FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jamie Chapman FloraCraft Corporation (231) 845-5127 [email protected] STYROFOAM™ PRODUCTS FROM FLORACRAFT: FACT SHEET Lightweight, durable STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam has been used extensively by professional florists, crafters and hobbyists for more than 50 years. It is available in white and green and can be painted and coated with a broad selection of materials – including paint, ribbon, decorative paper, beads, fabric and silk and dried flowers – to get the desired color and texture without the weight of other traditional building supplies. FloraCraft makes a variety of shapes and sizes including balls, wreaths, rods, cones, discs, cubes, sheets, hearts, letters, stars – the list goes on and on. Here’s a brief description of each of the most popular shapes and sizes: STYROFOAM™ Products: • • • • • Balls: These range in size from 1- to 12-inches in diameter. Made of solid STYROFOAM™ the spheres are light and sturdy. Used to make holiday ornaments, stacked to make topiaries, set in vases and planters as a base for floral arrangements, they are extremely versatile. Most sizes are available in both white and green. Suggested retail prices range from $2.99 to $29.99, depending on the size of the ball and quantity. Wreaths: This versatile shape is used throughout the year for home décor, floral arranging and many other uses. Rings come in a variety of diameters and thicknesses in both green and white. The rings range in diameter from 3½- to 24-inches and in thickness from ¾ - to 2-inches. Suggested retail prices range from $1.99 to $19.99, depending on diameter and thickness. Rods: Available in 24- and 36-inch lengths, and diameters from 1- to 6-inches, these sturdy solid tubes come in either 100 percent recycled polystyrene or STYROFOAM* Brand Foam. Use them for legs on displays and props. They can also serve as lightweight dowels. Suggested retail prices range from $2.99 to $35.99 depending on length and diameter. Cones: Great for holiday decorating and floral pieces, cones come in white or green and in heights ranging from 4- to 36-inches. Suggested retail prices range from $1.49 to $44.99 depending on size. Discs: These flat, round pieces come in sizes ranging from: 3- to 12-inches in diameter and 1- to 2-inches thick. Available in white or green, use them for cake dummies, bases for floral arrangements or other décor items. Suggested retail prices range from $0.99to $9.99 depending on size and thickness. -more- ™* STYROFOAM is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company. STYROFOAM™ Products Fact Sheet - Page 2 • • • Cubes: This classic shape has myriad uses for displays and special events. Cubes are a versatile shape for every floral, craft or display need. Available in 3-, 5-, 8- and 10-inch sizes, the cubes come in white or green. Suggested retail prices range from $0.99 to $18.99, depending on size. Boards/Sheets: Available in multiple sizes ranging from 12- by 36-inches to 24- by 36-inches with thicknesses ranging from ½- to 4-inches, this shape is great for wall art projects and for creating your own specialty shapes. Boards and sheets come in green and white and have suggested retail prices of $3.99 to $29.99 depending on size. Other Shapes: Hundreds of shapes and sizes of precut STYROFOAM* Brand Foam are available. Shapes include hearts, stars, crosses, bells, letters, numbers, eggs, emblems, commemorative shapes, seasonal shapes, and many others. Suggested retail prices may vary, contact FloraCraft for more information. STYROFOAM* Cutters While it’s easy to cut STYROFOAM* products with a serrated knife that has been rubbed with candle wax, FloraCraft markets three convenient cutting tools that make the job even easier for crafters and florists. Two of the products combine cutting edges with heat. The third, part of FloraCraft’s new floral accessories program, provides two different sized serrated blades for shaping and cutting foam. Read on for more information. • • • Foam Cutter: New from FloraCraft, this handy cutter is the perfect tool for trimming and shaping all your favorite craft and floral foams. A comfortable, plastic handle with ergonomic grip makes it easy to cut. The handle comes with two serrated blades that attach easily and store conveniently in the cutter’s handle. Use the 5-inch blade to make larger, longer and deeper cuts in foam pieces. The smaller, 1 ½-inch blade is perfect for