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Meet Us at World Maker Faire

September 21, 2010

If you’ve ever wondered where you can shop UncommonGoods in person, wonder no more. This weekend, we’re putting together an uncommon living room at World Maker Faire, a gathering of makers, crafters and DIY folk at the NY Hall of Science.

We’ll be showcasing all our past YouGoods winners along with a great assortment of our newest and best in handmade, eco-friendly, DIY-friendly, and modern design.

So come sit down in a seatbelt chair. Scribble a note on a chalkboard pillow. Make faces at our Tengu USB-Powered character. Bring your kids– we’ll have plenty of toys.

Seatbelt chair

And tell our CEO David Bolotsky about your product ideas. We’re looking for innovative and new product designs, and we want to hear from you, Makers! Stop by to share your ideas, and we just might help you bring your product to market.

UncommonGoods at World Maker Faire
NY Hall of Science, Queens, NY
Saturday, September 25: 10 – 7
Sunday, September 26: 10 – 6
*Product Pitch Hour: Sunday, 2-3 pm*

And once you’ve shared your ideas at World Maker Faire, come down to Times Square on Sunday at 6:00 P.M.  for Love In Times Square, with our friends at IndieFlix. They’re showing a sneak peak of the new movie game– Film Festival in a Box– and they’re inviting you to play. Four award-winning short films will be screening on the Jumbotron at 47th St. Don’t miss it!

The Uncommon Life

UncommonGoods Heads to the Farm

September 20, 2010

Last Friday, a group of UncommonGoods staffers headed out to Governor’s Island for a day of volunteering at the Added Value Farm.

(L to R) Mary Catherine, Marcus, Sara, Shammyann and Sarah are pulling up weeds from the okra, cabbage, collards and lettuce crops. The produce is donated and sold locally, and the farms offer educational programming and work opportunities for children and teens in South Brooklyn.

Maker Stories

Friday Giveaway: Wax Seal Necklace

September 17, 2010

Thanks to everyone who shared your stories about the loved ones in your lives. And congrats to Sarah Solducky, who will be sending her holiday cards with a special seal this year.

Stay tuned for more giveaways by subscribing to theGoods.

This week we’re honored to give away one of Tania Condon’s elegant sterling silver wax seal necklaces, that she will custom engrave for one lucky winner.

And this week, you have the chance to win one, custom made. Your sterling silver wax seal necklace comes with a tiny tag that you can have engraved with the initials of a loved one and a date to mark a special day in your heart. Your pendant also comes with your choice of initial and a block of wax, so you seal your letters with a personal touch.

Tania Condon’s son Julian is the main inspiration for her pieces, including the sterling silver wax seal necklace, available custom-made for $95. After the birth of her son, Tania took up metalsmithing in order to make a bracelet for her newborn baby. She learned first at classes at a college in San Diego and then with the help of other masters in the trade. Using the design of a wax fob she saw in a British Museum, she came up with the idea of the pendant.

Tania says, “I love writing letters and sending them via snail mail and I seal them with a wax seal of the letter T. Sometimes I get carried away and even use the wax seal for my bills!”

Want to win? You know what to do! Leave a comment below telling us what special event or person you might commemorate with a sterling silver wax seal necklace. Then leave a comment on our Facebook wall, and tweet @uncommongoods on Twitter to triple your chances. We’ll announce the random winner on Monday.

The Uncommon Life

Eat, Pray, Love, Wear

September 16, 2010

We wouldn’t want to imply that a fashion accessory can bring you the sort of answers that Julia Roberts seeks in her new film, Eat, Pray, Love, but we did want to point out the handmade, fair trade black floral belt that Julia Roberts wears as she explores Italy, India and Indonesia.

We just learned this morning from the belt’s designer, Jenny Krauss. Jenny works with artisans in Bolivia and Peru who handweave these belts from a curly wood thread.  She found meaning in her life by working to make sure these women had a market to sell their crafts. “It’s important to give and empower those less fortunate,” she says. “Most people don’t have a lot of opportunity to better their lives, so it feels good to be able to contribute something empowering and sustainable.”

You can support these fair trade artisans, get started on your own personal journey, and pick out your own belt at UncommonGoods.

From what I hear, Julia Roberts’ character eats a lot of pasta while she’s traveling through Italy. Luckily this black floral belt can be let out a few notches as needed.

Maker Stories

Friday Giveaway: Hand-Forged Kitchen Tools

September 10, 2010

ETA 10:26 AM, Sept. 13: Hope everyone had a great weekend!  Congratulations to Jennifer, our latest Friday giveaway winner. Her favorite pizza topping is the garlic dipping sauce– which is a great answer for almost every slice.

Stay tuned for future giveaways by subscribing to The Goods via RSS.

This week’s giveaway comes with a really awesome story.

After 20 years of working in a high-production industry, Al Stephens decided to become a blacksmith. He visited Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site in Illinois, and soon became a volunteer in the 19th century blacksmith shop where they had bellows, a coal forge, anvil, and vise. For the next few years, Al developed his skills by working with other blacksmiths who taught him the trade.

And by 2000, he and his wife Sylvia had started their own blacksmith shop. Today Al makes items like the pizza cutter and cheese slicer by hand, in his shop in rural northern Alabama.

Impressed? We certainly are!

This week we’re giving away two hand-forged kitchen tools available on our site– a cheese slicer and a pizza cutter— to one lucky reader.

