Just Hanging Around the House: New Wall Décor from Cape Craftsmen

May 28, 2010 Evergreen Enterprises, Inc. 0 Comments

It’s said that you make a place truly yours when you’ve hung pictures on the wall. One of the most popular collections from Cape Craftsmen over the last few years has been alternative wall decor.

These days, people are working more and more out of their homes, and allocating living space to home offices. To decorate these rooms, they need “functional art” that can provide like message centers and cork boards. We offer several new image-driven cork boards with different patterns that can be a hit to different age groups—teens, seniors, and more.

Our new 2-piece board with vintage-looking bicycle art provides a classic and useful accent. Satisfy the music lover with our blues and jazz “music festival” cork boards. Multiple size options in this category also helps you to find something for everyone. Attractive price points are the order of the day, and Cape Craftsmen delivers with simple cork boards adorned with artful frames in black, white, or gold that are priced to move. We even have monogrammed cork boards in the top 16 letters in convenient small sizes.

Stretched canvas art has long been a staple of the Cape Craftsmen product line, and we have refreshed this collection with over 20 selections from the world-renowned catalog of Art In Motion. Our newest canvases highlight the human element of our society with cityscapes and other retro-styled scenes from classic urban culture. Remember that canvas art displays perfectly over our cabinet furniture in homes and stores alike.

We also offer a delightful twist to traditional photo frames, with our wildly popular Frame Collection. Make a statement while you make memories! These combine heart-warming inspirational sayings in decorative letters about our cherished moments and loved ones with spaces to insert from 1 to 3 personalized photos into the slim-profile frames. We’ve recently expanded this category by branching out into sets of 3 grouped frames that are meant to be displayed together—on the wall or on a table.

Finally, don’t miss our more abstract three-dimensional metal wall décor pieces, such as our best-selling vintage button wall art and vintage bird décor. These both combine an organically-arranged layering of multiple sizes of circular shapes for just the right touch.

Any or all of our newest wall décor pieces are just the thing for dressing up any living space, whether you’re working hard… or just hanging around the house.

Click here to browse the entire Cape Craftsmen product line.

Evergreen partners with Gift For Life to support AIDS research

May 27, 2010 Evergreen Enterprises, Inc. 0 Comments

Evergreen is happy to announce their partnership with Gift For Life, an organization founded in 1992 by a  group of gift industry professionals to raise funds to fight AIDS through research and education. For each order placed at the each of this year's upcoming major trade shows, starting with the Dallas Market in June, Evergreen Enterprises will donate a portion to Gift for Life.


Learn more about Gift For Life, then read the full story from Home Accents Today.

5 Secrets to Success in NCAA Collegiate Product

May 25, 2010 Evergreen Enterprises, Inc. 0 Comments

At some point in our life, we all wrestle with identity. We each make decisions about what will define us as people—our jobs, our friends, our hobbies, even our hairstyle. Likewise, every successful organization has an identity of its own to define and maintain. As a graphic designer, I’ve long held an interest in corporate identity work—those particular logos, colors, typefaces, and other visual elements that give a company its unique look.

Early on in my 7-year history with Evergreen, I took the opportunity to work directly with the identity of over 40 schools and universities in our NCAA Collegiate product line. As I’ve managed the visual direction of everything Collegiate at Evergreen, I’ve seen our product line both expand and contract, and I’ve learned a lot along the way.

Here are what I believe to be a few secrets to success:

1. Recognize people’s passion.
Our “alma mater” is a part of our identity as individuals that continually defines us, perhaps more than we know. I am continually amazed at the amount of pride that people find in their particular college or university, whether large or small, and the extent to which they will buy almost anything if it shows their school’s logo or mascot on it. College sports fans are often more passionate about their school than fans of professional teams, and they enjoy displaying this loyalty anywhere—on cars, houses, clothes, and more—as long as it’s the correct statement. Which leads me to…


2. Sweat the details.
Each school takes their identity seriously, and so do we. As part of the licensing contract we have in place with each school through their chosen agency, all product designs we create are submitted to a school representative to ensure that we’re giving faithful treatment to their logos and colors. In many cases, the schools are very particular about the details, to say nothing of the fans themselves. I’ve worked hard to to fully understand each school’s identity, which can be a bit of a moving target as logos and colors change over time.

3. Learn your game.
Evergreen started out as a flag company, and that’s always been one of our strong suites. Thus it should be no surprise that our core Collegiate products are flags. We offer more schools in flag than any other product. Over the years we’ve capitalized on this strength and expanded into similar outdoor soft goods such as floormats, mailbox covers, windsocks, feather banners, and new inflatables. The licensing agencies now recognize Evergreen as an industry leader in flags and outdoor garden décor. They even go so far as to limit us in other indoor-related product categories where they feel we aren’t as strong—a challenge we are constantly working to overcome.

