Wishing you...

We hope December brought wonderful Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations for everyone. 

We got our little characters all dressed up to wish you all the happiest of holidays.

See you all in 2014!

Be safe.

More Great Gifts

This business card holder is a classic - it is elegant without out being fancy. I think the visible screws on the metal with the wood look great too. Get it at Etsy!

At the Kaufmann Mercantile in New York you can get this key chain called the EDC Kit.

They have the best synopsis: "Our Every Day Carry (EDC) tools: Pry bar, screwdrivers, precision tweezers, waterproof lighter and titanium key ring. All items weigh less than two ounces combined. Made in U.S.A."  Sounds perfect.

And then there is this necklace that is also a tool, that's cool.

Looks pretty but also tightens 8, 10, 12 and 14mm bolts.

Or you can get it as a key ring...I'm impressed.

Get it at Blend Creations.

Ok, last day to shop - good luck!

And Happy Holidays everyone.

AWESOME GIFTS

This gift guide isn't just great, it's AWESOME!

For example look at these...

Julie Hinault made them.

I love the colors...

I love the different levels...

I love them together...

or separate.

The hex bowls are pretty and fun - they're awesome.

And she made this cake mold too.

Guess what happens when you flip the cake?

You get the design ON THE CAKE!

It is hard to see in the photos but the hex design is there - I love it!

Julie Hinault is very clever and she makes awesome things.

Her WEBSITE is worth checking out.

Now how about some tools? Check these out:

A website called The Grommet introduced these next 2 to me.

Thin as a dime but has tons of functions, like tightening a bolt!

Click on the photo or here to go to the website - it explains all about the awesome multifunctionalness (is that a word?) of this great tool. Along with a video demonstration.

Then I saw this one:

The Kelvin 2.3 Urban Super Tool - what a name!

Basically, a guy named Kevin combined a hammer, tape measure, level & screwdriver into one piece of equipment perfectly sized for the urban home. Now that is awesome.

Click on the photo or HERE to go to the website and watch the video that explains it all.

That's it for now - we hope you're having an awesome winter so far.

GREAT GIFTS

The holidays are here -time for GIFTS!!!!

GREAT GIFTS #1

Everything with HEXAGONS!

We love the hexagon shape - it sort of represents us .

How about a case for your fancy phone?

 It's wood and it's on Etsy here.

Or how about this colorful painting?

You can buy it on Etsy here.

These earrings are pretty awesome.

You can buy them on Etsy here.

For the house - hex coasters!

Buy them here on Etsy in any color you want!

Of course there is plenty more fun stuff out there.

Let us know if you know of something we'd love!

Now get to shopping.

Saying Thanks to Screws, Nuts & Bolts

I came across a sweet blog post written by someone who realized the importance of fasteners in her life as she was moving out of an apartment - her name is Tess Wilson.

Image: Tess Wilson

It's literally a tiny read and by paraphrasing it I feel like I'm simply rewriting it so I will just urge you to click and read it. She did a great job of acknowledging the little tools and the positive impact they had on her life.  She expressed her thanks to these amazing things and of course I LOVED IT!  Perfect for our month of gratitude.

Here is the article:  98 SCREWS: What's Holding Your Apartment Together?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Still Lifes of Screws

With November being a month dedicated to gratitude, what better way to stop and reflect than with a still life.

I found these beautiful paintings from a woman named Jenny Armitage.

They are still lifes of jars of left over fasteners (we can all relate to that.)

A household staple immortalized in these fantastic paintings.

The light, the colors - they are pretty and they make me feel good.

I even love the idea of a window sill full of different jars full of different fasteners.

I just might move my jars out of the garage and into a pretty sunlit window. 

Sigh...I think fasteners are wonderful.

If you'd like your own painting, you can buy one here.

Nuts OR Bolts?

Have you all seen this Ford Car commercial? It's so funny and it deeply makes me appreciate both nuts AND BOLTS!

Especially at this time of the year, when we start feeling thankful, this commercial brings out my gratitude.
It's so awesome! 

And now I want a Ford.

Screw Tattoos

Over at Tattly.com you can buy hundreds of different looking fake tattoos. I am not a tattoo person but I love the idea of temporary fun!  And Tattly comes up with some really awesome ones - they use real designers to create their tattoos so they are very clever & original ideas.

And the reason they get a mention from us is because last month they added a set of tools, including SCREWS!  Flat head wood screws, to be exact. 

