Wantist: Give Amazing Gifts

Posts by Brittany

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Hello Summer, pull up a chair

Soak up the outdoors in the Cabrio Lounge Chair

If I had a yard

Summer is officially here and it’s time to take your sitting outside. Leave the sofa, close the laptop. If I had a yard I’d be in a blue (maybe a chocolate brown—or a green?) Cabrio Lounge Chair with my toes in the grass, the newest issue of Dwell in hand and a cold hefe nearby on the conveniently wide armrests.

If I had a patio

Shopping for patio furniture can be a real trick. The selection hits stores as a seasonal item, often in a limited assortment of colors and styles. By the first day of summer (ahem, today) you’d be hard pressed to find something that you won’t be frowning at come this time next year. Until there was Loll.

Made out of post-consumer recycled plastic (320 milk jugs to be exact), the result is a weatherproof, fade-proof material that lasts a lifetime and doesn’t need to be covered, stored or tended to.

If I had an outdoor furniture company

Loll was developed around the longevity and sustainability of materials being used by a skatepark manufacturer. They figured if it could withstand the elements plus the skaters while looking and functioning exceptionally well year after year without being disassembled, it’d make for some pretty great outdoor furniture.

In addition, they go above and beyond to be green. The furniture (which by the way there are benches, tables chaises and adirondack chairs too) is 100% recyclable. A tree is planted for every order received, they are 1% for the Planet contributors and much more.

The Cabrio Lounge Chair comes in six colors for $319 from Loll.

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Because there’s a f@*king H in it

Keep your herbs and erbs fresh with the Herb-Savor

Aye

Raise your hand if you think fresh herbs make food super tasty. Now raise your hand if you’ve tossed out heaps of slimy herbs because they went bad before you could finish them. Yeah, us too. Guilty as charged.

Well this product is made to remedy exactly that and we’re dying to give it a go.

Nom nom nom

Fresh basil and cilantro, I occasionally buy them with the best of intentions. Prepackaged in generous portions, I’m hesitant because we’d have to have mounds of the stuff with our Cherrios in order to use them up before they go bad.

Would I have my herbs and eat them too if they lasted a couple weeks longer? Damn straight I would.

Smart, smart and smart

The Herb-Savor by Prepara takes into account a handful of really clever design considerations. The base of the contraption is a water well that the cut stems dip into keeping them fresher longer. It has a stopper in front for easy filling and refilling. A stainless steel basket inside can be used for rinsing the herbs and helps hold them in place. The tall slender shape saves shelf real estate and the clear plastic is a window to an herbaceous mini-forest in your fridge.

(Apologies to Eddie Izzard for the title.)

Thought up in Inna’s Ohio kitchen, Prepara began as an entire family effort. Start saving your herbs with an Herb-Savor from Prepara.com for $29.95.

Also for sale at:

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Rock-a-bye little rockstar

Bloom baby lounger looks good in the living room

Dwell well

We’re big believers that your surroundings affect your mood—that your things represent you, most importantly to yourself. If your place looks organized, you feel organized. If the things around you look stylish, you feel stylish. Modern, eclectic, comfortable—pick one, the same rule applies.

Enter baby and our skeptical imaginations depict the aforementioned surroundings run over by Thomas the Tank Engine.

Baby design boom

We’ve yet to jump on the baby bandwagon. However we’re warming up to the idea thanks in part to an evolution in the design of baby stuff. Over the past decade a beautiful thing has happened. Products for the itty-bitty among us are being made with equal consideration for the parents who have to live with, store and lug around this stuff.

Four dads and a baby company

Bloom was created by four dads who completely get our baby goo trepidation. Their entire collection is made to merge the needs of wee ones with the contemporary lifestyle of the entire family.

While style is an evident part of the design process, safety and sustainability are also high priorities at Bloom. Their products and processes are free of all kinds of nasty chemicals. All woods are sourced from certified sustainable forests and all plastic are recyclable and food-safe where needed.

