Uncommonly Good Goods

I've been pleased on this sponsored post to work with uncommongoods.com, a great website that showcases products from some of the best makers around.

Even in the world of the Internet, where millions upon millions of people connect every day, when it comes to buying gifts it's still not so easy to find something unique, something that stands out.  It's all too often I find that when you search for something to buy you end up being shown the same 3 or 4 products that have come out of an algorithm-calculated listing because they've got the best ratings or the website thinks it's the thing that you want, and you don't ever get to stumble across something a bit different.

However, I've been fortunate enough to come across a website where there are a great selection of unique products available.  Personally I often struggle when it comes to events like weddings, anniversaries, and baby showers, you want to get people something unique and memorable, but it's hard to find the right thing.  Uncommongoods.com has some awesome categories for these, you can see their selection of gifts for weddings, anniversaries, and baby showers here.

I really love this personalised wedding wall :)

Would it be wrong for me to get a Mustachifier for my niece...

Anniversary gifts is a challenge I've got coming up in the near future actually, my parents were married on the same day as I was born - it's an interesting story actually, on their wedding day my parents got married in the morning, and in the afternoon my mum was feeling a bit unwell so my dad took her to see a doctor.  She was worried that the food at the wedding has bad and she had given everybody food poisoning, but it turned out she was going into labour (she had no idea that she was pregnant!) and I showed up in the evening! So this year I'm going to check out some of these awesome anniversary gifts from UncommonGoods for them.

I think my mum might like these recycled glass tree globes...

My dad, however, would probably prefer a personalized whiskey barrel :D

Uncommongoods.com isn't just a marketplace for awesome items, however.  They have a strong environmental and social mission that leads the organisation, with the organisation minimising their environmental impact, ensuring that their employees are treated fairly, and they've donated over $1m to non-profit organisations around the world.  So you can feel good about your shopping too :)

For me, it seems like a great place to find some new, often personalised, gifts that you probably can't get elsewhere, directly supporting makers and creators.  Well worth checking out!

In case anyone is looking for birthday presents for me, check out their mens range - I like the look of Beeropoly :D

Happy Boxing Day!

I've just come back from my friends place in Norfolk where we've been celebrating Christmas - yes, I am aware it's slightly early, but I was there, he was there, so we decided to have an early Christmas Day on Saturday.

We had a gift limit of five pounds, so we had to make the most of our money to get the best present we could.

Or, if it's me, go on as many websites as possible to order free samples.

Some of the 'gifts' I wrapped up included:

• A piece of tile
• Some damp proofing gel
• Some block paving crack sealant
• A nappy
• A Knorr Gravy pot (not ordered from the internet but from Leeds Railway Station, where people were handing them out on Thursday)
• Carpet, curtain and fabric samples
• Aftershave
• Various customised bits from Vistaprint (okay I had to pay for post & packing, but £3 for a mouse mat, pen, mug and bag wasn't too bad!)

I did buy a few bits, prime one being a USB Air Freshener.  I nearly came a cropper when I realised that the air freshener needed essential oil to work, fortunately those good folk at Raven (who I may be slightly related to) sorted me out with some free Nag Champa oil, which does smell lovely.  If you are interested in any kind of weird and wonderful stuff, from josssticks to tarot cards, books to oils, get in touch with Raven at:

Raven
17 Melton Fields
Brickyard Lane
North Ferriby
East Riding of Yorkshire
HU14 3HE

Send them your address and a couple of first class stamps for a mail order catalogue.  I know, in this time of the internet we all automatically search the websites for stuff, but their catalogue is excellent (yes I am biased but even so).

All in all we had an excellent time, played some Cards Against Humanity (first time I've actually played it, I can recommend it as long as you are of a mature age and have an immature sense of humour!)

I can't blog today without a word about Sir Patrick Moore, who died this afternoon.  Sir Patrick was for anyone remotely interested in astronomy and the night sky, a legend which brought the science of the final frontier to life.  Despite only describing himself as an "amateur astronomer", he presented the Sky at Night television show for over fifty years, wrote tens of books on the topic of astronomy, and carried out functions such as working on the mapping of the Moons surface in the 1950s.  There are many tens of fascinating and fantastic facts about this amazing man, which I am not worthy of reproducing.  Being an 80s child I recall him as the GamesMaster on the Channel 4 TV show of the same name!  I would recommend to anyone interested in knowing more about him to get a copy of his autobiography, Eighty Not Out.  Indeed, any of the many books Sir Patrick was involved in writing would be a worthy read.

A memorial website has been set up for people to offer their tribunes, which is located at http://www.banguniverse.com/sirpatrickmoore/.