Recycling is the in thing to do whether it’s in the environment or in your wardrobe.  Retro fashions have made a major comeback!  Donna Reed hasn’t been this popular since her show premiered in the late 50′s.  Big soft curls, pin-up style shorts and brightly colored lipstick are back in a major way and influencing graphics from billboards to logos everywhere.

Retro Design images are showing up all over social media sites like Pinterest and Facebook with some modern updates.  These classic images posted on 50′s color palettes now feature sayings that 60 years ago, may not have been considered appropriate to say to each other, much less on a postcard to your friends!  These sassy images have a following all their own and work great on notebooks, koozies, notepads, etc.  Got any of your own slogans you want to see in retro?  Give us a call and let us design one for you!

Retro Design for Koozie

It happens to all of us, sometimes Friday afternoon gets here and things are just slow.  Maybe it’s because we’re all ready for the weekend, maybe it’s because mentally we’ve just checked out and need a break.  Whatever the reason, I find these are when the best ideas come about, especially if you work in a fun, creative office like ours.

Friday afternoons employees can usually be seen enjoying a beverage or two, tossing around a squishy ball or playing with the office dog.  These exchanges usually lead to some funny story sharing and inevitably some great ideas get tossed into the mix (“Wouldn’t it be awesome if your surfboard had a koozie built into the tip so you could sip your beer while you paddle out?!?”).

It’s not quite Friday afternoon yet, but having started work early this Friday am, I’ve got a list going for creative koozie uses.  Would love to hear what you think!

Check out this creative idea first (click on koozie dog below):

Koozie Dog

Ten Creative Koozie Uses:

1. Creating center pieces out of flowers for your next event?  Use Hard Foam koozies to cover regular cups to be used vases, cheaper and more personal!  (Thanks customer, Kim, for that super idea!)

2. As a cover for that external hard drive you always carry around.

3. Store random bits of make-up on your vannity.

4. Put a couple foam koozies in the bottom of your bag to keep things organized in there.

5. Use a waterbottle koozie as a wallet to go (it has a drawstring!).

6. As a pin cushion for your sewing needles.

7. Store used ribbon around the koozie so you just need to pull to use again!

8. Throwing t-shirts out at a big event?  Roll it inside a foam koozie for better aim and longer throw power!

9. Store lightbulbs in koozies so they don’t bump into each other and break in your closet.

10. Put koozies on the legs of your table so it doesn’t scrape the floor when moved,

Want to add more?  Got a picture you want to share?  Like our facebook page and tag us in pics so we can check out your fun idea!

As you can probably tell by now, we sure do love koozies.  I mean sure, you like your job, I like my job, we enjoy going to work, etc.  But no, really, we LOVE koozies, probably because we also really like beer!  When we have office happy hours we bring koozies, we give them out wherever we go, we sing their praises, pass out their merrits like free mints at a restaurant.  We have a great team and a wonderful common love.

When we meet customers who love koozies just as much as we do, we get JAZZED.  I’m talking hands out to the side, spirit-fingers jazzed.  We love comparing and contrasting designs, slogans, fonts and swapping ideas for what to actually do with a koozie (beyond it’s original, keep your drink cold, function).

We were thrilled to have met one of our newest customers, Kim, who shared some wonderful koozie-goodness with us!  Ms. Kim is super creative with the koozies she orders and takes it one step further.  She chooses to order the foam koozies as they provide the perfect base for goody bags she creates!  Starting with a foam koozie, she works with one of our designers to create and approve her design for printing.  Upon receiving her koozie order Kim gets to work on decorating the actual koozie (gluing on sequins, doodads, etc.).  She then puts her koozies to good use!  Instead of creating a standard foam koozie display (pyramid or all lined up), she fills her koozies with goodies!  Candies, treats, cellophane paper and ribbons turn this standard foam koozie into a treat guests will adore!

Koozies used as Party Favors

Hard Foam Koozie Party Favor

Thanks for sharing the fantastic pics and ideas Kim!  Can’t wait to work with you again soon!!!

Give us a call (518 964 1018) and order your koozies to be used as party favors today!

I never, in a million years, thought that “fonts” would be a topic of conversation that could fascinate me for hours.  As a young girl I never even sort of realized what a gigantic impact fonts have on our everyday lives.  Everywhere all the time fonts are a conscious and important selection for things like marketing (that McDonald’s sign you see when crossing the street), reading (what font the NY Times chooses to print its paper and online paper in) and the menu at your favorite restaurant.  It turns out, font selection, much like color and visual placement, also have a great impact on the kind of message the customer receives while using a particular products.

If you search the web, fonts are quite a hot topic!  There are entire websites, Facebook pages and groups devoted towards hating on certain fonts and loving others.  Font developers pour enormous amounts of time into creating the next big font that will hit the web with a bang and be the next big craze everyone is excited to use (can you go anywhere these days without seeing Lobster font everywhere?!?).

After printing thousands upon thousands of koozies, we would like to share with you some of our opinions on various fonts.  We’re hoping this helps you in your quest for printing your perfect koozie or at least assists in making the appropriate impact you’re looking for!  The font you choose can make or break your design and we’re here to help!  We’ll be continuously adding fonts so check back often for more opinions!