4. Know the playing field.
The Collegiate business is just as intensely competitive as the teams and fans themselves. As mentioned, the licensing agencies who control the rights to the school identities actively limit the number of players in a given product category, and it’s not always easy to get approval to make certain items. Evergreen works hard each year both to expand the categories we’re already allowed and to secure the new products that we feel will be hot sellers in the upcoming season. Likewise, this can be a very regional business, so we lean heavily on the strengths of our dedicated sales force to help us determine which schools will be strong contenders in the marketplace. It’s also important to stay tuned to what’s happening in NCAA college sports, as this year’s champion will likely be next year’s big seller.

5. Follow the rules.
Strict guidelines apply to all facets of this business. There are contracts to be signed, approvals to be gained, and royalties to be paid. Evergreen has taken steps to develop positive relationships with the schools and their licensing agencies, and we must be careful to maintain their favor by not stepping away from the established policies. Our full-time Licensing Coordinator, along with our Vice Presidents of Product and Sales, makes sure all paperwork is up to date so that we can continue to enjoy the benefits of good rapport, without any “penalties.”

That’s about it. As with any decision in life, approach the Collegiate business by learning to identify a good opportunity and then take it. That’s what I did.

- Matt Hawkins, Senior Graphic Designer


Click here to browse our complete selection of NCAA Collegiate products.

How to Fix Leaking Hummingbird Feeders: 4 Simple Suggestions

May 20, 2010 Evergreen Enterprises, Inc. 0 Comments

The modern hummingbird feeder was first developed in the 1930s and first marketed on a large scale in the 1950s. Since then, the popularity of hummingbird feeders has continued to spread, and Evergreen’s glass feeders continue to be strong sellers. We have just introduced several new designs in our Spring-Summer Garden catalog that you’ll want to be sure to look at.

We occasionally receive complaints from customers that their hummingbird feeders are leaking. The “inverted bottle” style of feeders that we sell can be prone to leaking at times, due to the physics involved in this kind of design. That said, we want to provide 4 simple ways you can maintain a hummingbird feeder to stop it from leaking.

1. Keep the feeder as full as possible.
Dripping can be a sign the feeder is running low on liquid. These types of feeders depend on gravity and pressure to work properly, and will function best when full. We suggest filling the feeder completely full while allowing no air to enter the glass. This will create the vaccum needed for the feeder to operate as it should. The weight of the liquid and the difference in air pressure inside the feeder help keep things flowing as they should.

2. Protect the feeder from heat and wind.
High temperatures can have a negative effect on the way a hummingbird feeder works. The sun’s rays will heat up the liquid inside, increasing the air pressure inside, which causes leaks. Start by filling it with cool nectar fluid early in the morning, and hang the feeder in the shade where it will be protected from the hot sun. Likewise, any strong wind currents will cause leaking because of the tossing and shaking motions. Hang a hummingbird feeder in less windy areas if possible.

3. Clean the feeder.
Remove the stopper and tube and wash everything in warm water. Don’t use soap, because it can interfere with surface tension and contaminate the nectar. Clean out the tube with a pipe cleaner and rinse it thoroughly to allow a smooth flow of liquid. Sometimes soaking the stopper in very hot water will help to soften it. Then it can be re-inserted for a tighter fit and better seal.

4. Check for damage on the feeder itself.
If the the stopper is split, torn or deteriorated, especially around the hole for the tube, this can cause leaks. Fortunately, we now offer replacement spouts that be ordered through our web site or sales rep. If the rim or neck of the glass bottle is cracked or chipped, this will also cause problems. In this case, it may be time for an “upgrade” or replacement.

Using these 4 tips, you’ll help keep hummingbird feeders working properly so they can be enjoyed by all your feathered friends—and your human ones—for a long time to come.

Retailers can click here to see a wide selection of our glass hummingbird feeders.

A Behind-the-Scenes Visit to China

May 17, 2010 Evergreen Enterprises, Inc. 0 Comments

Things have been busy lately at Evergreen, with many of our staff working hard to develop and prepare some exciting new product in the areas of Flag and Garden. We will release 2 new full-size catalogs later this month, so stay tuned for more information in upcoming posts.

In April, our Vice President of Sales, John Toler, traveled to our overseas headquarters in Ningbo, China with our President and some of our Product Managers. There he got to witness first-hand many impressive aspects of our facilities there. Our office in China is more like a campus, with several large, multi-story buildings and beautiful, green landscaping. The interiors of both offices and factories are very clean and professional. This creates a more positive working environment for all the workers involved.

While there, John was able to tour some manufacturing plants and get an advance look at some new product at various stages along the process of being made…