Want to win? You know what to do! Leave a comment below telling us about your favorite pizza topping or type of cheese. Then leave a comment on our Facebook wall, and tweet @uncommongoods on Twitter to triple your chances.  We’ll announce the random winner on Monday.

Want to learn more about the art of forging metal? Al Stephens suggests you go out there and try it! The Artist Blacksmith’s Association of North America has local affiliates all over the country. Find a group near you and attend the regular meetings. Al says, “One-on-one teaching is an excellent way to learn, hands-on style.”

And it certainly paid off for him!  Happy Friday, everybody!

The Uncommon Life

V’reens or Verrines?

September 9, 2010

This French style of cuisine is growing popular among foodies for its ability to bring out not just the taste, but also the texture and color of your ingredients.

What is a verrine? Verrines are layered dishes. Rather than blending or stewing or mixing or baking, when you make a verrine, you layer up all the ingredients.  Verrines give each layer its time to shine, by putting it on display in a special glass.

Last month, Kevin Weeks from NPR did a great piece on the art, science and history of preparing verrines (or v’reens).

A verrine can be an appetizer, an amuse-bouche, a salad, a side dish, a dessert (the most common application) and, I suppose, even a complete meal, with the right combination of ingredients and the right sort of glass.

Verrines are clearly linked to the parfait, a soda-fountain treat popularized in the middle of the last century, as well as other layered dishes, such as the Cobb salad and the English trifle. Verrines, however, are individualized, with a single serving in each glass and yet as carefully arranged as the famous seven-layer salad of Super Bowl Sunday fame.

You might combine — from the bottom up — something green (peas) with something brown (mushroom duxelles) with something golden (sauteed onions) with something white (pureed potatoes). This arrangement also layers — from the bottom up — textures such as slightly mushy peas, grainy duxelles, crunchy onions and silky-smooth potatoes. Each layer provides its own flavors, and all of the flavors, tasted in turn and in combination, bring their own brilliance to the assemblage.

I’m convinced v’reens might be the perfect party dish. They look so complicated, so intricately prepared. But in truth, many verrine recipes are quite simple. Try one the next time you’re headed to a potluck or dinner party. I bet your friends will be oh-la-la-ing over your v’reen creation.

Gift Guides

Friday Giveaway: Fall Accessories

September 3, 2010

ETA Tues 10:35 AM: Congrats to Mandy who told us, “I’m spending a few days with mom then hopefully heading to Kingsland, GA for the catfish festival!” She’s the winner of the sari scarf.

And Deanne Ross: “Oktoberfesting & heading to the shore this Labor Day weekend!” She’s won a bike tread belt and letter press money clip.

Hope everyone had great holiday weekends! Stay tuned for future giveaways by subscribing to the Goods via RSS.

Is it already Labor Day weekend?  On Wednesday, an NYC transit operator reminded folks in my subway car that there were still 22 days of summer left, but it’s hard to not be thinking about the start of fall, especially with Hurricane Earl set to bring all this rainy weather.

So this week we’re giving away two separate gifts that are perfect accessories for the changing seasons.

The sari scarf ($45) comes in cinnamon or turquoise/lavender and is perfect for that time of year when it gets a bit chilly in the early mornings and late nights, but it still feels like summer during the day. Upcycled from vintage saris in India, this gorgeous scarf is a patchwork of rich, warm-colored pieces of luxurious silk.

And we’re also giving away a set of a bike tread belt, handmade in Portland, Oregon from recycled rubber road or hybrid bicycle tires, and a letter press money clip, handmade in Seattle and inspired by antique letterpress publishing. Both are great items to take out of town on your last long weekend of the summer,  or for Tuesday morning when you’re back at work.

Leave a comment below to enter, and let us know what you’re doing for Labor Day weekend.  Then triple your chances to win by tweeting and leaving a comment on our Facebook wall.

We’ll announce two random winners on Monday morning.  Feel free to let us know which giveaway prize you’d prefer– we’ll try to take it into account!

Happy Friday!

ETA 2:11 PM: Whoops! I forgot that we have Monday off. How about you all get an extra day to enter, and I’ll announce the winners on Tuesday!

Design

YouGoods: Put a new twist on old greeting cards

August 30, 2010

“Pass me the White-Out!”

Christy Eichers had just realized she had no card for the birthday girl, so she quickly fixed up an old card of her father’s.

The result was fairly tacky, but she was certain there was a business idea there somewhere.

And regreet was born:

With regreet, you can upcycle your old cards in style, and take away the stigma of passing along a card that’s been doctored with whiteout or eraser marks. Christy’s even thought of a way for you to track your card’s journey, and see just how many times it gets regreeted.

According to Christy and the Encyclopedia of American Industries, the greeting card industry is a $7.5 billion business with 90% of households purchasing cards each year. The typical household purchases 30 cards annually.

So regreet kits, made from earth-friendly materials with a minimum of 30% post-consumer waste and printed with soy inks, can have a huge impact on reducing the amount of paper we waste each year.

Christy is winning a $1,500 cash prize, along with the chance to show off her designs at World Maker Faire NYC and sell the regreet kit at www.uncommongoods.com.

Leave a comment below to congratulate her on her idea– eco-friendly, clever, and well designed.  A perfect YouGoods design for National Inventors Month!