Rubber Chicken Summer Fun!

Name that Chicken!

Casper's look a like

I remember my mother and I stopping every Sunday to feed apples and carrots to a horse that lived on a farm just down the road from our house. My mother absolutely adored this beast! For a 6 year old, this horse seemed massive and very intimidating; all white, with one blue eye that was almost clear and one brown eye.  I was terrified to go near her at first and I think she knew it. She huffed and stomped her hooves when we came by. My mom explained to me that the horse could smell the fear I had inside me and when I was not afraid any longer, that the horse would most likely approach me gently to take the apple right out of my hand. She suggested we come up with the name for this horse, so she chose "Casper". (Even though she probably had a very nice name, her owner wasn't ever around when we walked by to ask what it was). I was Wendy, and this was Casper, my scary ghost-horse-friend. The weeks went on and after some time, Casper started coming to meet us at the fence before we even got close. She'd stand there and wait patiently, either for her treats or the company, I am sure a little of both. I finally got up the courage to put my hand up to her face and offer her a carrot… Then I saw the horse teeth! I screeched, dropped the carrot and she just huffed, no stomping of the hooves —I imagine her saying "Come on kid, we've come so far!" My mom chuckled, picked up the carrot and gently raised her hand to pat Casper's nose and offer the treat. Casper happily took the food without incident.
The next week, my brother Thomas came with us for our walk. He is 13 years older than me and loves having a kid sister. He took me up on his shoulders and we were on our way. As we approached Casper, I realized I was almost as tall as her being up on his shoulders. Tom asked if I was scared and wanted to get down. I proudly said "Nope"! There she was, this large, white, beautiful and not scary at all ghost-horse-friend. I noticed she had the most beautiful and longest eyelashes I had ever seen. Immediately, staring straight at her, I was calm as could be. My brother handed me an apple to feed her and I put it right to her mouth without hesitation. She carefully took it with with her giant teeth, pulled back and dropped it inside the fence. From there, she picked it up and chomped it down. My mother and brother were so proud of me, and I was too. Casper taught me that once I gave her a name, I had an immediate connection to her that grew over time.  

The lesson Casper taught me has stuck with me over the years. Although I feel it doesn't always have to be the typical, one word boring name. I feel that giving your pets fun names, gives them their own personality. I had cats growing up and remember all their names. Emily, Sam and Mittens when I lived at home. Then I flew the coop and found Sylvester, a very handsome tuxedo cat who hunted mice like a lion hunts zebra. Leo-nardio DeCatrio came next, a prissy, well groomed, fussy little orange tabby. Sylvester was attacked by something in our woods and sadly passed. During that time, we got a bullmastiff and named him Murphy-Doodle. 2 Years later I found a kitty that looked just like Sylvester! I took him home and named him Jackson Wobbleknockers. Next up, Andrew Fluffypants, a lionhead bunny that suffers from male pattern baldness. Why do I name my pets such silly/fun/outlandish names? I am in the creative field, things just fly out of my head, land where they land, and that's perfectly OK. At least my children have sound names. Robbie (after his father) and Owen (O-Wen) part of my name. 

Jackson, Leo, Murphy, Andrew and ??? Glenn D. Henn? No, its Sherry's chicken, Mary Poppins. We got along like *this*!

This little love almost came home with me from a chicken class, he was an orphan!
He's so fluffy!

Needless to say, I love animals like my mother had, and take very good care of my fluffy ones. What would make sense to get next, seeing that I work at www.EggCartons.com? Chickens, yes, chickens. Everyone I have spoken to that has these little cluckers says they wouldn't change a thing! There are so many benefits to having and keeping chickens. At this point, I need to do some fixing up to my own home before I can add anymore animals/pets to my own personal Wild Kingdom. I will be doing heavy preparations for when my chickens hatch out of their little shells in the incubator, (Which is 10% OFF until April 30th, 2012, use code MARCHIX) here in the office, and can't wait to meet those babies! I take of my animals as if I would my own children, and plan on loving my chickens just as much! Part of my preparation is coming up with some very creative, random celebrity chicken names. Here are some my friend and a freelance illustrator for eggcartons.com Sara Sullivan have come up with. Please feel to share your ideas/names or let us know which is your favorite of our list! 

Enjoy! ツ
Hen-dy Thibodeau, Creative Department

Lettuce Grow... with Goose Cartons?

Lettuce Grow


The end of the dreadful, long, cold New England winter is nearby—my favorite time of the year besides a hot summer night. It's completely acceptable to start thinking about planting seeds for your summer crops. The stores have started putting their winter gear away and whipping out the big guns, SEEDS. One of my favorite things to do is get dirty in the garden. Digging up soil, laying in my seedlings on a warm day with my little boys giggling in the background is just heavenly.

