2016 – The Goods

Fold, Fill, & Feast: How to Make Homemade Fortune Cookies

January 29, 2016

Since teaming up with our friends at Mental_Floss last year to produce printable, trivia-packed party kits, we have had lots of fun introducing download-it-yourself gift tags, cheese tags, and holiday cards, available to you for FREE! For Valentine’s Day, we took this DIY assortment to the next level with Printable Valentine’s Day Fortune Cookies.

The concept is sweet and simple: You print the cookie shapes and fortune strips, follow the included instructions for origami-style folding and filling, and add a dab of glue to finish. The download is complete with four pre-written fortunes that range from romantic to racy, and four blank strips for you to fill in a message for your Valentine.

Given that I generally view the world through my stomach, it didn’t take long before I decided that homemade fortune cookies would be part of my immediate future.

The Uncommon Life

UncommonGoods: Social Photo Distribution

January 29, 2016

RIGHTS MANAGEMENT TERMS OF SERVICE

UncommonGoods

Last Updated: July, 2016

Hello, you’ve probably been directed to this page because we requested additional rights to share your photo across our marketing channels. We love to see how you use products from UncommonGoods in your daily life — from creating your own beer with our DIY brewing kits, to personalizing a pillow with your family portrait, to sipping hot cocoa out of your unicorn mug — we love seeing UncommonGoods in action!
We regularly reach out to customers to request additional rights to reproduce our favorite images in our catalog, email, website and more. Whenever possible, we also include your handle or byline. Thank you for considering this request!

By responding to our request with the hashtag #YesMyUncommonGoods you are agreeing to the following:

User Content

As between you and us, you own all content and information you post or share using the Site (referred to as “User Content”), such as posting or sharing comments, photos, and videos.
You give UncommonGoods, LLC permission to use your User Content as follows: you grant to UncommonGoods, LLC a license to reproduce, display, perform, distribute, and otherwise use your User Content in connection with the Site and for other UncommonGoods, LLC marketing purposes, including without limitation in UncommonGoods, LLC catalogs, email and other customer communications, store materials and other marketing. We may display advertisements in connection with your User Content or on pages where your User Content may be viewed by you or others, and we may use your User Content to advertise and promote UncommonGoods, LLC or the Site. Our license to your User Content is non-exclusive, meaning you may use the User Content for your own purposes or let others use your User Content for their purposes. Our license to your User Content is fully-paid and royalty free, meaning we do not owe you anything else in connection with our use of your User Content. We may exercise our rights anywhere in the world. Finally, our license is perpetual, meaning that our license lasts for an indefinite period of time.

You promise that:

• You own all rights to your User Content or, alternatively, that you have the right to give UncommonGoods, LLC the rights described above;
• You have paid and will pay in full any fees or other payments that may be related to the use of your User Content; and
• Your User Content does not infringe the intellectual property rights, privacy rights, publicity rights, or other legal rights of any third party.

We may refuse to accept or transmit User Content for any reason. We may remove User Content from the Site for any reason.

Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy

If you believe that a user of the Site has infringed on your intellectual property rights, or if we have taken down your materials due to suspicion of copyright infringement, and you would like to dispute the alleged infringement, please feel free to notify us by emailing social@uncommongoods.com

Thank you!

The Uncommon Life

Instagram Challenge: OUTSIDE YOUR WINTER WINDOW

January 27, 2016

The next Instagram Challenge theme is OUTSIDE YOUR WINTER WINDOW. We did a little something different when deciding which photo to use to promote this contest. I tried to picture what winter looked like outside the windows of my past, but as a native Floridian turned New Yorker, my mind kept shifting between palm trees and piles of dirty city snow. We talked about snow globes, snow gauges, and starry landscapes. We imagined deer roaming through a winter wonderland. Ultimately, these abstract perspectives of what this season looks like inspired us to use artist Renée Leone’s vibrant piece Blizzard. This image illustrates her perspective on winter in Chicago, specifically from North Avenue Beach and Lake Shore Drive. Through geometric patterning, she created a personal portrait that not only depicts what she saw in this particular location, but also what she felt.

Gift Guides

Gift Lab: Coloring Books as Art Therapy

January 27, 2016

Product: Personalized Coloring Book

Research:

Coloring books are all the rage! A recent article from NYMag.com revealed that five of Amazon’s top 15 best-selling books right now are coloring books. I guess we adults didn’t appreciate our childhoods enough and what were likely our “best years.” How many of us avoided nap time in preschool only to beg our bosses as adults to purchase nap pods for the office? How many of you saw through my not-so-subtle attempt to get my co-workers reading this to inquire about getting nap pods here at UncommonGoods? Anways, back to coloring books. I didn’t spend a lot of time with coloring books as a kid because I much preferred to write my own stories and draw my own scenes, but I figure trying out this personalized coloring book and contemplating ways to get more sleep will help me right the wrongs of my past. Or, at the very least, it will give me something relaxing to do as I binge-watch, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown on Netflix.

Hypothesis:

Based on my previous experience with coloring books, I may color outside of the lines. Hey, such is life.

Experiment:

The great thing about this kind of experiment is that the directions are straight-forward: you pick a page and then you color it. Before I opened the coloring book I just assumed that the “personalized” part meant that you can order the book personalized with your name on the cover, but turns out most of the pages feature drawings with your name hidden in them.

The Uncommon Life

Uncommon Personalities: Meet Gaby Germaine

January 26, 2016

Gaby Germaine, UncommonGoods Creative Director

My home town is…
Smack dab in the middle of the heartland, Van Meter, Iowa.

I’m inspired by…
Hard working people, nature, color, and kindness.

Working at UncommonGoods, I’ve learned…
That this Thomas Edison quote I love is 100% accurate. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” I have been fortunate enough to work with and learn from some amazing people who have not been afraid to work and to work hard.

Maker Stories

This Just In-spiration: Meet Christie Little

January 25, 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 Christie Little, the artist behind our new I Love Hearts Large Canvas Market Bag.

Uncommon Knowledge

Uncommon Knowledge: Who Invented the Cubicle?

January 25, 2016

The short answer is Robert Probst (1921 – 2000). But Bob was quick to point out that the cubicle and cubicle “farm” as we know them are a far cry from his original intent. Probst, a designer, inventor, and former college art professor, developed the Action Office system in 1960 as head of R&D for Herman Miller. The system was influenced by the German concept of Bürolandschaft or “office landscape,” a way of making open office plans more organic and hospitable through various desk configurations, partitions, and potted plants. Probst’s Action Office was a modular system that could be configured in various ways to suit different corporate environments, but its open angles (not 90 degrees) didn’t box workers in, and its mix of private and common spaces encouraged employees to move around throughout the day. And lest you think that the “standing desk” craze is a recent development, Probst incorporated the concept into his system as a way to improve blood flow. It was only decades later when office floor space costs soared that Probst’s office system was corrupted into the dreaded cubicle farm by large corporations looking to squeeze in as many people per square foot as possible. But however boxy and generic your workspace might be, remember: things could be worse…

Personality Desk Signs | $28

Gift Guides

Valentine’s Day Gifts for the Perfect Date Night

January 22, 2016

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and love is in the air. Speaking of mushy cliches, your Valentine’s plans don’t have to be full of them. Show your special someone that you’re up for anything with these gift picks for the perfect uncommon date.

Perfect Picnic

A romantic picnic in the park (or on the living room floor, if February doesn’t quite provide park weather in your neck of the woods) is a great way to avoid crowded restaurants and get in a little one-on-one time.

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