DIY tutorials – TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®

December 10, 2018 Movers Who Blog DIY Projects, Holiday Fun, Home Decor, Home Sweet Home, Moving with kids, News, Organizing, Our People, Tips and Tricks, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK, Uncategorized

Make your holidays even more festive with easy, DIY craft ideas

The holiday season is officially here and that means decorating your home and preparing for the festivities! Here at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK, we love celebrating the holidays, and we’ve come up with several fun, easy-to-make crafts using supplies you probably already have around the house. Grab the kiddos and start crafting!

Be sure to check out past TWO MEN AND A TRUCK Holiday DIY crafts here and here

String Wrapped Ornaments

This homemade tree ornament can also be paired with a name tag to dress up wrapped gifts.

What supplies you’ll need:

Cardboard
Yarn or ribbon
Scissors
Hot glue gun

Step 1 – Using cardboard, cut out stars in a variety of sizes.

Step 2 – Secure the end of your yard on the back of the star using a hot glue gun.

Step 3 – Wrap the yarn or ribbon around your star in all directions until you’re happy with its look. Secure the end with hot glue.

Step 4 – Cut a 3-inch string of ribbon and loop it through a piece that is already around the star. Tie it at the top and hang from your Christmas tree.

Beaded Candy Canes

Possibly the easiest holiday DIY there is! If you’re feeling really creative, you can also shape your pipe cleaners into Christmas trees or stars and hang them as ornaments.

What supplies you’ll need:

Pipe cleaners
Beads

Step 1 – Bend the pipe cleaner to the shape of a candy cane, folding a small part at the end upward so beads don’t slide off.

Step 2 – Slide the beads on and fold up the other end to secure them in place.

Paper Chain Snowman

Remember making paper chains back in elementary school? Same classic craft with a fun update for Christmas decorations!

What supplies you’ll need:

White paper
Black and orange crayons
Tape

Step 1 – Cut strips of white printer paper at the same width.

Step 2 – Fold a strip of paper in a circle shape securing the back with tape. Loop another strip of paper through that, securing the back. Continue doing so until you’re happy with the length of your snowman chain.

Step 3 – Draw eyes, a mouth and a hat for your snowman. Use the orange marker to give him the traditional carrot nose.

Bonus: You can follow this same easy process to make other characters like reindeer or Santa!

Merry Christmas from all of us at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®. We hope you enjoyed our DIY tutorials. If you are in need of boxes for your next DIY, stop by your local TWO MEN AND A TRUCK franchise and choose from our wide variety of box sizes. Tag us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram if we inspired you to make a craft so we can see your final product!

TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® is the first and largest franchised moving company in the United States. Let us help move you forward! For more helpful tips and information on moving services subscribe to our blog and like us on Facebook.

October 8, 2018October 29, 2018 Movers Who Blog DIY Projects, Holiday Fun, Our People, Tips and Tricks, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK, Uncategorized

TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® Boxtume Tutorial Part 2: Bubble Bath

If you’re looking for a fun DIY Halloween costume, we’ve got you covered! Pick up a TWO MEN AND A TRUCK box, and follow these tips for creating the perfect costume — or “boxtume”, as we like to call it.

Bubble Bath Boxtume

What you’ll need:

TWO MEN AND A TRUCK medium box
White paint
Hot glue
Box cutter or scissors
Poly fil stuffing or cotton balls
Ribbon
Foam letters
Rubber ducky
Loofa
Shower cap

Step 1: Assemble the box, loosely taping the top and bottom shut. Paint white and let dry

Step 2: Once the paint is dry, use a box cutter to remove bottom four folds. Do the same to the top.

Step3: Carefully, use scissors to poke two holes in the front, top corners of the box. Repeat on the back. Now, cut two ribbon for shoulder straps. Measure to fit your child. At the end of each, tie a knot. Use scissors to push the knots through the holes.

Step 4: Begin adding poly fil or cotton balls as bubble bath. Cover the outside upper perimeter of the box, and add extra in random places for extra foam. Use hot glue to place a rubber ducky.

Finish the costume off with a shower cap, pajamas, slippers, and a loofa.

You’re ready to rock your unique Halloween costume this fall!

