Boom Tote Archives - Bear Paw Creek

Boom Tote Storage Bag for Boomwhackers

Madison Stephens — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 15:07:32 +0000

Boom Tote Storage Bag for Boomwhackers®

Have you ever played with Boomwhackers®?

Have you ever tried to keep them organized? You wouldn't think a bunch of little tubes could be so hard to keep together but it's like they have a mind of their own. They just keep...rolling.

There is a solution: The Boom Tote, a Boomwhacker® storage bag with a closeable drawstring top to make them all stay in one place and a mesh top so you can see the colorful Boomwhackers®. Plus, a zippered pocket for your extras!

Keep reading for more details on the Boom Tote for Boomwhackers® plus a fun giveaway with Haleigh at Helpful Harmonies Music Therapy.

The Boom Tote for Boomwhackers®

Back in 2012 a friend, Michelle Erfurt MT-BC, reached out to us with the idea of the Boom Tote. She says, “I happened to have a standard set of Boomwhackers® but had a hard time carrying them around. So, I made the Boom Tote. I guess the saying 'Necessity is the mother of invention' is true! Thank you so much for checking out the Boom Tote, I know it will help you carry around your instruments.”

The Boom Tote storage bag can hold a full octave (or 8 Boomwhackers®). It has a gusseted fabric bottom which extends the fabric area on the bottom allowing the Boomwhackers® to fit well. The drawstring has a cord lock to keep the bag securely closed and features a mesh upper section so that your instruments are visible. The Boom Tote also as adjustable shoulder straps for easy carrying.

The outer zippered pocket on the Boom Tote is large enough to easily hold a set of Octovator Tube Caps, keys, wallet or business cards. The Boom Tote measures 9" x 29" with the pocket measuring 6.5" x 8" x 2". One of the best parts, the Boom Tote is machine washable!

We discontinued the Boom Tote for several years while we worked on redesigning it. With several requests and people reaching out asking when it would be available again, we worked hard to finalize the design and are excited to have this product back on our website! With the help of our Bear Paw Creek Insider's group, we decided to stick with black for the Boom Tote. By keeping the Boom Tote black, it really allows the colors of the Boomwhackers® to pop.

If you're interested in learning more about Boomwhackers®, how they work, and what they're used for, you can check out the About Us page on www.boomwhackers.com. This article also has some great information on Boomwhackers® and their history.

Boom Tote Storage Bag for Boomwhackers® — Finally back on the Bear Paw Creek website! Share on X

Boom Tote and Boomwhackers® Giveaway!

You know we LOVE giveaways here at Bear Paw Creek. So, to celebrate this product being newly released (again), we're doing a giveaway!

Bear Paw Creek and Helpful Harmonies Music Therapy are teaming up to give away:

A Boom Tote Storage Bag for Boomwhackers®
A C Major Diatonic Scale of Boomwhackers®

The Boom Tote giveaway is open up to those in the USA and Internationally! To get the details on how to enter for you chance to win, check out our post on Instagram or Facebook. (HINT: You can enter both places for even more entries!)

This giveaway ends on March 11th, 2024 at 11:59 pm CST. One winner will be drawn and announced on March 12th, 2024. Bear Paw Creek will contact you directly if you have won and will NOT require a payment method of any kind, so please be wary of any strange messages requesting payment info!

If you're like me and want the most giveaway entries as possible, enter your name and email below for an automatic 5 bonus entries. Good luck to everyone and thank you for your continued support!

Madison Stephens

Madison has been a part of BPC her whole life. As a young child, she and her siblings helped stuff stretchy bands and flip bean bags. Over the last six years she has become even more involved and is now an official BPC employee with the role of seamstress and social media manager. When she’s not working, you’ll find her spending time with family and friends, going on walks with her dog, working with horses, or cooking and baking. Madison feels honored to have the opportunity to work alongside her mom, Janet Stephens, and be involved with the family business.

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Boomwhacker® Music Education Tool and Boom Tote Storage

Janet Stephens — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 20:31:33 +0000

Boomwhacker® and Boom Tote Giveaway

Do you use Boomwhackers®?

In this post I will share a little bit of history and my current favorite video of them in use.

Creator of the Boom Tote, Michelle Erfurt, is partnering with us for this giveaway!

History of Boomwhackers®

Have you ever played with Boomwhackers®? They are a wonderful addition to the music world: they are affordable, great for group participation, spark creativity, and can open up music to many that wouldn’t have a chance to play an instrument.

My current favorite Boomwhacker® video out there is by Louie’s Cage Percussion. It is a song medley – enjoy!

Because of my curious nature, I wanted to find out about the history of the Boomwhackers®. The about us page from boomwhacker.com had some great information, but I enjoyed the article at Wikipedia even more.

I also love that they are manufactured in the USA, which means more jobs are created and revenue is put back into our economy.