delicate, detailed work. Suggested retail price for the three-piece set is $8.99. StyroCutter®: This battery-powered wire heats up to make cutting simple and intricate silhouettes a snap. Simply move the heated wire through your foam product to get the size and shape you desire. There are no cords to get in the way, making it easy to work anywhere with the StyroCutter®. Uses two “D” batteries (not included). Suggested retail price is $12.99. StyroCutter® Plus: Plug this cutter in and you can easily cut sheets or shapes of STYROFOAM* up to 4inches thick. The cutter heats up in 30 seconds to make simple and intricate patterns. The long, heated wand allows crafters to cut intricate details in STYROFOAM*. Suggested retail price is $19.99. Creative Ideas for Using STYROFOAM* Products The possibilities are endless when crafting and decorating with foam products. Find lots of craft project ideas and step-by-step instructions at the FloraCraft “Make it: Fun” website: at www.makeitfuncrafts.com. For ideas incorporating silk, dried and fresh flowers, visit www.designitflowers.com. Both sites can also be accessed via the FloraCraft website at www.floracraft.com. -more- ™* STYROFOAM is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company. STYROFOAM™ Products Fact Sheet – Page 3 FloraCraft Based in Ludington, Michigan, family-owned FloraCraft is the largest fabricator of STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam for the floral and craft industry. FloraCraft offers products, education and inspiration for crafters and florists with traditional and new shapes in all foams, including wet and dry varieties, specialty foams, straw products, glues and cutters, floral accessories and specialty products. Visit the FloraCraft website at www.floracraft.com for more information and for crafting and floral design ideas, how-to instructions and inspiration. #### ™* STYROFOAM is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jamie Chapman FloraCraft Corporation (231) 845-5127 [email protected] MAKE IT: FUN® PROJECT BRICKS, SCIENCE KITS & KID’S CRAFT PACK: FACT SHEET FloraCraft® makes kits for creating realistic buildings and structures only kids can imagine and for learning about the solar system, molecules and more. There is also a kit for making crafty creatures using foam shapes, chenille stems, wiggle eyes and pompoms. The kits described below are for ages 10 and up, except Make It: Fun Kid’s Craft Pack, which is for kids 6 and up.      Make It: Fun Project Bricks: Each kit includes 285 11⁄16 - by 11⁄16- by 17⁄16-inch sand-colored bricks, which budding architects can shape and cut to make their creations. Fashion your own Roman Coliseum or an English castle; build a pyramid or even a spaceship. They are as versatile as your imagination. Make a realistic or fanciful structure by painting the bricks and adding other building materials, including craft sticks, chenille stems and toothpicks. Make It: Fun Project Bricks have a suggested retail price of $19.99 per kit. Make It: Fun Project Bricks, Landmark Edition: This kit includes 285 prepainted red and cinnamon foam bricks. The 11⁄16 - by 11⁄16- by 17⁄16-inch pieces can be used to create Colonial buildings such as Independence Hall or to build the Golden Gate Bridge. Suggested retail price is $19.99. Make It: Fun Project Bricks, Monument Edition: Create your own White House, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Capitol Building -- or even an igloo -- with this kit. The set includes 285 11⁄16 - by 11⁄16- by 17⁄16-inch pre-painted white bricks. The suggested retail price is $19.99. Make It: Fun Project Pack: Recreate any of the 21 historic Spanish Missions that dot the California coast. Each pack includes three foam sheets to cut and glue, using online instructions, to build an authentic replica. Paint them, and add other materials, such as chenille stems, foam balls or craft sticks, to make your own authentic mission. Visit the Make it: Fun website at www.makeitfuncrafts.com for instructions and ideas. The suggested retail price is $9.99. DNA Kit: DNA, the building block of life, is the material that transfers genetic characteristics in all life forms. By building a model of DNA, students gain hands on knowledge of this very complex molecule. Available in both painted and unpainted versions, the kit includes 20 each of 1- and 1½ -inch balls of foam; 10 each of 2½- and 2-inch rods; 10 3-inch chenille stems and two 45-inch chenille stems; 14½-inches of reinforcement