January 29, 2018February 19, 2018 Movers Who Blog DIY Projects, Holiday Fun, Home Decor, Home Sweet Home, Our People, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized

Four DIY Valentine’s Day crafts in four steps or less!

-Written by Jessy Herman

We’re always up for a good DIY day, especially when it comes to holiday crafts. This Valentine’s Day, we’re sharing the love with four super-easy, low-budget projects! When we say inexpensive, we really mean it. Each of these four DIY’s were made from one small, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK moving box!

Here’s a detailed video to use as a reference point when making the DIY crafts!

Be Mine Tags

Supplies:

1 small TWO MEN AND A TRUCK moving box
Scissors or box cutter
Ruler
Ribbon
Stickers or marker
Step 1: Cut the two all-white box flaps using scissors or a box cutter.

Step 2: Use your ruler to mark triangle shapes on the top left and right of each panel, cut them off.

Step 3: Place alphabet stickers or use a marker to say “Be” on one tag and “Mine” on the other.

Step 4: Carefully use your scissors to poke a hole in the top of your tags. Tie the ribbon in a bow at the top! TIP! We decided to keep the tags in place by hot gluing them to one another. However, this isn’t a must if you’d prefer they hang.

Candy Name Hearts

Celebrate the little loves of your life – your kids!

Supplies:
1 small box
Scissors or box cutter
Ribbon
Paint and paintbrush
Stickers or marker
Hot glue gun

Step 1: Cut out the number of hearts needed for your banner. TIP! Use a heart stencil for evenly shaped hearts.

Step 2: Paint each heart with your desired colors. Be sure to let them fully dry!

Step 3: Use stickers or markers to spell out the names on your candy hearts. For extra fun, include your kids on this project and let them decorate their name heart however they’d like!

Step 4: Use a hot glue gun to secure hearts to the ribbon. Tie a bow at the top and you’re done!

Twine Heart Garland

Supplies:
1 Small box
Scissors or box cutter
Jute and yarn
Hot glue gun

Step 1: Cut small heart shapes from your cardboard box.

Step 2: Use jute, twine, or yarn to wrap around your heart. We secured ours with a hot glue gun.

Step 3: In between the hearts, we created yarn pom-poms for variety. To make a pom-pom, use your palm to wrap the yarn in a circle. After you wrap (we recommend at least 30 times!), use a separate piece of yarn to tie a knot around the center, almost like a belt. You will then want to use your scissors to cut the loop ends on each side of the center tie. Fluff it up and you have a pom-pom! TIP! Watch our video tutorial to see how this is done.

Step 4. Thread the twine through your hearts and pom-poms and you’re garland is complete!

Pom-pom wreath

Supplies:
1 small box
Scissors or box cutter
Yarn
Hot glue gun

Step 1: Begin by drawing one large heart on the side of your box. Then, draw a slightly smaller one inside of that. Cut along each heart outline.

Step 2: Using the method above, create several pom-poms to cover your heart. We used 17 larger pom-poms to cover our wreath.

Step 3: Secure the poms-poms down using a hot glue gun.

Step 4: Use a piece of yarn at the top of your wreath to create a hook to hang it.

We hope these DIY’s get you in the spirit of Valentine’s Day! Show us your DIY crafts by tagging us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

December 11, 2017December 28, 2017 Movers Who Blog DIY Projects, Holiday Fun, Home Decor, Home Sweet Home, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized

Kid-friendly cardboard DIY crafts for the holidays

-Project by Cat Armstrong and Anna Stephens

The holidays are the perfect time to stay in and craft with your little ones. These crafts are simple, low cost , and offer tons of creative freedom for your kids! Grab your cardboard boxes and let’s get started! Read our tutorials below and watch our videos to see every step.

Mitten Banner

This is the perfect craft to hang over any fireplace, staircase, or porch! You’ll want to buy a bit of fleece fabric and various winter accessories. Some of the things we used were ribbon, buttons, pom poms, mistletoe, winter berries, and sequins. Cut out a piece of cardboard in the shape of a mitten to act as the backbone of the mitten. Next, cut out shapes of the mitten in the fleece. The rest is up to you to decorate however you would like! Allow it to dry, then use clothespins to hang up on a string of yarn or twine.