Rock it Coco

The pictured Coco Stylewood lounger was the first Bloom product to catch my eye for its obvious head-turning aesthetic. Truly a departure from traditional baby seats, this makes the world-o-baby look, dare I say, appealing. For now, I’m content coveting from afar (very far. like way over there).

The Coco Stylewood comes in dark or natural wood with a variety of seat colors for $200 at Genius Jones. Shipping is free, a portion of profits go to charity and dwelling well is their gig too.

Also for sale at:

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From the Fun Box to the Jewelry Box

Different fun box. MapleXO makes jewelry from old skateboards.

There’s something special about a piece of jewelry that’s one-of-a-kind. As in, you’re the only one who will have anything exactly like it—ever.

So let’s take the greatness of that idea and mush it with another one. Let’s create the jewelry from an unexpected source, something at the end of its life, en route to the garbage and let’s give it a new life. Awesome.

Lindsay Jo Holmes of MapleXO (and a Portland gal to boot) worked her magic and has done precisely that. She makes bracelets, rings and earrings out of retired skateboard decks and they totally rock.

The colors, lines and shapes of the original graphics have a graffiti/poster art vibe while the wear and tear from their kickflipping days give the pieces a gritty, brush-stroke look and ensure that no two are the same.

I’ve had a pair of the hoop earrings for about a year (Jacob found them at one of our favorite Denver stores. Yep, he’s a keeper.) and I get compliments and questions every time I wear them.

For large earrings they’re super lightweight so they don’t give you the aches after wearing them all day. Though inherently scuffed and scratched they are surprisingly smooth to the touch. And because they’re such unique little pieces of art, we think they can be worn with pretty much anything.

Grab a pair for your best girl at RadishUnderground.com for $42. We won’t tell if that best girl is you.

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Are you the Keymaster?

Data travels lightly with this key-shaped USB flash drive

Take me with you

USB flash drives have been around for about nine years now. Portable by design, they keep getting smaller while their storage capacities get larger—two welcome innovations except for one thing: what is small is easily misplaced or left behind.

Stuck on you

We’ve seen tethered cases, branded lanyards and jewelry of all kinds designed to help you keep up with your drive. As clever as some of them are they also tend toward visually obnoxious or functionally cumbersome. We’re excited about the LaCie itsaKey because it’s none of those things. It’s simple, nice-looking and serves its purpose discreetly.

Have keys will travel

It’s pretty difficult to go anywhere without your keys whether you’re locking up behind you or igniting a vehicle to get you there, they tend to make it with you out the door.

No more damn-I-meant-to’s or it’s-right-where-I-left-it’s, with the itsaKey you should make it where you’re going with your device in tow. (Just don’t lose your keys.)

Data that dangles

While we love pretty much everything about the itsaKey, a heads-up for people who still lug around a keychain reminiscent of your high school days. Just as they yanked on your ignition while drooped across your knee, a heavy set of keys hanging off your computer does not a happy USB port make.

On the other hand, if your ports have a surface nearby that can support the weight of the keys—let’s say, off the side of your keyboard or laptop—then we think this is a pretty great solution for giving your data some legs.

LaCie makes sexy hardware without sacrificing the safety of your digital stuff. The itsaKey works with Macs and PCs (and Linux geeks, you’re cool too). The 8GB is $30 at Amazon (the 4GB is $22).

Also for sale at:

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XXX is hot, 30 is meh

Roman numeral candles for celebrating, not counting

It happened, it was unavoidable

I turned thirty today. Rather, I turned XXX today. And to anyone else crossing the threshold of the big three-ohhh, I highly recommend it—XXX is much more fun.

Fred takes the cake

To celebrate in style this dirty-thirty birthday girl looked to Fred. You see, Fred makes funny look easy and continually introduces some of the most clever, part-stylish and part-absurd home accessories into the world. If you’ve ever found yourself in a gifty little boutique and some quirky product made you actually LOL, it was probably made by Fred & Friends.