The Gallery:

Below you will find a sample of each font, it’s name (in the picture square just below the sample) as well as a short description of a good occasion to apply the font (just below the picture).

The Basics

Copperplate Gothic Bold font sample

Copperplate Gothic Bold is a classic font that never goes out of style.  A perfect choice for a local business looking to add some promotional materials with stadium cups or koozies.

Fancy Fonts

Tempus Sans ITC font

A little fancy but a little fun, Tempus Sans ITC has just enough flair to take presence in the design but not too much so that it overrides the graphic you include as part of the package.

Cardinal Alternate font sample

Looking to add a little fanciness to your event but nothing too over the top?  Cardinal Alternate has just the right amount of loops and swirls to give you that something special while still being perfectly legible.

Fun Fonts

Andes font sample

Fantastic as a stand-alone font, choose Andes if you’ll be incorporating a design that’s mostly text.  This font takes center stage all the way!

Beachy Fonts

Bruno Book Font Sample

Bringing back memories of writing in the sand, Bruno Book is a fun font that leans just as much as I do when I’ve had my second (or third) beer.

Wedding Fonts

Font Sample for Vivaldi

Not quite sure which font it was you chose for your wedding invites?  Vivaldi is an elegant, classy font that blends well and matches with other fonts.  Understated yet perfectly appropriate.

Got a font your curious about?  Not sure which font is right for you and/or your design?  Feel free to contact us anytime (phone 518 964 1018 or email ana@kooziez.com) and we’d be more than happy to point you in the right direction.  Want us to include a font in our list that you don’t see?  Leave a comment below and we’ll be sure to publish your comment, respond and include your font in our post!

Dark Green Koozie Sample

We have a pretty decent idea around here of what does and does not work.  Upon placing your order you’ll almost always receive our opinion (solicited or not, lol).  We’ve been doing this quite awhile and have a pretty good grasp on which color combos are best, which are so-so and which should definitely be avoided at all costs.  Of course, as you are the customer, your wish is our command.  If you’d like to print a black koozie with dark brown ink, as long as we’ve at least advised you as to the possible subdued look of your print selection, if you choose to continue with this color combo, we are here to oblige .

In koozie pictured above, this was actually an error on our part.  The customer changed their koozie color but production forgot to change the ink color as well!  What resulted was a perfectly printed koozie, but one that was too dark to enjoy the beautiful printing!  The black ink on the dark green (forest green koozie) is a bit too dark and the image blends a good bit with the background.  The reason it doesn’t look terrible in the picture above is because the flash of the camera reflected on the koozie a bit and assisted in some additional ink “poppage”.

When placing your koozie order, keep in mind the overall effect you’re going for.  Are you looking specifically to match a color combo?  Do you want a nice, bright design that pops?  Do you want something more subdued and understated?  Answering these questions will help you to narrow down a color choice that will best represent the event you’ll be using your koozies for.

As always, we’re here to answer any koozie question you may have, anytime!  We also love answering non-koozie related questions so feel free to call and email whenever! 518 964 1018, jen@kooziez.com

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?  This question has inspired my Friday post (though my excitement for Friday has lead me to post this on a Thursday!).  Which came first, Friday making people happy or people being happy and it just so happened to be Friday?  Whichever it is, Friday’s, are a day to celebrate the end of a work week, the end of a school week and often signify a much needed break .  In more widespread farming times, were people this happy on Saturday’s instead of Friday’s?

Whatever it is, we’ve certainly conditioned ourselves to LOVE the start of the weekend!  We have a whole culture and lifestyle motto built around T.G.I.F.  When it’s Thursday and it’s been a rough, long week, we can always get through it because tomorrow is, you guessed it, Friday.

This Thursday, I find myself happy to be through what feels like a long week.  Lots of schedule adjustments going on over here, figuring out where to work in time for all of my expectations.  I’m genuinely looking forward to tomorrow evening so that I can spend Saturday reflecting on the week and figuring out how to improve next week’s schedule.  As I was listlessly typing at my computer, trying to motivate to get mundane paperwork type work done, I came across one of my favorite Friday pics.  The end of this fishing trip brought a couple of pounds of Tuna and some gorgeous Mahi Mahi to my dinner table about a year ago.  The guys came home with a couple of six packs of cold, refreshing beer, koozies to pass out and some fish to filet.  That Friday was a memorable one.  Lots of yummy food, plenty of good drink and a lot of funny expressions made up for the next round of koozies.  Enjoy the pic and your Friday!

Pearl Islands Spear Fishing

Popular Wedding Koozie Design

As we enter into the second half of 2012, a new hot wedding design emerges onto the koozie scene!  This simple yet elegant design makes a great addition to any fall and winter affair.  With its understated design and classy font, these koozies would stand their own on any receiving table from an outdoor barbecue to a lavish event at the Ritz.  Its positive message is inspiring and provokes images of romance and fairy tale weddings and dreams while the personalized names, dates and wedding location are a lovely reminder to guests of the marvelous time they had on your special day.

