The Tonight Show recently featured a Solutions product on Jay’s Christmas Gift Ideas Part II. We were flattered when contacted by the show about highlighting one of our favorite Christmas products. After seeing it live on TV alongside some products he poked fun at, we are far too excited not to share what we consider his positive review. Watch all four minutes or skip to the end because the Solutions Pull-up Tree is reviewed last. See Jay in person demonstarting just how fast setting up your Christmas tree can be.

My reputation as a baker would be on the line if this news ever got out: I have fear of pie crusts. Not eating it, mind you, but making it. And it’s really put a crimp (uh, sorry) in my repertoire because it limits me to cookies, cakes, quick breads and bars. I’ll still clip pie recipes from magazines and newspapers, and peel off labels from cans in the hope that one day my fear can be conquered. I confess to making the occasional pie, but only thanks to those perfectly shaped, pre-rolled discs available in the dairy case. For a long time, I avoided buying even those, thinking, How hard can it be, really, to make pie crust from scratch? It’s a little flour, a little butter, a little water…or is it lard? Vegetable shortening? A combination? Pastry flour or all-purpose? And what about additives, like sugar, orange zest, ground almonds, baking powder, cream cheese, and yes, even vinegar and vodka? Then there’s the hand mixing (and I mean with your hands) vs. food processor vs. pastry blender method.

Best-ever. Easiest. No-fail. Flakiest. Easy as pie. Grandma’s Favorite.

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Now that Halloween is here, the holiday shopping season is upon us.  At Solutions we seem to be less focused on Halloween this year and more excited about preparing for Thanksgiving entertaining and Christmas family gatherings.  To help get you in the holiday mindset, we’ve listed below some of our favorite products that are new to Solutions for the 2011 holiday season.

Gift Box Ornaments:
New to the Gift Box Ornament roster is the Sock Monkey with his arm loaded with presents.  The Tall Santa got a fresh, new look this year as well.  Our Gift Box Ornaments are slightly larger than our Surprise Ornaments, so they hold more inside.  Whether it be candy, money, jewelry or a note, the new Sock Monkey Ornament will be happy to “gift wrap” your gift for you.

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At Solutions.com, we appreciate when customers take the time to send us feedback and reviews. These reviews not only help shoppers learn more about the product, but they also help our team do some fine-tuning on our end. We especially love to hear the creative ways our customers use our products in their homes. One of our favorite things to receive is a customer photo of a favorite Solutions product.

Here, a Solutions customer sent us a picture of her storefront where she displayed multiple Cat WOWindow Posters. We loved the photo so much we wanted to share it with you.

 

 

Feel free to send us your photos anytime. Find the product you purchased at Solutions.com and write a review. There’s a “share pictures” option on the review page that allows you to upload and share your pictures with us.
Thanks for sharing!

We can’t believe that summer is almost over! To celebrate summer’s last hoorah, we had a Luau party here at the Solutions office. Noho’s Hawaiian Café in Portland, Oregon, catered delicious food, which included their famous macaroni salad and Kalua pig. Traditional Hawaiian music set the mood for the afternoon, followed by a best and worse Hawaiian T-shirt contest, a Hula competition and a relay race. It was a gorgeous 70-degree day with a perfect cool breeze.

But we weren’t the only ones enjoying the party. Bees seemed to be attracted to the Hawaiian food. Amy, our Merchandising Director walked around and placed zip loc bags half-filled with water on each table. Apparently the light reflecting on the bags either blinds the bees or threatens them. We all watched patiently to see if the water bag tricked worked, but the jury is still out. Let us know if you’ve had any success with this method. We’d love to hear from you!

 

What’s the story behind our testing process? We definitely have fun with it.

In addition to our formal procedures, we test products in our own homes, so we’re sure they will perform in yours. Our buyers take pride in searching out the best problem solvers made. And when it comes to product testing, everyone at Solutions gets involved—including our creative and marketing teams. Even some of our team member’s kids put various toys to the test.

We all look forward to our Thursday meeting when our buyers bring out new products. It’s like our very own “show and tell.” They educate us on each product, pass it around, and decide who would be the best person to test it. We get giddy when there are enough product samples for everyone on the team to take one home! Often we unanimously decide on a product because we know it’s what our customer wants.

Here are some of our favorites that made the cut:
Our “lunch box” for grown-ups is a top favorite. We have a refrigerator full of Getaway Bags at Solutions. When you open the office fridge, the array of colorful prints can’t help but make you smile.

Senior Art Director Lori-Ann loves our Fridge Binz. In fact, we even used her fridge for the photo (you can see on our website and in the catalog). Merchandising Director Amy raves about the Rockin’ Capris. Whether she’s traveling to a product show, going to dinner or on a walk, these pants are always with her. “If I only traveled with one pair of pants, this would the one,” she says.

Copy Director Ellie said her mom taught her to bake using her 1950-something KitchenAid stand mixer. So when the buyers asked her to product test the BeaterBlade+ on her own KitchenAid mixer, she gladly agreed…although she wasn’t convinced her mixer could perform any better. But she was wrong! After more than a year of using the BeaterBlade+, she loves her mixer even more because she doesn’t have to stop to scrape the bowl.

When you say the words “DryMate® Kitchen Dry Mat,” Senior Copywriter Louise is the first to sing its praises. “I don’t put everything in the dishwasher, so this mat is great when I hand wash things like pans, knives, plastic items and things we use every day,” she says. “It’s not bulky like a rack, and absorbs water a lot better than the kitchen towels I used to spread on the counter. Plus, it’s nice enough to leave out all the time, but is also easy to roll up and store when company comes.”

Of course, there will always be those products that didn’t get past our staff. What are those products? You don’t even want to know!

 

Sure these swimming duckies paddle around the pool, pond or anywhere else there’s a refreshing bath of water, but we soon discovered that everything is more fun with yellow ducks!

A couple of our staff members have already taken the ducks on vacation and found that they make perfect travel companions—and they get a lot of attention. Below are some photos of our ducks on their adventures.

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Ever wonder how to make your special roses last longer?  A few extra minutes of care can extend the life of those flowers.

Preparing your flowers:

• When you get home, cut off at least ¼” of each rose stem (use a clean knife or scissors) and place immediately in room temperature water. They can stay this way until you have a few minutes to finish caring for them.
• Put fresh water in a CLEAN vase. Many bouquets die from bacteria left over from former “tenants.” Wash your vases in hot, soapy water. You can also clean vases with a mild bleach solution and rinse.  Inexpensive vases can go on the top shelf of the dishwasher.
• Add the floral “food” that is usually attached to the bouquet. If your store doesn’t provide it, try this homemade recipe (2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon household chlorine bleach, 1 quart warm water ).
• Treat each rose separately. Cut another ¼” to  ½” off the stem. Cutting them at an angle allows more surface area for water absorption. Remove all leaves that will placed below water level. Arrange each rose into the fresh, treated water.

In the vase:

• Keep roses in a fairly cool spot, out of direct sunlight.
• Every 2 to 4 days, cut ¼” to ½” off the stems and place flowers in fresh water. You’ll be amazed at how long they will last.

This technique works for most flowers.

How can I tell if the flowers I buy are fresh?
One thing to look for in roses is a tight bud. If the roses are open, they won’t last as long.  Also look at the leaves. If the leaves look yellow or dry, the flowers may be older.