Archive for the ‘Mailing Tubes’ Category

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4 Unique Ways To Re-Use Mailing Tubes

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

After moving or receiving a high volume of posters or maps, you may find you have a surplus of mailing tubes on your hands that you just don’t know what to do with. Here are a few creative ways to re-use or re-purpose cardboard mailing tubes so they don’t end up in a landfill or taking up precious space in your closets.

1. Make Boot Trees
You can keep the tops of tall, flexible boots from flopping over and developing unsightly creases by inserting cardboard mailing tubes into them to help them keep their shape. With a little ingenuity these cardboard tubes can be affixed to a board to create the perfect way to store all of your boots in your closet.

2. Make A Plant Guard
To avoid scarring young trees and shrubs with a weed whacker, simply cut one or several mailing tubes in half lengthwise and tie the halves around the trunks of your trees while you work.

3. Storing Important Documents
Obviously cardboard tubes are a great way to store important documents, maps, and other paper items you want to keep clean, safe, and free from creases. The best thing to do is store your diplomas, marriage certificates, etc. in a mailing tube, and then keep that in a cedar chest to protect it from insects.

4. Keep Christmas Lights Untangled
Due to their cylindrical shape, mailing tubes provide the perfect way to roll up and store Christmas lights. Simply wrap Christmas lights around the mailing tube like a spool to keep them untangled all year long.

Hopefully now you have some ideas for ways to reuse mailing tubes and help you live a low-impact lifestyle. Check back for more creative uses of shipping and packaging supplies!

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How To Use Discount Packaging Supplies To Facilitate Learning In The Classroom

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

As a teacher, it is a constant struggle for you to come up with creative ways to engage your students, without breaking your budget. One great way to save money while coming up with unique and stimulating lesson plans, is to use discount packaging supplies as learning tools! Here are several ways to use packaging supplies to help educate your students.

Bubble Wrap
The satisfaction of popping a bubble of bubble wrap is something that simply cannot be denied. Whether as a toy to increase sensory perception in very young children, or as an art medium for your students to create interesting sculptures, bubble wrap makes for a great learning tool. Finally, bubble wrap can be a great tool if you’re doing the famous “Egg Drop” lesson plan.

Boxes
Corrugated cardboard boxes, especially in different sizes, can be a handy tool for discussing concepts of space and volume in mathematics or science classes. Consider having your students measure the boxes and calculate the volume and surface area of each one. A great lesson plan would be for them to explain what box should contain which items, based on fit and volume.

Mailing Tubes
Whether as a way for you to store and organize bulletin board materials, or as a learning implement for students, mailing tubes are a great addition to any classroom. It can help students learn to deal with circles and cylinders, or help students with a wide variety of arts and crafts projects.

Kraft Paper
Laid across a grouping of desks, kraft paper can be a great method to encourage students to work as teams to solve problems. Students will love the concept of simply writing directly on their desks rather than in notebooks or loose sheets of paper.

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Cool And Fun Crafts For Kids With Leftover Mailing Tubes

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

If you have leftover shipping supplies that you don’t know what to do with, get creative! Here are some things that you and your kids can do with those unwanted mailing tubes. If you don’t have any lying around, you can also get them at very little cost at any store that sells shipping supplies.

Rain Stick
To make those soothing rain sounds, you don’t need to wait on the weather. All you need as a mailing tube, some foil, a hot-glue gun, some rice and corn kernels, and a broom handle. Roll the foil lengthwise so that you have a rope of sorts. Wrap this around a broom handle to create a coil and stretch it out to the length of the mailing tube. Keep in mind that you can cut the mailing tube to any desired length. Put the foil in the tube and hot glue gun the ends to the inside. Then glue one cap onto one end of the tube and let your child pour in the rice and corn kernels, then glue the other cap on. Decorate the tube by painting, coloring or gluing and you’ve got a new rain stick that you made together!

Bangle
To make this unique fashion accessory, cut the tube into small, bangle- or cuff-sized circles. Cut out part of the circle to create an opening for the arm. Take any colorful fabric, tulle is especially cute, and cut it and inch or two thick and about a yard long, and wrap it from end to end of the bangle. Tie the ends in a knot and use a glue gun to attach the excess fabric to the inside of the bangle. You can buy grommets and use pliers to fasten them onto the cardboard for a rock and roll look, or you can use a hot glue gun to add beads and sparkles. Voilà! Cool new bracelet!

Race Track
This is a simple and fun way to construct a new track to race toy cars on. Just take the mailing tubes and cut them down the middle. You can paint them to look like a road by spray-painting them black and drawing yellow lines, or just decorate them in wacky colors. Use them to build a new racetrack or slide for the toy cars to cruise on!

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Protect Your Goods During Shipment by Using the Right Packaging Products

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

Packing and shipping products is a necessary department to many businesses, and protecting these goods are just as important. Choosing the right mailing box or envelope ensures the goods inside are snug during shipment, but what about fragile items and electronics? You can never be too careful when packing your shipping containers, and you certainly don’t want to rely on the shipping company to replace any damaged items. Before closing your packaged boxes, make sure everything is where it needs to be.

Fill any negative space with packing peanuts or crumpled paper in order to completely secure the contents of your shipping container. Because your mailing boxes can travel great distances before arriving at the final destination, you want to make sure nothing is damaged along the way. If you want to add extra stability to your packaging, include custom poly-foam material built for the specific product. Electronic products especially need to be stabilized during shipment, as the slightest knocking around can easily damage the item.

Check the contents of your mailing box or envelope before sealing. Is everything properly secured? Move the box around a bit and see how much each of the items inside move and whether or not they rub against each other. Make sure you’ve included everything needed for this particular shipment and that everything is well protected.

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