All of the images below are actually temporary tattoos. The same as the kind when you were little that you would apply with water.

Then I saw this photo from their website and it got me thinking...

***

Ladies & Gentlemen, 

Children of All Ages, 

besides the Bearded Lady, 

the Ape Man, 

the Knife Thrower, 

the Flame Eater 

and the Snake Charmer, 

there is the Amazing Tattooed Lady!*

Ta-daaaaa!

Although since I didn't put on a trapeze artist's outfit I simply look like the girl from the prior photo. So I guess, really, I was the Tattly model's ying to her yang for Halloween (flat head wood screws right in the center, thank you very much!)

It was fun for the day. Hope you all had a good one.

*Kids, I do not condone either tattoos or running away with the circus!

Happy Birthoween!

Over here, we have a very special birthday!

She got a special tattoo (it says Happy Birthday!) & special earrings for her birthday, because we love her.

BUT WE LOVE YOU TOO!

So this one's for you.

(Did you see the pumpkins we made last year?)

Eye love Monsters!

If you don't feel like carving up your pumpkins but you want a halloween project, try making these little monsters!

We found the tutorial how to make them (& the photo) over at a blog called AIR-DRY-CLAY - aren't they cute?! I'm mean, SCARY!  They made these adorable monsters out of clay and then added different fasteners, like nuts, washers and grommets as EYES. What a creative and effective way of using fasteners - we love it.

I can't wait to make some - in fact, I'm off to go buy the clay NOW!

Bolt Halloween Costumes

Do you have your costume?

Why not go as a bolt.

Like this one.

Photo credit.

Here's Lady Gaga's version of a bolt.   

Photo Credit

Then of course the peppy puppy from the movie, BOLT, and his best friend Penny.

Photo Credit

BUT THEN

there are

THESE BOLTS!!!! 

Photo Credit

And one for couples (adorable, right?)

Photo Credit

Of course click here for the famous one we posted last year.

And lastly, for folks looking for simple yet horrific, how's this one?

Photo Credit (You can buy this one on Ebay!)

As for my costume, it will have a hint of flat heads in it...
but you'll have to wait and see.

Spooky Skeleton Claw

SO SCARY!!!! It's a creepy skeleton hand coming after us!

(Halloween just got exciting.)

A guy named Dan, at one of my favorite websites Instructables.com, made a giant nut & bolt skeleton hand, and - the best part - he shows YOU how to make one too!

THANKS DAN!!!!

Here's Dan being attacked by the very hand made by his hands - oh the horror!

Take a look and then LOOK OUT!  It is truly terrific.

ARGH! It's alive and it's coming to get me!

WHAT FUN!!! If you would like to weld your own skeleton hand check out the tutorial at Instructables.com. And give us a call if you don't have any carriage bolts laying around - we've got plenty!

Last thing, Dan also mentions that the hand makes a great coat rack - click here to see that.

Screwy Furniture

We found the most awesome furniture by CARLO CONTIN - all based on screws!

The photos below are from the article, which were done by Andrea Basile Studio.

Check these out!

These tables are great because you can adjust the height.

See the threads.

Awesome stool, which is also adjustable. 

More threads.

The tripod stool.

I even like the colors.

Another adjustable stool.

And a smaller version of the first adjustable stool.

A second table which - believe it or not - is also adjustable.

This photo demonstrates how the same table can have so many height possibilities.

EVEN BOOKSHELVES?!

And combos - it's just unbelievable, right?

Carlo's version of the standard table.

And this lamp - SO GREAT!!!!!!!

I'm really impressed by this furniture. It makes a lot of sense using the screw threading to make it adjustable, which makes it really versatile furniture. And it is good looking too!

Carlo Contin is brilliant.

And again below is the link to the article where I discovered it. Have a read for more info.

Article from Design Milk about Carlo Contin Screw-like Furniture

The 'Nuts & Bolts' of Graphic Design

Lots of graphic designs are inspired by our little product so I compiled a few of them I really like.

Sarah Hodgkins' silhouette

Found it: HERE

Fake but true propaganda.

Found it: HERE

Better than 'bang' there is 'crash'

Found it: HERE

"Tim Fischer reminds everyone of the importance of restraining bolts."

Found it: HERE

You know Chock full o' Nuts but do you know this one?

Found it: HERE

Lastly, Dan Brisse has a snowboarding show and it is called (drum roll)

Watch it: HERE

People are so creative.