out to your vehicle. After you have unpacked the contents of the bag at home, you possibly tuck the flattened bag in the under-the-sink drawer for safekeeping until the opportunity to reuse them for they are highly reusable. The problem begins when you have loads of them there, and they in fact cannot be all used for your anticipated needs. What can you do with the bags? You can simply make new containers out of them.

Minimal handmade baskets out of very easy to do even children can make them, and usually enjoy doing so. You can use these handmade baskets for giving away a little fruits from your orchard, or some simple gifts. Many are tired of the department store kind of gift wrapping that some handcrafted wrappers should be very welcome, for it comes with the affection and care of the gift source. Creating a simple container you can earn many points with the recipient.

The essential steps in making the easiest usable basket are outlined below:

5. Take out four paper grocery bags. Roll down the open mouth of one by folding the top outwards, until the rolled edge is about three inches from the bottom.

6. Place the second bag inside the first bag. Roll down the edge of the second just until it touches the edge of the first bag. Perform the same with the third bag inside the second bag. You now would have a three-layered basket strong enough to contain most light dry materials. Even out the rolled sides by creasing them down.

7. Remove the bottom of the fourth bag. Roll it the same manner until you have shaped a ring. Insert the layered basket inside the ring and put the ring in the center to make the handle. Sew, glue or paste it in the location and you have a paper basket.

8. Embellish it with glued cut-outs, color it with pens or inscribe some messages on the rolled-down edges just for fun. The intention is to personalize the basket to turn the simple gift it holds more meaningful and special.

You can make other kinds of containers with paper, like interlacing rolled and flattened bag paper into a little basket or vase for covering a table floral centerpiece, as example. Rolling them firmly will stiffen the tube sufficiently for the produced basket to stand; rolling the tubes loosely will make them very flexible for weaving. Paper printed with colorful illustrations makes lively trays or urns or something similar; plain-colored paper grants certain elegance when made to suit the theme of the room.

Whatever you may wish to make a paper basket for, and it is limited only by your imagination, you can make the production of the baskets an enjoyable family activity by engaging the kids. They will love to do the baskets and you will adore them creating the baskets.

Milford, Ohio is one of the older more established neighborhoods in the area of Greater Cincinnati. Its historic downtown area is filled with stores that have been there for a long time. Some of these stores include Allen’s which sells vacuum parts and vacuum pumps, Enchanted Moments and a shoe repair store. Recently, there has been an rise in the amount of new businesses that have established themselves here and are creating a lot of buzz. Not only are these companies successful, they are also breathing new life into this downtown district. Four of the companies include 20 Brix, Padrino, Sugar and the Bridge Cafe.

The owners of 20 Brix, not only built a new building that is a cornerstone in the downtown development, they also have created a destination restaurant that has a great menu and superior wine. The menu is an eclectic mix of items that have been chosen carefully and paired with featured wines. They host a variety of tastings and can accommodate most size parties. There is also outside seating for enjoying the weather and people watching. In addition to their restaurant, they also have a retail portion of their space that offers distinctive wine accessories, glasses and other entertaining supplies.

A second new business that is drawing a lot of attention is Padrino. The same owners of 20 Brix created this small family oriented restaurant that features Italian food. They serve a variety of pizzas, pastas and appetizers. Many nights they have live music, beer tastings and other themed events. They also have a few tables outside for sidewalk dining at its best. While the style of some of the stores in downtown Milford remains slightly old-fashioned, Padrino does a great job of bringing an element of urban, modern dining to this area.

The most recent addition to the business district of Milford is a small cupcakery named Sugar. They are capitalizing on the nationwide trend of cupcakes being a popular dessert. The building where this store is located was transformed structurally to maintain the original look while being completely modernized. The facade is painted a fresh shade of dark purple with cream coloring on the trim. It appearsfresh and inviting. The cupcakes come in a variety of flavors and are beautifully decorated. Each piece looks like something that could be photographed for a magazine. Whether people buy these cupcakes for the dessert for a big party or just purchase one for an afternoon treat, Sugar provides wonderful choices that everyone is sure to enjoy.

The fourth company to have a great, new existence in downtown Milford is The Bridge Cafe. This is an establishment that operates for breakfast and lunch. It is run and operated by Sonrise church and it’s volunteer members. It features a full coffee bar, homemade cookies, desserts and cozy places to visit with friends. The food is fresh, light and very good. The money from this business goes directly to the church. While it may seem like they would be promoting their religious beliefs, they do a wonderful job at making this a great restaurant where anyone is welcome, regardless of their spirituality.

When Roger’s grandfather opened his fruit stand some seventy years ago, he had no idea that it would be the catalyst which propelled his grandson into becoming one of the most prominent and influential business owners in the entire state. His specialty grocery store was known throughout the midwest for being the place to go for the very best produce, meat, and baked goods. The store was also known for its full service, and provided specialty services as varied as delivery, carryout, and a drive-thru option. Each and every day, customer after customer could be seen exiting Roger’s business with paper sacks filled with specialty cheeses, hard to find health food items, and prepared soups and sandwiches. Roger’s customers were his main source of advertising as they told others about their good shopping experiences but Roger’s other primary source of advertising was through his use of custom paper bags. Roger, like many others, selected this method of advertising for four simple reasons.

Functionality: Advertising with this tactic is a very prudent budgetary move. Essentially a business owner is achieving dual goals for the price of one with this method. First of all, customer purchases have to be packed in something durable and useful, and this is a guarantee of being accomplished. Second, a grocery satchel is basically a blank canvas on which to transmit any store information an owner feels he’d like to make known. Whether that is store hours, store motto, services offered, or eye-catching logo, all this can be presented on this portable and oft seen surface.

Affordability: As previously discussed, all grocery owners must provide their customers with a way to transport their groceries from store location to another location. This is a necessary expense written into the business plan of any store owner. For a insignificant bump in price, the grocery toter can be a walking advertisement. Compared with other advertising options, the minimal price increase is relatively insubstantial. This type of advertising is very cost effective and very simple to execute. All it takes is creating an effective layout for the space and determining which message you wish to get across to your customers.

Reusability: A large portion of customers save and reuse the totes which they have used for their groceries. These totes then become used for many, many additional jobs. From book covers used on textbooks to a way to transport any random item or items from place to place, to a handy holder for storing products or even for containing recycle-able materials in the recycling bin. Their purposes are plentiful and their uses are many fold.

Eco-friendly. Speaking of recycling, it is not hard to purchase your tote materials from a company with the goal of producing their goods in an eco-friendly way. Businesses that create totes or packing materials, in particular those processing plastic and wood based goods, are often knowledgeable in eco-friendly harvesting and recycling techniques. One trip to a company website or one conversation with a sales rep should provide a clue to the importance a company places on their responsibility to the environment.