Cardboard Ornaments

Your kids will love making their own ornaments to decorate the Christmas trees! These cost less than $5 each and are super simple.

Ornament #1 and #2: Mitten and Candy Cane

First, cut out the shape of a mitten and a candy cane in cardboard. Next, cut a string of red and white yarn. Use hot glue to secure the place where you’ll begin. For the candy cane, wrap the string around the entire candy cane shape. For the mitten, wrap the string around the cardboard until you cover the thumb portion of the shape, then cut the string. Hot glue where you began again, and keep wrapping until the mitten is completely covered in yarn. Hook a paperclip in the yarn or glue a paperclip on the back.

Ornament #3: Christmas Tree

You only need small green pom poms for this cute little ornament. Cut out a simple Christmas tree shape in cardboard. Then, simply hot glue the poms in a row, including along the sides in order to completely cover the tree. Glue a paper clip on the back and hang it up! How sweet!

Ornament #4: Flashy Star

For those of you who like a little bling, this is for you. Just cut a star shape in cardboard, then cover with glue adhesive spray. Lay it in glitter and shake off excess glitter. Spray it again, then lay it in sequins. Who doesn’t love double-layered sparkle?

August 21, 2017September 11, 2017 Movers Who Blog DIY Projects, Home Decor, Home Sweet Home, Our People, Tips and Tricks, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK, Uncategorized

Congratulations to the TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® “Home Hacks” social contest winners!

–by Erik Sargent

Summer time is the busiest season for moving, and that means there are people all over finding their way into new homes. What’s the best thing you can find when moving into a new home? Easy, DIY tips and money-saving advice!

Any amount of cash that can be saved with your home helps, and beginning in July, we set up a social contest promotion to help our audience save a few bucks and learn a thing or two in the process. We reached out to our readers and asked them to give us their best “Home Hack” ideas, and created a poll for followers to vote on the best creations.

We identified a “Home Hack” as anything you do around your home that helps to either save money or time in your living arrangement. This could be something you invented out of materials around the house, or everyday products that are used to create simple solutions to make life a little easier.

“Our audience looks to us as the experts in moving, but also for home advice,” said TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® Media Relations Specialist Jessy Herman. “We thought we should take this opportunity to gather the best home tips our fans have to offer, and celebrate the prime home-improvement season with prizes that can go toward their own homes.”

We called upon the outstanding TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® audience, and they delivered! We received more than 100 contest entries, and had 7,600 contest views! The submission featured a wide-variety of “Home Hack” ideas, and we’re proud to announce the top three ideas that stood out above the rest.

1^st place – Hidden outlet/cord organizer under the bed (1,184 votes): Steve A. from Toledo, OH

2^nd place: Homemade cold packs using Ziploc bag, 1/3 rubbing alcohol, 2/3 water (986 votes): Tina D. from Pompano Beach, FL

3^rd place: DIY built-in doorway bookshelf (632 votes): Amy B. from Terrell, TX

The fine folks who entered this contest were given the chance to earn prizes, and we made sure to deliver. The first 10 entries to the contest – regardless of what place they finished in the voting process – were awarded $20 gift cards to Lowe’s. The top three “Home Hack” winners will receive:

1^st place: $1,500 to Lowe’s Home Improvement

2^nd place: $1,000 to Lowe’s Home Improvement

3^rd place: $500 to Lowe’s Home Improvement

TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® would like to give a huge shout out to everyone who took the time to participate and share a little money-saving knowledge with our audience. The chance to interact with our customers and readers is something we take pride in, and we hope the winners of the contest put their prizes to good use!

Be sure to follow TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for future giveaways and contests. Visit our website to learn how we can help Move You Forward® with our outstanding moving services today.

June 5, 2017 Movers Who Blog DIY Projects, Home Decor, Organizing, Our People, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized

Spruce up your desk with fun DIY cardboard décor

-Project by Cathryn Armstrong and Anna Stephens

Are you looking to freshen up your office desk, dorm room, or bedroom? This cute and easy craft is the perfect way to dress up and personalize your work space. Décor can be so expensive, so stick to your guns (glue guns, that is) and do it yourself!

Here are the supplies you’ll need:

Cardboard
Pencil
Fake flowers
Hot glue gun
Box knife or scissors

Step 1: Find a cardboard box and cut out a large piece.

