John’s 4 Stihl Leaf Blower Tips

June 2, 2016 - posted by Jerica Parker

After a long, cold winter, it’s time to clean up. Planting new flowers, mowing the lawn – all the little things to make your yard beautiful again. It’s the time of year to break out all our lawn care equipment again.

As people are preparing for the summer, we often get questions about troubles getting all the tools tools to start up after long, cold winter storage.

Tool Troubleshooting: 4 Leaf Blower Tips

Many people are ready to use their gas powered leaf blowers, but it can be hard to get them started after winter. John, part of our team in the Lawn & Garden department, has thought of 4 possible solutions for this:

Stale fuel. Fuel doesn’t last forever. If it doesn’t get used, it can get old and stop functioning how it’s supposed to. Try refilling with clean, fresh fuel. Check out the best EPA-compliant fuel cans we’ve found. Spark plugs. This is a very common solution for blowers not starting. Check your spark plugs, and if any of them have build-up, it’s time for a replacement. Air filter. Check that your air filter is clean and not plugged up. If not, you know it’s time for a change. Fuel filter. Not as common, but equally a potential solution. Check that your fuel filter isn’t clogged up. If that’s the case, replace it with a new filter.

Note: Not all models of Stihl Gas Powered Leaf Blowers are the same. Check for your Stihl® model manual here.

Thanks for the leaf blower tips, John!

Thanks John! These are his best tips, and if these don’t work, you can consult your blower model’s manual for more advice here at stihlusa.com.

Photos by Rose Marion.

One comment

Can SureCan…? This gas can sure can!

September 30, 2015 - posted by Jerica Parker

Now, I know what you’re thinking… another gas can?? Yes!

SureCan is a new and renovated gas can that is becoming popular in various local businesses, including here at Smith and Edwards. The SureCan is made in the USA and the company is local here in Ogden, Utah. The Standard Examiner just recently featured Brad Ouderkirk, owner of the SureCan, in an article as well. Read the article here.

Watch the SureCan in Action

We know and understand the typical issues with gas cans… they tip over and spill gas all over, they are hard to aim when pouring into your machine, and they can leak. The frustration is discouraging and totally not worth it.

That is why I wanted to tell you about this awesome, brand new product we are carrying! The SureCan gas can is guaranteed no spill, no leak, and gas-free hands after using it. But what makes it different from other gas cans? I asked Randy, our Lawn and Garden department manager, exactly what makes it unique.

“The features speak for themselves,” Randy told me as he showed me the flexible, rotating nozzle and the thumb-release trigger. No more messy tipping and aiming! After using this can, we have had people tell us just how easy it is to use.

“Lifting a 5 gallon gas can and tipping is not easy,” Randy says. But this new, renovated gas can solves that problem. So yes… SureCan sure can!

SureCan: Feed Your Machines

Get it now! Get your 5 gallon SureCan Gas Can here! Get your 2.2 gallon SureCan Gas Can here!

Also available in store at Smith and Edwards! Exit 351 off I-15 in Ogden, Uah – Find it in the Lawn and Garden department in the front of the store.

Emission Control Information:

This container complies with U.S. EPA emission regulations for portable fuel containers (40 CFR Part 59). The emissions warranty is valid for a minimum of one year from date of purchase.

Check out Sporting Goods!

See all Boating accessories, Camping, Hiking, Hunting, Fishing, and more.

No comments

Personalize Your Garden with Utah Original Art

May 30, 2015 - posted by Rebecca Adams

Spring is all about getting out and enjoying the beauty of the outdoors. Smith and Edwards has fresh flowers, planters, and garden accessories that will help you create that perfect outdoor haven.

You can find the perfect way to organize your beautiful garden with Burnett Metal Art garden markers – made right here in Utah!

An amazing line of garden markers!

Burnett Metal Art is a Utah based company out of Garland. The Burnetts have found that being a Utah-based company has brought in a lot of business because the people are great to work with, and Utah is a great state for small businesses. The Burnett family has owned and operated this welding and fabrication business for over 100 years!

After purchasing their CNC plasma table in 2011, Brody and Weston Burnett, two of the sons, and their wives, Kara and Trista, started Burnett Metal Art. Daughter Tristin (Burnett) Lindsay is head designer for product development. I had the pleasure of talking to Tristin and ask her a few questions about the company.