  

FHPBL-6G only $19.95 for a pack of 25. 

I took the boys on our seeding adventure last night. We decided we wanted to try cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, lettuce, peas, beans, and eggplant. Last year our tomato plants we started from seeds grew taller than my 5'1 tall self. I dumped my coffee grounds in everyday with the tomatoes, they seemed to soak up the acid and produced a sweet/tangy taste. We also planted broccoli, squash, and beans, which did great too considering we have sandy soil here.  We started our seeds last year in paper cartons… which can get messy. This year, I have been exposed to an array of so many egg cartons working at EggCartons.com, I decided the goose egg cartons are clear (great for plants to be in the sun and keeping them warm) and large enough to let the seedlings grow a little more before planting them in the ground.



Started out by purchasing our egg cartons. We went with FHPBL-6G only $19.95 for a pack of 25. You can use them over and over again, it's a really a great buy. They are clear and actually very pretty. You can also write on the top which seeds you are planting with a dry erase marker and then wipe it off when you take them out… Or stick your own label on one! We planted our lettuce seeds first, they are a more hardy plant and can be planted in the ground before summer really arrives. We have never done lettuce before, so we'll see what happens.

Lettuce Seeds, available at any garden store.

We placed our soil inside each cup filled almost to the top. Then watered the cups and placed our lettuce seeds 1/2" down. Clicked the carton shut and placed them in the window to get some sun… (When it finally decides to peek out of the sky!) In 7-10 days hopefully we will see our seedlings blossom. They will then continue in the carton until they are too large, about 6-8 weeks. If the ground is not frozen we will then transplant them in the earth. Otherwise, they will move to a larger pot until the time is right. 


Enjoy your seedlings with Goose Egg Cartons!


—Wendy T., Creative Dept.

Happiness!

Diatomaceous Earth

The first time I had heard of it, I could not repeat what Sherry had said, and could certainly not pronounce it. It took me about a month to get it down straight. I sounded it out: Dia-ta-may-shious Earth. (Diatomaceous Earth). Or as we call it here at EggCartons.com, Incredible Poultry Powder™.

"What is it" I asked? "Let's meet in the conference room in 20 minutes, and Paul and I will explain it to you". (I need to be aware of all our new products so I can develop a brand for them.) So, Paul, Sherry and I met in the conference room about half hour later. They pulled out a bag of white powder. Confused, and having never heard of it, I asked "What kind of meeting is this?" laughing out loud. They then explained to me the versatility of this Dia-ta-may-shious Earth. Explaining that it is 100% natural and an organic, environmently friendly and safe alternative to chemicals for use with poultry in coops, dusting bins and nesting boxes. It is also used to help prevent a variety of health aliments that afflict poultry including mites, lice and intestinal worms. Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is a fine powder composed of the crushed, fossilized exoskeletons of microscopic diatoms, which will not harm children, pets, livestock, poultry, plants or the planet.

I understood the first part of that conversation, however, they lost me at  "fossilized exoskeletons of microscopic diatoms" So, I did some more research and found this definition: Diatoms are microscopic, unicellular algae that produce intricate silica (glass) cell walls that overlap like the top and bottom of a box. When diatoms die, their soft, internal parts deteriorate, leaving their hard, porous, glass skeletons behind. Diatoms are found in aquatic environments, and saltwater diatom skeletons appear in the fossil record as early as the Jurassic period (180 million years ago). In the United States, numerous deposits of diatom skeletons are found on the floors of former aquatic inland and coastal habitats. Important commercially, diatomite is used in a variety of ways. Here's a close up view of the wonder dust that is (Diatomaceous Earth) (source: http://www.astrographics.com/GalleryPrintsIndex/GP2006.html)

Our diatomaceous earth is an organic, non-treated, non-calcined, fresh water Diatomaceous Earth. It is mined, crushed, sifted, bagged and pure white in color. It contains less than .5% silicon. There are diatomaceous earth products that are yellow or tan in color which indicates a higher iron content. Those which are gray in color contain more clay.

So, with that information, we find out from our supplier that DE is great for:

• Natural desiccant. By drying up manure faster, it controls flies, as
           well as keeping coops cleaner and drier.
• Deodorization and absorption are natural functions of IPP. The benefits will continue as
           undigested IPP passes through and settles on cage or coop floors.
• Contains 15 trace minerals including calcium, potassium, copper, zinc, phosphorous, silica,
           and selenium.
• IPP is USDA approved as an anti-caking agent for animal feed.
• Mixing IPP with daily feed increases feathering, egg production and shell hardness.
• Diatomaceous Earth can be used as an organic pesticide

So, with finding out all the benefits of this wonderful, organic powder, we decided to take a taste. Diatomaceous Earth is such a fine powder, it looks like liquid in the bag, and I really wanted to touch it. Taking our sample packs, we all dip our fingers in it, and look at each other with hesitation. Sherry goes first. "It's fine, just do it!" So, Paul and I do too. It doesn't taste like anything. Not even chalk, which I have never tasted but always think it would taste like Tums. "It's not bad!" Says Paul with a look of satisfaction. We're sold. We purchase it from the supplier and I get started on the identity of this new product. Since we have a great line of "Incredible" products and many brainstorming parties, it is decided to run with "Incredible Poultry Powder™".  And it truly is incredible.