American Craig Ramsell reportedly came up for the idea for his boomwhackers in 1994 while at home recovering from radiation therapy for cancer. While cutting cardboard tubes into shorter lengths for recycling he happened to notice the different pitches resulting from the different lengths and decided to investigate their creative potential. He experimented with various plastics before settling on plastic mailing tubes.^[1] He and his partner, wife Monnie Ramsell, formed DrumSpirit as a sole proprietorship to market the tubes. The original plastic boomwhackers were first produced in 1995. The current version, which is far more durable than the earlier prototype, was released in 1997.

Ramsell started Whacky Music, Inc. in 1998, marketing a wider variety of boomwhacker sets and materials. Boomwhackers are now available to span 3½ chromatic octaves. (The addition of the Octavator Tube Caps in 1999 allowed for the third lower octave.)

In July, 2009 the Sedona, Arizona-based Whacky Music, Inc., sold its interests to Rhythm Band Instruments LLC of Fort Worth, Texas, through an asset purchase agreement. Boomwhackers are made in the USA and distributed internationally by Rhythm Band Instruments.

Boomwhackers® and Boom Tote giveaway. Share on X

They Just Keep Rolling

Creator of the Boom Tote, Michelle Erfurt shares the following:

Boomwhackers®: loved by students and teachers… except when they need organized. How could a bunch of little tubes be so hard to keep together? It’s like they have a mind of their own… they just keep… rolling.

There is a solution: The Boom Tote, a Boomwhacker® storage bag with a closeable drawstring top to make them all stay in one place and a mesh top so you can see if you remembered all of them. There’s even a zippered pocket for your extras.

Want one? You can only get them at Bear Paw Creek and right now, we’re giving away a Boom Tote + a set of Boomwhackers®.

Janet Stephens

Janet is the founder, designer, and one of the seamstresses behind Bear Paw Creek's made in the USA line of creative movement props, and bags. She is passionate about her faith, family, and loves the journey of learning and growing this life provides.

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Movement Prop & Musical Instrument Organization

Julie Palmieri — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 11:00:13 +0000

Movement Prop & Musical Instrument Organization

As a traveling professional, organizing on the go is a must. Your vehicle serves as your office, lunch room, and closet all at the same time.

In part 2 of this organization series, we explore the intricacies of being a traveling professional who travels from site to site.

You can read part 1 here.

Organizing for Traveling Music Therapists, Educators, Caregivers, and Professionals

Utilize a large tote bag for your various materials and for your larger instruments like hand drums, paddle drums, sound shape drums, tambourines, and all of the accessories (BONUS TIP: I recommend contacting a vendor who sells Thirty-One bags and accessories – they have a nice selection of sturdy bags of all sizes that may hold your materials, instruments, and movement props very well)

Organize your smaller materials, like small rhythm instruments, streamers, and scarves, in totes and bags — doing this makes it super simple to grab what you need right in the middle of a session or class

Use a rolling cart, rolling luggage, or even a wagon (more on this in a bit!)

Find and use a good quality gig bag for your guitar and invest in a Guitten

Use a BoomTote to keep all of your Boomwhackers together instead of letting them roll all over the car trunk

Are you a traveling professional? Organization tips and tricks via @BearPawCreek Share on X

Getting from Point A to Point B:

Transporting all.the.things from place to place can be a tricky job!

Rolling carts are always a plus — two traveling music therapists share their favorite traveling accessories below:

Just Keep Rollin’
Jody Tucker of Access Music Therapy, LLC in Duluth, MN, shares her favorite rolling bag, her visuals, and other cool materials she can keep in her HUGE travel bag…pssst, think ocean drum!

Bumping Up And Down in an EasyGoWagon
Linda of RhythmWORKS Music Therapy, LLC in Chicago, IL, shares her favorite music wagon – and it’s easily foldable and carries a ton of equipment. Check out her post!

Additional things to help you along your way:

Phone and phone charger
Podcasts (for when you are stuck in traffic or have a longer commute between sites)
Mileage log or app
Voice memo app (for when you think of a great idea, you can quickly record it for future use)
Hand sanitizer
A good ice scraper/snow brush or sunshade for your vehicle
Umbrella

Katey of On a Good Note has written an entire Traveling Music Therapist blog series on apps, podcasts, and tips just for traveling music therapists. Check it out!

Take care of your vehicle:

Carve out time to take care of your car. Get regular oil changes and car washes, vacuum all of the seats and trunk, and throw away all the coffee cups.

Also, take some time to organize all of your materials. This is the most important step. As I wrote in Part 1 of this series, having an organized space certainly makes your life as a therapist, educator, or professional much easier.

Be flexible as a traveling professional:

Amy Buser, music therapist and owner of Wholesome Harmonies, LLC, in Miami, FL, shares about the one day she forgot all of her materials for her music therapy sessions. She relied on her music therapy training, as well as her spontaneous creativity to get through the day.

And finally, a little humor to lighten your way:

Do you have a great organizing tip or resource for those professionals who travel frequently? Please share in the comments below.

Julie Palmieri

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