The Burnett Family Q. What inspired your family to create this business?

A. One of our big inspirations came from our mother, Susan. She has collected all varieties of nativity scenes throughout her life. She wanted us to design and cut her one from metal. She has helped us design a few of our nativities as well. We now have about 13-15 nativities designed and we have plans to have 50 designed and available in the next 2 years.

Q. What drives you in your business?

A. Our motivation comes from when our customers get excited about new products we design and produce. We get satisfaction out of seeing our products displayed in yards when we drive down roads and even go out of our small town and see our products in yards or on houses in other areas!

Our motivation also comes from being able to design things that we would like in our own homes and yards and being able to use them ourselves. We are also motivated and determined to make Burnett Metal Art as successful as our welding business has been.

Q. How big is your company? Have you or are you thinking about growing across America?

A. We currently have 8 employees. The company started with just a few products and now has nearly 100 products and is sold in over 12 locations in Utah, as well as online.

We have the desire and a plan in place to start Burnett Metal Art spreading across America. We are working with different retail outlets to expand our reach outside of Utah.

Q. What are your most popular items? Any customer favorites?

A. Our most popular items are our yard art and garden markers. We also sell a lot of our nativity scenes as well. Our customer favorites are our garden markers and yard art as well. We are hoping that our Holiday line will be just as big with our customer base.

Q. Why do customers love your garden markers?

A. Our products are built to last. We make each one durable and long lasting. They are a unique product to enhance your home or garden. We can also customize any product to make it unique and specific to your taste.

Q. What makes Burnett Metal Art unique?

A. Our company is unique because it is a family owned business. It started with our father working at the welding shop, then going to owner, and now 4 siblings are working here as well.

Q. Is there any history or background that makes your company what it is?

A. The business was originally a blacksmith shop that started over 100 years ago and has progressed to a Welding and Fabrication Shop. Now we have added the Metal Art business as well!

Q. What is your favorite product to sell – or is there a product in the future that you are going to add to your already creative collection?

A. We love selling our garden stuff the most. We have plans of adding decorative metal furniture to our collection.

It was amazing to be able to talk and find out more about these garden and yard markers that are made right here in the U.S.A. – thanks, Tristin! Smith & Edwards loves featuring small businesses like Burnett Metal Art – especially family-owned businesses based in Utah, just like us. These fun metal garden markers make great additions to your garden and outdoor decorations!

You can find these cute garden markers by clicking here.

No comments

Add Color to your Garden with These Flowers

May 10, 2014 - posted by Rose Marion

What’s your favorite thing about spring?

Is it getting away from the snow & frost in favor of 60- and 70-degree weather? Buds and new growth on the trees? Hearing birds returning and singing in the morning? Starting to be able to get on the water and fish again?

I’ve been so lucky – not having a garden I’m proud of yet, I’ve gotten to enjoy the huge variety of flowers here every day at Smith & Edwards. It’s been a beautiful spring here at Smith & Edwards with the amazing flowers at the store entrance!

White Alyssum White pansies Golden Fleece Dahlberg Daisies Yellow Dahlinova Hypnotica Dahlberg daisies and alyssum Little Calibrachoa flowers in hanging baskets Petunia hanging baskets and a bird bath… with a friend! Orange Begonias in a Hanging Basket Purple Petunias getting a drink Forget-me-Nots White Fuchsias in hanging baskets Pretty red and pink geraniums Geraniums and more plants Colorful Calibrachoa in white, lavender, lemon, and cranberry Purple “Supertunias” in hanging baskets Sizzler Pink Salvia Sundial Yellow Portulaca Cute white Dahlberg Daisies Pink “supertunias” in hanging baskets Potted Geraniums and Dahlinova Hypnotica (peach-colored)

Purple Alyssum Strawberries growing in Hanging Baskets

Bronze Leaf White Wax Begonias White Begonias Sweet William Sweet Williams and Alyssum on Handy Bucket Builder racks

(Told you we used the Handy Bucket Builders for holding flowers!) :)

Asparagus Ferns These Wishbone Flowers look like little snapdragons! Impatiens Flowering marigolds

Orange and Crimson Celosia Kimono Orange Celosia

All of these flowers have been chosen to thrive in our climate. You’ll get hardy Utah garden flowers that will bloom this year (annual) or year after year (perennials)… and not to mention trees and veggies! Check out the online USU’s Extension Office for more information on Utah flowers.