I took a sample pack home and used it on Andrew Fluffypants. (He's my Lion Head bunny, who seems to have a male pattern baldness, he barely has a mane) He didn't mind being rubbed down with it at all, and it seemed to perk up his fluffiness. I also clean out his bunny house, by sprinkling some under his cedar shavings, which in all honesty has completely helped with the bunny smell. They are cute little woodland creatures, however, they do get smelly.

Sherry takes some everyday, and is convinced it shields her from all the winter colds and infectious, contagious people in our office. In fact, my stomach hurt the other day from who knows what, (probably the stomach virus running rampid around town that my children had last week) so I took some, and my stomach felt fine after that... It is such a great product!

—WT, Creative Department

Have a spectacular day!

You can purchase your own Incredible Poultry Powder™ by clicking here:

http://www.eggcartons.com/Incredible-Poultry-Powder-Diatomaceous-Earth-DE-Food-Grade/productinfo/FHP%2DIPP/
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A sweet idea

Valentine's Day, it's coming up quickly... How do you spend it? What if you're single? What do you do? Eat chocolate alone? Have an Un-Valentine's Day Party? Pretend it's another day? Maybe you have been together for years and things are just fabulous! Maybe you have found the person of your dreams that you never saw coming? Maybe you're totally happy being single or in a relationship, either way, the V word will come up, and you will decide how you're going to spend it. If you are a baker or not, here's a really cute and quick idea for an adorable gift to give to anyone... your significant other, a child, teacher, friend (especially if you're single), co-worker.

For us over at EggCartons.com, we have found a terrific idea for anyone to do on or before Valentine's Day. We love our color egg cartons so much, and there are so many colors to choose, we thought, "Why not use them for mini cupcakes, will they fit?" Bake or buy (We bought these little treasures just because we do not have a ton of time to bake) little mini cupcakes. These are Valentine's Day themed, but you could use any holiday for inspiration. Here are some ideas: 1.) Lime green carton for St. Patrick's Day or Halloween. 2.) Teal, pink or yellow for Easter or Summer themed party 3.) Brown for Thanksgiving... you get the point. They are great for other things too, not just cupcakes! You can use them for candy, cupcakes (obviously), crayons, jewelry, golf ball storage, seedling storage, etc. If YOU have additional inspirational ideas, we'd love to hear about it! Please post them on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/eggcartons

Egg-cellent Carton Christmas Craft

Well, there's less than one week left before Christmas, and maybe you were snowed in… maybe you procrastinate on everything, or maybe times are tough and you just don't have the funds for the gift you'd like to give. Whatever the case, if you still need to give presents before Christmas Eve, you've got options, so don't panic.

Christmas Eve has been the drop-dead deadline for buying gifts, but with a little bit of creativity, you can create your own hand-made-from-chicken-scratch gifts. Most people tend to love hand made gifts, as they come from the heart. There's nothing better than opening a gift from a friend or loved one and knowing they spent their time creating it just for you. 

This is a super easy, kid friendly (i.e. non-breakable) as well as eco-friendly craft. Makes a great quick gift or ornament for you to give or just sit back and admire your crafting skill. These bells are totally low-fuss, low-mess and high-fun. You should be able to find all of the supplies at your local craft store, and of course, you are going to use your egg cartons that you purchased from www.eggcartons.com, right? 

You will need:

• 1 egg carton

• Acrylic Paint

• Paint Brushes

• Glitter

• Beads of your choice

• Scissors
• Ornament Hook

The instructions and how-tos are at your fingertips.

Step 1. Gather your crafting tools.

2. Cut your egg cartons into individual cups.

3. Cut off all the messy edges, so you have you

    have nice clean circles.

4. Grab your favorite little helper and paint your cups any color you chose.
     Sprinkle glitter on while they are still wet with paint.

5.  Wait for paint to dry. Poke small holes in the middle

     of your cups. String beads through.

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6. Cut your beads at the top, and add a hook.

7.  Ta-da! The most beautious ornament ever!
     You can hang it on your tree, or gently wrap
     it to give as a gift. What family member wouldn't
     love to receive this?! Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

EggCartons.com December Holiday Newsletter