This post is sponsored by UncommonGoods.com. Find the best ideas for men, women and kids at UncommonGoods. They carry thousands of unique and unusual gifts, from fun jewelry and cool accessories to creative home decor and kitchen items.
I use to be the best wish list maker. No joke. And it wasn’t always those stereotypical what-every-kid-asks-for lists like puppies or ponies or rocket ships. (Though I totally had a puppy on my list until I was 14. And that’s because that was when I finally got one.) I always had the coolest, but within reason, toys and games. As I got older, my lists got better. I could actually fine tune my list based on which relative I was sending it to according to the likelihood they’d buy it for me. In my twenties, as adulthood kicked in and I got fewer and fewer gifts, I knew to ask for somewhat practical yet fun gifts. That’s how I ended up with a deep fryer one year.
This year, though, as I ready myself for 32… I’ve got nothing. Sure there are things I’d like, but nothing really “birthday wish list” worthy. Fitbit is a bit too on the expensive side. Roomba is on the beyond the expensive side. And the new tervis tumbler is just kind of meh. Plus, I can’t put those on a list and be like “oh hey, yet another tervis” because it’s the only affordable item I asked for.
Thankfully, though, through this partnership with UncommonGoods, I’m finding a lot of stuff that I might not have necessarily thought to get or ask for. UncommonGoods is a company that works to connect you, the shopper, with unique and fun goods from a variety of craftsmakers and artisans. (Coolest thing of all is that the whole shop was inspired by a Smithsonian Museum craft show!) They have a wide variety of items, in a vast price range. I was actually really shocked at how much stuff they have on their site. I wasn’t sure I was actually going to see everything! However, to help you guys navigate through it all, I’m going to highlight some items from their super helpful lists. And since my birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, why not look through their birthday gift guide? Now. They also have this broken down into birthday gifts for her and birthday gift for him — if splitting things up help like that helps you out at all.
It was really hard to pick my top favorites, but here are 9 items I really love!
- Elwood the Rainbow Unicorn Mug – I mean, who doesn’t want a giant rainbow unicorn for their coffee/tea/cocoa? It would just make mornings magical.
- Scratch Map – I’ve had my eye on this map for over a year now. Not even for myself, but for a couple of my younger sisters. It’s a super fun way to document your travels!
- Literary Candles – Let’s be honest, while all of these are fun, I most definitely want my home smelling of 221B Baker Street (which is a combination of Black currant tea and leather books)! Also cool and related: they have those amazing Literary Scarves! Something I also love.
- City Map Glasses – I am absolutely in love with the Chicago glass. I would likely even order extras just in case I accidentally broke this–heaven forbid!
- Foodie Dice – I. Love. These. I am actually 100% most definitely getting a set of these for myself for my cooking streams. It has a cooking method, a protein (animal and non), veggie/sides, spices, and carb/grains. I think it’d add a fun crazy element to my streams — the unpredictability of it all and having to come up with a recipe on the spot. I just love this idea.
- Flavors of America Salt Collection – There’s 11 different salts in this collection that span across the country. From Maine to California to even Hawaii. I’m a sucker for spices, especially salts. And I would love to explore these on various meals. (Or, ok, yes, I would my cross-country season fries.) This is just one of many spice collections from UncommonGoods I’d like to get.
- Scotch Infused Toothpick Gift Set – I love scotch. Scotchy scotch scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly. (For real, though, there were a lot of boozy gifts. Like a lot. I had a hard time narrowing it down so it wouldn’t look like I was some terrible alcoholic.)
- Homemade Gin Kit – Speaking of boozy… They actually have a lot of cool brew-it-yourself kits. Everything from different types of beers to kombucha to liquors. I’ve not had a huge amount of exposure to gin, but it’s something I’d like to try more of. In moderation, and stuff, of course.
- Novel Teas – Again another literary gift. There’s 25 tea bags, each with a quote from an author. It’s English Breakfast tea — aka caffeinated, so I can’t have it — but again, this is one that’s been on my eye as gifts for others.
Like I said, I had a super hard time narrowing things down. There’s just a huge wide variety of items on UncommonGoods. Yes, I’ll admit, something are out of my price range… but they do indeed have a lot of affordable items as well. And definitely a lot of items I’ll be (not-so) secretly wishing for this year!
Have you checked out UncommonGoods before? What’s your favorite item?