Step 2: Trace a letter of your choosing with a pencil on the cardboard.

Tip: Print out a stencil online for a perfect shape.

Step 3: Cut out your letter with scissors or a box cutter.

Step 4: Cut your flowers at the base of the blossom.

Step 5: Finally, using a hot glue gun, glue the flowers to the base.

It’s that simple! Check out our video as well!

We hope you enjoyed our DIY tutorial. If we inspired you to make this craft, tag us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram so we can see your final product! If you are in need of boxes for your next DIY, stop by your local TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® franchise and choose from our wide variety of box sizes.

October 10, 2016October 7, 2016 Movers Who Blog DIY Projects, Holiday Fun

3 DIY Halloween costumes in 30 minutes or less

Written by Jessy Howe

If you’ve been following Movers Who Blog for a while now, you know what October means … it’s boxtume season! If you’re new here, “boxtumes” are Halloween costumes we like to upcycle from cardboard moving boxes. Not only do you end up with a completely unique costume, it’s also fun for the family and extremely affordable.

We’ve come up with three brand new costumes to make this Halloween season in 30 minutes or less right in the comfort of your living room. Similar to our DIY Disney Pixar “UP” house or Barbie box costume, these can be done in 5 steps or less. Halloween costumes don’t get much easier than this!

Motts Juice Box

DIY Juice Box Halloween costume by TWO MEN AND A TRUCK

We guarantee this will be the cutest juice box costume on the block!

Supplies:

1 medium box
Yellow wrapping paper
Colored construction paper
Large white pipe cleaner
Elastic or ribbon
Scissors
Tape
Stapler

Step 1: Use scissors or a box cutter to remove the top and bottom flaps of the box.

Step 2: Cover the box in yellow wrapping paper securing it down with tape.

Step 3: Use colored construction paper to create the front design of the juice box. Tip! Print the Mott’s logo for quick application.

Step 4: Shape your large white pipe cleaner into a bendy straw and secure to the inside of the box using tape.

Step 5: Staple elastic or ribbon to the front and back of the box so it rests comfortably on your shoulders for a night of trick-or-treating!

Popcorn

DIY Halloween Popcorn costume by TWO MEN AND A TRUCK
Nothing goes better with popcorn than the loot of candy you receive on Halloween night! This fun Popcorn costume can be dressed up with red Converse or a DIY popcorn headband for extra flare.

Supplies:

1 large box
Red wrapping paper
White duct tape
Yellow tissue paper
Elastic
Scissors
Stapler

Step 1: Use scissors or a box cutter to remove the top and bottom flaps of the box.

Step 2: Cover the box in red wrapping or craft paper and secure it down with tape.

Step 3: Create popcorn box stripes using white duct tape. When you’ve covered the box, place the words “Popcorn” on the front of your box, or search for a brand logo online if you have a favorite!

Step 4: Staple elastic or ribbon to the front and back of your box to act as straps for your costume.

Step 5: Have fun by completing your costume with tissue paper popcorn. Crumple one piece at a time to create textured popcorn. Shape it until you are happy and secure it using tape or a stapler.

Voting Ballot Box

DIY Halloween voting costume by TWO MEN AND A TRUCK

If you’re following this year’s election, consider going with a creative voting ballot box. You’ll be a topic of conversation, that’s for sure!

Supplies:

1 large box
Red wrapping paper
White duct tape
Blue and silver construction paper
Letter and star stickers
Elastic
Tape
Scissors
Stapler

Step 1: Use scissors or a box cutter to remove the top and bottom flaps of the box.

Step 2: Cover the box in red wrapping or craft paper and secure it down with tape.

Step 3: Create four vertical stripes using your white duct tape.

Step 4: On your blue construction paper, spell out VOTE using your stickers. Secure this banner down to cover the white stripe ends. Top it off with star stickers.

Step 5: Staple elastic to the front and back of the box. We decided to top off this costume with a tiny sparkly hat found at Party City. Use your imagination to represent the Red, White, and Blue on Halloween night!

We hope this sparks costume inspiration! If you decide to create any of these boxtumes, we’d love to see them! Tag us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using #TMTHalloween.

For more box inspiration, visit us on Pinterest!