Wrapped in witty

Half the fun of a product by Fred is the packaging and more specifically the copy written on it. Each trademarked name and quippy tag line coaxes a smile. And its that smile wherein the value lies. Take the Roman Candles, the tag line is, “Party like it’s MCMXCIX”. Predictable perhaps but every time I see it the grin reappears.

Age gracefully, with fewer candles

Whether you’re 30, 40 (XL), 54 (LIV), or 89 (LXXIX, they don’t work past 89) these Roman Candles will certainly produce fewer flames to extinguish than their traditional counterparts. And they may even spark a laugh or two. What’s a birthday if not a reason for a good chuckle?

Celebrate any age from 1 to 89 with Fred’s Roman Candles from Vat19—an equally silly store with quick, friendly service. Oh, and the best price, $4.95.

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How do you do a do?

Bumble and bumble videos teach hair how-tos

A lesson in goo

There’s a good chance you already know and love Bumble and bumble and if you don’t, we’ve discovered a really good reason to check them out.

First a story. This may sound familiar. After a recent haircut, I came home determined to avoid the usual scenario: leave the salon looking like a million bucks and then post-shower it’s my turn to give my do a go and boo, up goes the ponytail (or guys—think hat day).

My hair gal had recommended a few Bumble and bumble [Bb.] products to try, so I headed to their website hoping, but a little skeptical, that some fancy goo would do the trick. You see, it’s not for lack of trying, it’s a lack of skills.

Video killed the ponytail

Already into the look and feel of the brand, I was duly impressed when this shopper became the student. A click on any product and there are videos (plural) of how to actually use the stuff (on guys and girls).

Short, simple and well-produced (icing on the cake) these videos did more than provide a pleasant web experience, they added value. (If price had been a thought, it wasn’t anymore.) I learned a thing or two and I confidently added products (more than expected) to my shopping cart.

Bumble and bumble, you’ve just leveled up in my book.

Watch-n-shop for yourself at Bumbleandbumble.com. (The videos are at the bottom of each individual product’s page.) Prices range from $6 for a taste to $81 for a bucketload.

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Lovely day for a Shopnic

The collapsable basket that schwaps open

Get outside!

The weather has gotten all summery. The parks and breezes are stealing our attention—the temptresses that they are, beckoning from out the window.

I resolve to picnic. And I wish I had one of these. It’s a Shopnic basket (shopping+picnic, for the obvious-impaired).

Handy and mighty

Not only is it collapsable, machine washable and springs open like a magician’s hat (watch this video on flickr to see for yourself), it’s also super strong. We’re talking seventy granny smiths from the farmer’s market strong.

The frame is made from ABS plastic, a recyclable and durable plastic (think Legos), and wrapped in a mesh nylon cover. Basically it’s made to last a very long time, which for the price is what we’d expect.

Surprise-nic

The thing just screams spontaneity. Stash one of these in the back of the car, and one day when she least expects it, swing by the market and then head to the park. The resulting smile and moment of speechlessness will be well worth it.

Who couldn’t use a slow afternoon on a blanket in the grass with nothing to worry about but the ants?

Shopnic is $99 and comes in three colors at Lekkerhome.com, a home furnishings store out of Boston with a great collection and fresh little brand.

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Write on the Wall? Yes we Can!

IdeaPaint

Make any surface a whiteboard with IdeaPaint

Stop and smell the dry erase markers—say hello to Wantist. Hi there!

We’re kicking things off with a real doozy of a why-didn’t-I-think-of-that product. In fact, maybe you did think of it but you never wrote it down, so away it went. Shame, shame.

Jot it down

Get those cerebral nuggets out of your head and on to the wall, the cabinets, the doors. If you paint it, you can write on it, with IdeaPaint.

Though we haven’t tried it yet, word on the web is that it’s right on. The creative superstars at Behance and swissmiss have given it a go and they’re hooked. They speak to productivity boosts while brainstorming and how it wipes clean like new afterwards. Nice.

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