wire, a sturdy 4- by 5-inch display stand and complete instructions. The kit is for students in grade 8 and up. It has a suggested retail price of $19.99 for the unpainted kit and $24.99 for the prepainted version. -more- 2 FloraCraft Project Bricks, Science Kits, Kids Craft Pack • • •  Solar System Kit: Reach for the stars and build your own solar system! This kit helps students gain hands-on knowledge of how the solar system is arranged. The kit includes foam balls of varying sizes to represent the eight planets, plus Pluto and the sun. Also included is a base to keep everything in place and wooden dowels to keep the planets in “orbit.” The kit comes unpainted or prepainted. Suggested retail price is $24.99 for the pre-painted kit and $19.99 for the unpainted version. Molecule Kit: Construct 16 different molecule models using 63 foam balls, 60 chenille stems and complete instructions. This kit includes fundamental facts about molecules, a handy periodic table of elements, glossary of chemistry terms and Web links to educational chemistry sites. Designed for ages 12 and up, the kit has a suggested retail price of $24.99 for the pre-painted version and $19.99 for the unpainted kit. Diorama Kit: School projects demand better than a beat up old shoebox! Give them a proper setting with the versatile Diorama Kit. To make your shadow box, simply glue the kit’s five sheets of foam together. The result is a diorama box that is the same size as a standard shoebox – 15-inches long, by 6-inches deep by 7½-inches tall – but much cleaner, sturdier and versatile. The box is easy to assemble, paint and decorate. Suggested retail price is $8.99 for the 5-piece kit. Make It: Fun Kid’s Craft Pack: Little ones can choose from more than 25 craft ideas. Materials include 33 foam balls in seven sizes, 10 foam eggs in three sizes, 56 chenille stems in multiple colors and textures, 30 multi-colored mini pom-poms, 12 wiggle eyes and a colorful instruction book to help little ones create animals, puppets, robots, bugs and more. Suggested retail price is $19.99. Based in Ludington, Michigan, family-owned FloraCraft is the largest fabricator of foam for the floral and craft industry. FloraCraft offers products, education and inspiration for crafters and florists including foams in traditional and new shapes as well as wet and dry floral varieties, a full line of decorative straw products, craft and floral tools and accessories and educational kits. Visit the FloraCraft website at www.floracraft.com for more information and for crafting and floral inspirations and howto instructions. #### FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jamie Chapman FloraCraft Corporation (231) 845-5127 [email protected] FACT SHEET: INSPIRATION BOOKLETS FROM FLORACRAFT® Beautiful photographs and inspirational copy provide guidance for eye-catching, easy to make projects in seven themed booklets from FloraCraft and a helpful Tips & Techniques brochure. Each four-color, 5½-inch by 8½-inch booklet features craft ideas for holidays and special occasions. The kids can participate too: one booklet designed just for them, features fun and creative projects to help kids learn about science, history and more. The Tips & Techniques brochure offers visuals and written instructions for crafting with foam. The booklets and detailed, step-by-step instructions for each project featured, can be found online at FloraCraft’s, Make It: Fun website at www.makeitfuncrafts.com. Here’s a look inside each booklet:   Make It: Fun Halloween 2012: This booklet offers 15 spooky, sparkly, scary Halloween decorating and craft projects. Make a trio of zombies to haunt your table and string together a chain of gauzy ghosts rising out of a witch’s cauldron. Festoon a floral arrangement with cobwebs and dine under a black feathery chandelier strung with battery powered LED light strands. Set the table with tombstone place cards cut out of foam and decorated with skeleton hands reaching up from the table. Mix up some bubble, bubble toil and trouble by adding Submersible LED light globes to clear containers filled with purple liquid. Dry ice adds an extra spooky look. Create a “spider plant” by filling a ceramic pot with purple stems and black boa feathers and adding black widows made from foam balls painted black and chenille stem legs. Make It: Fun Holiday 2012: Deck your halls with beautiful crafts featured in this colorful idea book. Find ideas for making festive wreaths festooned