We have several types of tomatoes this year! This one’s a winner! We’ve got Better Boy, Beefsteak, and made-for-Utah Hamson DX 52-12 varieties of tomatoes this year!

And not just tomatoes: you’ll also find 4 types of cucumbers and also pumpkins and squash ready for you to take home and plant.

(And you’ll find TONS of seeds for all kinds of flowers, herbs, and veggies – both hybrids and heirloom seeds – inside Smith & Edwards, as well as everything you need to start them indoors!)

Corkscrew Willow trees You’ll find a huge variety of maple trees at Smith and Edwards this year: Autumn Blaze, Crimson King, Norway, and Lace Leaf Maples. Quaking Aspen trees and hanging baskets Splendens with beautiful leaves Striking leaves also on these Wizard Mix Coleus Decorate your porch with this flighty hummingbird ornament! Gardening and Watering tools in every color Garden Markers Fun garden ornaments Come in and see our Garden Center!

What’s the best time to pick up your flowers at Smith & Edwards? We start getting pansies as soon as we can, around March every year, and then you’ll find more and more flowers with a huge selection of flowers, tomatoes, trees and fruit trees, and much more by Mother’s Day.

I’ll be bringing some home to kick start my own garden this year!

Tell me – what flowers are your favorite in the spring? Leave your favorite in the comments below!

No comments

Rejuvenate your Home with new Paint Palettes!

December 14, 2013 - posted by Rose Marion

Lots of hardware and home improvement stores have paint departments with all those wonderful rainbows of paint chips.

If you’re building your own home, starting to personalize your new house, or finally getting around to touching up after the kids have flown the nest – you know how important those color swatches are, and how much time you can spend with them!

Picking Paint Palettes

One of my favorite things to do when I’m trying to pick paint colors – it’s a long-term decision! – is go to Pinterest and search for paint color palettes and inspiration. I love the colors people have already put together – much better than trying to hope the colors I choose will play nicely together!

And you know what? The paint counter at Smith & Edwards has several color palettes already created in gorgeous combinations with paint chips right in the palette! You’ve got to come in and see them! Take home a sample and tack it to the wall so you can visualize how your living room would look in a brand new coat of paint.

Smith & Edwards’ new Valspar color trio palettes Clark+Kensington paint chips, top, and room color paint palettes Perfect “mood” palettes from Clark and Kensington

This one’s my favorite – I’m picking colors for our living room and dining room, and this is what I’m settled on: a vanilla-cream on the walls, and white trim. Look at the great options I can use for accents!

Plus I can take this palette when I’m shopping for bookshelves, choosing photos to hang on the walls, and picking out our new couch to make sure everything complements the room.

Smith & Edwards Paint Department gets a Makeover!

These new color palettes are just a tiny part of the big changes in our paint department! That’s right, after years of helping thousands of Utah homeowners improve their home’s appearance – we’ve gotten a makeover, too!

Check out the amazing new lighting – much easier to see true colors and match paints: (old and new paint counter)

Before…

After…

It’s so bright and clean… we love it! How about you?

The reason for our remodel? We’ve brought in a new line of paint, Valspar, which is a premium paint. It’s got amazing pigments that give you brighter, more vibrant color!

Valspar comes in 2 grades. Aspire is a mid grade paint that’s similar to Clark+Kensington and is pretty durable. Optimus is the high-end Valspar paint and primer, and it’s incredibly durable. You can clean lipstick off flat Optimus without leaving a trace! – and it has great coverage.

Randy, our Paint department manager, will be happy to help you pick the perfect grade of paint!

And because they’re part of the same family, we can exactly color-match Valspar to Clark+Kensington and Ace Royal paints you’ve already got at home.

Clark + Kensington was recently rated #1 among leading paint brands by Consumer Reports. So you know you’re going to get the best paint for your project here at Smith & Edwards!

Sample Paint Pints

Here’s something more you can do than just tack that color palette up on your wall. Just tell us what colors you’d like to test drive, and we’ll mix them up for you and set you up with sample pints of Valspar or Clark+Kensington paint for just $4.99.