Personalizing a gift for your guests is a fun and unique way to share a little bit of you all with them.  Giving them something they can use or consume right away brings them instant delight and is sure to be well received.  While a wedding favor isn’t entirely necessary, it sure is a lovely way to thank your guests for their generosity and attendance on your Big Day.

How to Save on a Great Summer Pastime

Camping KoozieZ

Many consider camping among their fondest childhood memories.  But who remembered it being so expensive?  Gear, gas, food—it can really add up. However, that doesn’t have to be the case. When planning your trip,ensure you’re getting the best deal by looking around for sales and checking out discount sites like Coupon Cravings. Follow some of these tips to keep the great outdoors affordable for even the most budget-conscious camper.

       SUPPLIES  - Drive right on by that expensive retailer of outdoor gear and instead try these tips from Money Saving Mom to acquire all the camping supplies you need without blowing the whole summer’s budget.

o         Check with family and friends to see if they have camping gear you can borrow.  (While not everyone may be comfortable with this, it is a good place to start.)  Next, you can join Freecycle and see what is available in your area or post a request for camping gear and see what type of response you get. 

o         Dana O. Crandell of SavingAdvice.com also suggests garage sales and Craig’s List.  “Fellow campers will often put good, used equipment up for sale after an ‘upgrade,’” writes Crandell.  “A smart shopper can easily gear up for 50% to 80% below retail prices.  That portable stove with the little ding in the lid will cook just as well as any.”

       GETTING THERE  - Although there’s not much the average camper can do about the price of gas, you can control what you get from your tank of gas.

o         Crandell recommends group camping trips to cut costs. Many campgrounds also offer sites specially designated for groups, with fees less expensive than standard campsites.

o         Drive an SUV or car designed for camping so you can put your gear and supplies on the top rack or in a trailer, so then you can squeeze a few more people inside and split the cost of the gas.

       CAMPFIRE COOKING  - Ah, the best part of camping for many!  It’s easy to get carried away here and purchase food that ends up going to waste.

o         Yahoo’s Thom W. Conroy suggests “sticking to staple foods with a few special treats added to the list for a little extra enjoyment.”  Pay particular attention to selecting multi-purpose foods (i.e. rice, pasta, stews, and soups) that travel well and are unlikely to spoil. They’re economical and a great source of the needed energy it takes to camp.

o         Make meals in bulk beforehand. This way you only need to heat them over the campfire to serve, rather than attempt elaborate preparations in less than ideal circumstances.

Even if you do burn the dinner, take heart—along with the bug bites, stories around the fire, and silly camp songs, those charred hot dogs are what memories are made of.

Be sure to check out the KoozieZ options that we offer on our site before you head out on your camping adventure – and take advantage of this limited time free shipping offer.  Apply the coupon code KOOLOFF before checkout!

Looking for koozieZ & Cups for a Particular Holiday?

You can choose from 3 different printing options

1. single color ink- This can be done on hard foam koozieZ, Neoprene KoozieZ, and fabric koozieZ along with All cups styles

2. Multi-Ink printing- Print many different colors ink colors on either neoprene or fabric koozieZ and any cup style.

3. FULL COLOR- is only available on a high quality fabric. This options is great for people wanting do multi-ink, the image is printed exactly as we received it.

Here is a 4th of July Koozie that is available via our new facebook storefront check it out by clicking here!

4th of July Koozie

Things to Consider

Planning a party, especially a wedding can be so complex, so extraordinarily detailed that brides often don’t realize why they should’ve hired a wedding planner until they’re drowning in samples of tulle and satin and can’t even remember weather or not they’ve invited their own mothers to their wedding.  The merits of hiring a planner are unfortunately often not realized until they have to undo a whole lot of messes before they can even begin to get your wedding back in track.

Is a wedding planner right for me?

When you’re working out your budget, consider also the amount of time you’ll realistically be able to dedicate to your wedding.  Do you have a full time job and go to night school?  Do you have a full class load and many commitments after hours?  Are you raising a baby and unable to bop all about the city to various appointments and making a zillion more decisions per day?  If you consider your time as a monetary expense/asset, you’ll be better able to assess whether or not a wedding planner is right for you.  What they often accrue in cost, they more than make up for in the amount of time and energy you’ll have to dedicate to various other areas of your life.  Which is not to say you will not be planning your wedding, they’ll just make it much easier for you to enjoy the fun stuff and take care of handing all the awkward back work.

What if I really want to have a lot of say in the planning?

The beauty of hiring someone to help you plan is that they’re job is making sure your dream, your vision, your plan comes true!  You can let him or her know how involved you’d like to be in the planning as well as what tasks you’d like to make entirely your own.  Already have a great idea for personalizing your wedding Koozies? Let them know you’ll handle the wedding favors. Want to surprise your groom with something funny at his bachelor party?  Get a funny picture of him printed on a personalized item and have the wedding planner deliver it.

Remember, everyone is working to help support you!  Let them in and you just may be surprised how much you’ll be able to get done!