with flowers, ribbons, snowy white decorative mesh and more. Create a forest of trees made from foam cones wrapped in wired burlap and ribbons. Add silk poinsettias, berries and pinecones for a rustic, natural look. Or, turn a holiday buffet into an elegant winter wonderland using white foam wreaths, cones and balls decorated with silver ornaments, evergreen pieces, white ribbon and mesh. A more whimsical look comes when you fashion your own candy train out of foam sheets, balls and other shapes. Make a glitter-covered engine and open boxcars to carry candy canes and other seasonal sweets to your holiday guests. Find ideas for wall hangings, floral arrangements, candles and more. -more- 2 Craft Booklets from FloraCraft       Make It: Fun Learning: Kids can have out-of-this-world fun using foam shapes and Make It: Fun educational kits. This booklet provides ideas for creating a universe of interesting solar system models and decorations using the Make It: Fun Solar System Kit. There are ideas for using Make It: Fun Project Bricks to create spaceships and moon rovers and aliens. The booklet also includes tips for cutting, sanding, gluing, adding texture and painting your foam creations. Make It: Fun Spring: There are so many inspirations for crafting this time of year: Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and simply the return of life after a long winter. Cover a foam ball with yellow or white feathers, add eyes, a beak and legs you have a fluffy, feathery chick. Foam eggs offer countless crafting possibilities: paint them, cover them in flowers, feathers, ribbons and more to make pretty tabletop decorations. Send your Valentine a heart-shaped puzzle cut from a sheet of foam and covered with felt. Bring a touch of Ireland to your home for St. Paddy’s day with leprechaun hats and shamrocks cut from foam and painted green or covered with green felt or paper. Make It: Fun Summer: Craft ideas abound for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Graduation, Fourth of July and for projects to bring a burst of summer into your home. Stars cut from foam sheets and painted in red, white and blue make a patriotic 3-D table runner for your Independence Day picnic table. A foam sheet forms the foundation for a sentimental graduation remembrance. Attach school photos from every year and add snapshots of big events during the past year. Display at the graduation party and save as a treasured keepsake. Make It: Fun Halloween 2011: Scary fun begins even before visitors cross the threshold with projects highlighted in this booklet. Create tombstones from foam. Paint and personalize them to stage a scary or funny graveyard on your front lawn. There are ideas for making monsters, skeletons, spider webs, witches and ghosts. Other ideas include a creepy hand, made of foam, scratching it’s way out from under a “cellar door”; a witch melting on your table top; and a furry monster chewing his way out of a box. Make It: Fun Holiday 2011: Add the sparkle of the season to your home with beautiful and easy, homemade decorations. Start with a foam base and see where it takes you! Cones, balls and sheets can be covered in beads, ribbon, decorative paper and greeting cards to make accent decorations for your tabletop or mantle. Cover a large foam sheet with wrapping paper or fabric, embellish it with a pretty hanger, bow and trim and you’ll have a beautiful place to display holiday greeting cards. Use Make It: Fun Project Bricks painted red to create your own North Pole village; build a snowman by covering three graduated sizes of foam balls with white feathers. Then, stack, glue and decorate with a happy face, scarf and stick arms. Tips & Techniques: Find how-tos for cutting, painting, gluing, texturing, tucking, sanding, shaping and scribing foam in this handy 4-page leaflet. -more- 3 Craft Booklets from FloraCraft Make It: Fun booklets are produced by FloraCraft. Based in Ludington, Michigan, familyowned FloraCraft is the largest fabricator of foam for the floral and craft industry. FloraCraft offers products, education and inspiration for crafters and florists including foams in traditional and new shapes as well as wet and dry floral varieties, a full line of decorative straw products, craft and floral tools and accessories and educational kits. Visit the FloraCraft website at www.floracraft.com for more information and for crafting and floral inspirations and how-to instructions. #### FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jamie Chapman FloraCraft Corporation (231) 845-5127 [email protected] FLORACRAFT® FOAM CUTTERS: FACT SHEET While it’s easy to cut foam with a serrated knife that has been rubbed with candle wax, FloraCraft markets three convenient cutting tools that make the job even easier. Two of the products combine cutting edges with heat. The third provides two different sized serrated blades for shaping and cutting foam. Read on for more information.    