That way you can really get a feel for how the colors will affect the mood of the room, how they’ll enhance your furniture and cozy or freshen the feel of the space. You could get a sheet of chipboard and mock up what the room would look like – that way you get a much better idea than just 3″ paint chip swatches.

And while we’re probably the only ones who are excited about this, we’ve also got new displays and signage to match our new modern look! It’s like getting new sconces for us – aren’t they amazing?

(we think so!)

And since a lot of gluing seems to happen whenever there’s remodeling, we collected all our glues and plopped them right next to the paint so they’re easy to find. From E6000 to wood glues and of course Gorilla Glue, you’ll find the glue your projects need.

Come on in & visit!

And just wait… there is something exciting that Randy and the paint department can do with Valspar paints that they’ve never been able to do before! Come in and ask them about it, or wait to see the in-store demo we’ve got coming up in 2014. (Hint: it’s something to do with chalk!)

So come on in to Smith & Edwards and check out our huge range of paints and colors for home inspiration. The Paint department is just past the main entrance around aisles 19-23. Randy and Brenda can’t wait to help you find and match the perfect hues for your living room, dining room, bathroom, bedroom, or kitchen!

Come on in and let’s pick out your colors!

No comments

Take a look at the Handy Bucket Builder in our Paint Department

October 17, 2013 - posted by Rose Marion

This little lid is the coolest thing to hit our Paint Department since we can remember!

(Click to view larger!)

We use these bucket lids ourselves in the store

Randy, our Paint department manager, thinks you’ll love this product – and he’d know, he’s used it himself to build a whole nursery!

Yep, our outdoor garden center this spring and summer was built with Handy Bucket Builder lids, our Smith & Edwards Ace buckets, and 2 x 12 plywood placed flat on the lids, letting us set out our plants and flowers in tiers outside.

We used to build our garden center using lumber and cinderblocks. The cinder blocks were heavy – and they’d take up a ton of space, pallets and pallets, when it was time to take the garden center down for fall. Metal 2x4s work just as well as wood ones! These lids stack up on top of each other in a column, and they’re lightweight – we hardly have to clear out any room to store them!

Come see these bucket lids in action

The Handy Bucket Builder Lid snaps on either the top or the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket. The buckets can be used upside down or not, so it’s ok if your bucket has trash, paint, wood, gravel, or sawdust in it. In fact, adding weight to the buckets will help them stay in place.

We built this sturdy shelf with just scrap wood, stacked on Handy Bucket Builder lids and 5-gallon buckets. Come see for yourself!

We’ve got a display here at Smith & Edwards between aisles 9 and 10 so you can come see the Handy Bucket Builder lids in action. To make the display you see, we stacked one pair of buckets on top of another pair of buckets, with the lids inbetween. Then, we placed two 2 by 4s in the handy bucket builder lids. Lastly, we topped with a sheet of plywood. Simple as that, we’ve got a steady shelf that can hold a lot of weight – and it hardly took any time at all! You can make a more secure fit with screws and a drill – we didn’t have to, it was steady enough as-is.

You can also use 2×3’s, which will do the same job with less weight to carry.

Uses for the Handy Bucket Builder Lids

This is great for camping, taking to kids’ soccer or lacrosse games, and for bringing on trips with your RV or trailer. Storage is simple – simply stack up your buckets, stack the lids on top, and stand your lumber next to them.

Handy Bucket Builder lids are also a great way for you to store your Emergency Preparedness supplies as well as Food Storage. Keep your canned or emergency food on shelves you can build quickly with lids, buckets, and lumber. Anywhere you need shelving that might have to get taken down or moved around – the Handy Bucket Builder lids are gonna do the job.

And they’re infinitely reusable, too.

You can build your setup to be as temporary or long-standing as you like.

The lids are made from a flexible and shatterproof type of plastic that’ll hold up through countless uses. You can even drill through the lid at indicated points for the best security.

Come in and get your lids today!

Come on in and get your lids at Smith and Edwards, they’re located between aisles 9 and 10 on our main aisle of the store. And, you can also order yours online!

Handy Bucket Builder Lid: $10.99 order yours online Smith & Edwards Ace 5 Gallon Buckets: $3.50

Check out a Handy Bucket Builder lids demo: