Sending Crooked Stave Glassware Halfway Across The Country

If you ever find yourself needing to ship a couple of fairly fragile longstem glasses via UPS, here is a bit of advice: Prepare the package so that it will be able to withstand both concussion and compression forces. 

One of the longstem glasses to be shipped

One of the better lightweight materials that can resist moderate compression is Styrofoam. Get your hands on two 3" X 5" X 24" pieces of this wonderful material and do the following: 

Step one, cut the two 24" long pieces exactly (give or take) in half so that you have two 12" long pieces.

Step two, draw out the shape of the glassware on both of the 3" X 5" X 12" pieces of Styrofoam.

Step three, cut out the the shape of half of the longstem glass using a sharp cutting tool - I've found that a Ginsu steak knife is perfect for the job.

Step four, be sure to cut out half of the contours of the glass as true to half of it's shape as possible, as you're going to need to be able to fit half of the glass into each block of the Styrofoam.

Step five, once you have two pieces of the Styrofoam cut out to fit half of a longstem glass, you're ready to place the glass in what is for all intents and purposes a protective shell. 

Step six, place the glass between the two pieces of Styrofoam, being careful to ensure the glass does not rattle around loosely in it's little sarcophagus. 

Step seven, using 2" wide cellophane tape, secure the two pieces of Styrofoam around the glass. You may also want to write a bit of instruction as to where it would be best to cut the tape in order to avoid damage to the glass when the package is opened.  

Step eight, repeat steps 1 through 7 with the other glass.

Step nine, place the two Styrofoam-encased longstem glasses in a box about two inches larger all around than the combined size of the Styrofoam blocks. 

Step ten, get your hands on some bubblewrap, it's a great lightweight material that readily disapates moderate concussive force. Wrap the Styrofoam such that there is a two inch layer of bubblewrap on all sides.

Step eleven, place the Styrofoam and bubblewrap encased longstem glasses in the box.

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Finally, step twelve, seal the box shut with the 2" wide cellophane tape and take it on down to the UPS store, Three-day ground will suffice.