Foam Cutter: This handy cutter is the perfect tool for trimming and shaping all your favorite craft foams. A comfortable, plastic handle with ergonomic grip makes it easy to hold. The tool comes with two serrated blades that attach easily and store conveniently in the cutter’s handle. Use the 5-inch blade to make larger, longer and deeper cuts in foam shapes. The smaller, 1½ -inch blade is perfect for delicate, detailed work. Suggested retail price for the three-piece set is $8.99. StyroCutter®: This battery-powered wire heats up to make cutting simple and intricate silhouettes a snap. Simply move the heated wire through foam to get the size and shape you desire. There are no cords to get in the way, making it easy to work anywhere with the StyroCutter. Uses two “D” batteries (not included). Suggested retail price is $12.99. StyroCutter® Plus: Plug this cutter in and you can easily cut sheets or shapes of foam up to four inches thick. The cutter heats up in 30 seconds and has a long heated wand that allows crafters to cut simple or intricate patterns into foam. Suggested retail price is $19.99. Floral tools are distributed by FloraCraft. Based in Ludington, Michigan, family-owned FloraCraft is the largest fabricator of foam for the floral and craft industry. FloraCraft offers products, education and inspiration for crafters and florists including foams in traditional and new shapes as well as wet and dry floral varieties, a full line of decorative straw products, craft and floral tools and accessories and educational kits. Visit the FloraCraft website at www.floracraft.com for more information and for crafting and floral inspirations and how-to instructions. #### FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jamie Chapman FloraCraft Corporation (231) 845-5127 [email protected] GLITTER FROM FLORACRAFT: FACT SHEET All that glitters isn’t gold. Sometimes it’s silver, or red or green. These are some of the glitter varieties available to crafters from FloraCraft. Available in spray, plastic and elegant “Diamond Dust,” there’s a glitter for every crafting application. Detailed descriptions can be found below:    Spray Glitter: Spray some sparkle onto metal, glass, plastic, foam, wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, artificial flowers, wreaths, pinecones, candles and pottery. Available in 6-ounce aerosol cans, Spray Glitter comes in gold, silver or a shimmery white opalescent. Suggested retail price is $7.49 per can. Plastic Glitter: Children and adults will enjoy using Plastic Glitter from FloraCraft to add sparkle and shine to all kinds of art and crafting projects. Simply apply with craft glue and watch the magic effects appear. Available in gold, silver, crystal, red, green and multi-colored, the glitter comes in 38 gram, 76 gram, 5.5 ounce and 11.5-ounce jars. Plastic Glitter has a suggested retail price ranging from $2.99 to $10.99 depending on size. Diamond Dust: Lend an elegant shimmer to homemade foam ornaments and artificial flowers, the look of a light dusting of snow to wreaths, trees and other holiday decorations, or use Diamond Dust to give artificial fruit a sugared look. All you need is craft glue and inspiration to create beautifully sparkling effects using this glitter made from finely ground glass. Available in 3-, 6- and 14-ounce jars, the suggested retail price for Diamond Dust ranges from $3.99 to $11.99 depending on size. FloraCraft distributes Diamond Dust, Spray Glitter and Plastic Glitter. Based in Ludington, Michigan, family-owned FloraCraft is the largest fabricator of foam for the floral and craft industry. FloraCraft offers products, education and inspiration for crafters and florists with traditional and new shapes in all foams, including wet and dry varieties, specialty foams, straw products, glues and cutters, floral accessories and specialty products. Visit the FloraCraft website at www.floracraft.com for more information and for crafting and floral design ideas, how-to instructions and inspiration. ####