Recycle your paper and MAKE BOXES!

So I’m sitting here at my cluttered desk wishing I had more organizational boxes to put all my “stuff” in , you know? Right! Then I realized I had all these great pieces of scrap paper that were about to be recycled anyway, so I used them to make my own desk boxes. You too can make fabulous boxes of your own with papers of all kinds for all sorts of uses from desk supplies to really great packaging and gift boxes! All you need is paper and scissors…we’ve all got those!

• You need a square piece of paper. Yours isn’t square you say? Simple: fold it diagonally along its side like so and cut off excess strip underneath fold and voila, you will have a perfectly square piece of paper ready to work with!

• Fold paper from point to point in half and repeat on other side:

• Now fold all four corner points to the center and it should look like this:

• Fold opposite page point to paper crease and repeat on all four sides:

• Unfolded, your paper should look like this, and the four squares in the middle of the paper will be the bottom of the box (your almost there!):

• Now fold each corner point to the first available crease on all four sides:

• Flip it over and get ready to use your scissors:

• Now make cuts on two sides just to the edge of the four boxes in the middle. 4 cuts total, 2 on each side:

• Now fold in the sides to make the side of the box:

• Fold the opposite side as shown. You will have two points touching in the bottom of the box with two tabs sticking out.

• Now fold the other two tabs in to make the remaining sides and you should have all four corner points in the middle bottom of the box:

• All you gotta do now is reinforce your creases with a pen or marker…I used my trusty sharpie and you’ve got your box!

• Feeling ambitious? Make another one slight larger for a lid!

Tip of the (Yester)day: Don't sell yourself short

When selling your work, be mindful of pricing. Figure out what you are paying for materials, pay yourself a fair wage for your time, and consider operating costs like Etsy fees, Paypal fees and shipping/packaging expenses.

Many sellers come up with a formula for pricing their items. You can get some good advice here and here on the user wiki.

Don't forget wholesale vs retail! Most wholesale buyers assume the retail price is double the wholesale price. If you are hoping to be "discovered" through your Etsy shop by a boutique or two or twelve, make sure your prices reflect this. If they are not, state this in your shop.

Above all, don't let other people's underpriced items discourage you. For whatever reasons, some Etsy sellers just aren't charging a realistic price for their work. Maybe they just consider Etsy a hobby instead of a business, or they don't really need the income. Its useless to get angry about this! A business that isn't covering its costs has no hope of growing or succeeding in the long term. Focus on developing your designs, customer service and innovation---and make sure your prices are fair. You deserve it!

online barter begins!

The online barter is full! 28 etsy artist have posted pics of the pieces they are going to swap with each other! Everyone has rated each other (super secretly) and will be given points based on their rating. They now will face off in a series of games to collect more points. It should be fun. To keep an eye on the action and see more of these artist's amazing work have a look at our flickr group!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/etsybarter
Sorry if you missed the original post inviting artist to sign up!

bARTer Art Swap Party

Dear Friends,

You are invited to Etsy Labs on the evening of Friday, August 24th for a very special event known as bARTer. Part party, part art exchange, part game, bARTer will be an opportunity for you to share your art, be creative, and walk home with something new and wonderful. Sounds fun, right? Check out the bARTer blog for photos from the last bARTer at http://www.cometobarter.com/.


HOW IT WORKS ---

- RSVP by adding a comment below this post with your name and, optionally, what you're going to bring.

- When you come, bring with you a piece of art. (Painting, music, video, print, sculpture, a sweater you knit, etc.)

- When you arrive, you'll exchange your art for points. (So bring something good!)

- Later in the evening, you'll use your points to bid on other people's art.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! --

-Throughout the evening, you'll have opportunity to earn more points by starting or playing a game! Before the auction begins, everyone will have an opportunity to create and run freeform games/challenges/talent contests/feats of strength/etc. Run any kind of game you like, or just play. Think about games you'd like to run, and bring anything you like for those games. Gamemasters and winners are both awarded points.

- Did we mention you should bring awesome art? :D

WHERE & WHEN? --- Etsy Labs at 325 Gold Street in Brooklyn. August 24th, 7PM till 11 or 12PM (Don't be later than 7:30, or you'll miss out! And be prepared to stay till the evening is over -- the auction will take place at the end of the event!)

AND MOST IMPORTANT! Please RSVP by adding a comment to this post as soon as possible, we can only accept the first 75 invitations that we receive! You can add the name of up to one additional guest on your rsvp comment! If you can't comment on the blog for some reason, just shoot an email to rsvp@etsy.com, and you're in!

Oh, yes, and there will be a small cover ($2) for expenses. That's all!

Hope you can come!

-Your friends at Etsy labs and bARTer

Tip of the Day: Ecospun!

Here at the Etsy Labs we are constantly searching for creative ways to be nice to the environment. One focus has been on figuring out ways to reuse plastic bags. Another interesting way that plastics are being recycled commercially is with EcoSpun fiber.

Here is some beautiful hand-spun yarn EcoSpun from SpazSpun.etsy.com.

EcoSpun is made completely from recycled soda bottles and is manufactured into soft fabrics that can be used for clothing, bags, carpeting, home furnishings, fiberfill... The fiber can be combined with other fibers too. First, tons of plastic bottles are collected, labels and caps removed, and sorted by color. Then the bottles are cleaned and chopped into flakes, before being melted in vats. The liquid is extruded into strands of fiber. That's just the bare bones of the process.For more details on how EcoSpun is made, check out these links:

http://www.eartheasy.com/wear_ecospun.htm
http://www.fossmfg.com/bu_ecospun.cfm

Tip of the Day: IKEA Hacker

Ikea Hacking!!!

I had to do a little of this at the labs the other day and came up with the Brollop, a sweet bookshelf made from two chairs. I have been obsessed ever since. IkeaHacker is a rad blog with tutorials for everything from fabric alterations to weird cat ladders. There are tons of ideas here, and it's constantly updated!

UK Street Team retreat!!

UK Street Team finally meets one another in Person:

(click photos below to see individual member names)Poor jealous little Lupin who didn't get to make it to the UK team retreat sent in these photos from the great time that happened and writes: "Hi there, several members of the UK Etsy Street Team are currently up in York enjoying our very first official retreat...We'll be sure to send links to more pics & a proper write-up of all the crafty madness that took place, but I thought you guys might like a peek at some of the photos first :) (I'm not there myself and I am dead jealous!!)

Thanks Lupin for sharing, looks like a good time was had by all! We just LOVE putting faces to names and avatars on Etsy!!

See more photos from the retreat right here on the greygoats's flickr page.