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Gift Guides, Maker Resources

Gift Guide: Wedding Anniversary Gifts by Year

June 23, 2016


Just as there aren’t official rules that fit every romantic partnership, the “appropriate” wedding anniversary gifts by year aren’t written in stone–nor iron, copper, bronze, tin, steel, gold, or diamond. The origins of the traditional anniversary gift list are shrouded by the mysterious, misty mists of time, anyway.

The “traditional” guide for anniversary gifts by year featured mostly practical items, to help couples set up their new homes. The modern list, created by the American National Retail Jewelers Association in 1937, is (surprise!) big on precious metals and gems. As much as we adore sparkly baubles, we don’t believe that jewelers have the authoritative last word on this subject.

However, an anniversary gift guide of what’s generally considered appropriate can be a lifesaver: without one, it’s easy to succumb to mental paralysis when you need to come up with anniversary gift ideas for friends or relatives celebrating X years of marriage.

With all this in mind, here is our own fresh guide of anniversary gifts by year: traditional, modern, and, of course, uncommon.
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Maker Stories

Inside the Caramel Sauce Kitchen with Michelle Lewis

June 15, 2016
Michelle Lewis | UncommonGoods

Michelle Lewis in her Brooklyn kitchen, photos by Rachel Orlow

I don’t know what I did to deserve the privilege of touring a commercial caramel kitchen–for work, no less. (Must be my excellent contributions to our blog.) I left home on a gorgeous, sunny day and strolled for a half-hour to a magical place where I got to taste sweet, buttery caramel sauce. Don’t hate me because my job is beautiful.

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Maker Stories

This Just In-spiration: Meet Andy and Kim Yochum

June 14, 2016

Kim and Andy Yochum | UncommonGoods

Our makers never fail to motivate us, encourage our creativity, and fill us with inspiration. So, when a new design enters our assortment, we’re always excited to learn more about the people behind the product.

What gets an artist going and keeps them creating is certainly worth sharing, and every great connection starts with a simple introduction. Meet Andy and Kim Yochum, creators of our new Craft Beer Pretzel Mix.

Craft Beer Pretzel Mix. | UncommonGoods
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Maker Stories

This Just In-spiration: Meet Amanda Slaughter

June 7, 2016

Amanda Slaughter | UncommonGoods
Our makers never fail to motivate us, encourage our creativity, and fill us with inspiration. So, when a new design enters our assortment, we’re always excited to learn more about the people behind the product.

What gets an artist going and keeps them creating is certainly worth sharing, and every great connection starts with a simple introduction. Meet Amanda Slaughter, creator of our new Blooming Spoons Necklace.

Blooming Spoons Necklace | UncommonGoods

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Maker Stories

It’s a Date: Collaborating to Create an Uncommon Calendar

May 30, 2016

One of the joys of working at UncommonGoods is collaborating with talented and skillful artists to create original creative designs. Our Product Development team recently teamed up with longtime UncommonGoods artists Kathleen Plate and Margaret Taylor to invent a new and exclusive work of functional art: our new “It’s a Date” Wine Bottle Glass Calendar; a sculptural glass and wood calendar made from recycled materials.It's a Date - Wine Bottle Glass Calendar | UncommonGoods

“Kathleen had the idea to create a glass calendar that would be a piece of art,” says Assistant Production Manager Rebekah Krikke. “She originally saw it as wall art, but we thought it would be good to design it so that it could go on the wall or on a desk, shelf, or table. We worked through the design with her using insights that we have from other products to create something that we thought our customers would like–a beautiful and fun interactive art object-meets-home décor item.”

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Maker Stories

This Just In-spiraton: Eric Prum and Josh Williams

May 23, 2016
Pineapple Tumbler | UncommonGoods

Pineapple Tumbler | UncommonGoods

Our makers never fail to motivate us, encourage our creativity, and fill us with inspiration. So, when a new design enters our assortment, we’re always excited to learn more about the people behind the product.

What gets an artist going and keeps them creating is certainly worth sharing, and every great connection starts with a simple introduction. Meet Eric Prum, who, with Josh Williams, designed our new Pineapple Tumbler.

Josh Williams and Eric Prum | UncommonGoods

Photo courtesy Jane Riley, Who’d Have Thought

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The Uncommon Life

How Jessica Hamel Cures Her Insatiable Hunger for All Natural Frosting

May 18, 2016

Natural Coconut Oil Frosting | UncommonGoods

Jessica Hamel, creator of our new Natural Coconut Oil Frostings, has always had a sweet tooth and always knew she’d be an entrepreneur. When she took up the sport of ultra-marathoning–as in running, say, 100 miles–not only could she get away with eating sweet snacks, but her body really needed them, to assuage her insatiable hunger from hours of ultra-running in the Boulder mountains. She wanted frosting. All natural frosting.

Natural Coconut Oil Frosting | UncommonGoods
Inspired by her grandmother, she’d always loved baking. She liked to experiment with original frosting flavorings, but didn’t always have time to make them from scratch. There are lots of canned frosting options in grocery stores, and it would have been oh-so-handy to use them–but have you read the ingredients of those things? Unless Distilled Monoglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Polysorbate 60 and GMO corn syrup are your favorite things, you’re not going to want to eat them. Jessica didn’t either. She wanted natural frostings she could eat on the go, but they didn’t exist. So she invented them.

Natural Coconut Oil Frosting | UncommonGoods

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Maker Stories

This Just In-spiration: Meet Tom Medwin

May 2, 2016

 

Our makers never fail to motivate us, encourage our creativity, and fill us with inspiration. So, when a new design enters our assortment, we’re always excited to learn more about the people behind the product.

What gets an artist going and keeps them creating is certainly worth sharing, and every great connection starts with a simple introduction. Meet Tom Medwin, creator of our new Donut Warming Mug.

Donut Warming Mug | UncommonGoods

Donut Warming Mug | UncommonGoods

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