discover unique, fun, interesting, cute, or kitsch things for sale

These would be awesome if I had a dog that was with me long enough to want some water in a place where I couldn’t give her water from a hose. She’s not big on walks, or on people, or on doing anything more than sleeping, eating, and accepting treats.

“Slip one into your pocket or handbag or attach it to a leash. Simply pop open the dog-shaped bowl – it holds up to two cups of food or water. It folds flat when your pooch is finished and can be reused. It’s also recyclable – after a few uses, simply place it in your paper recycling bin.”

$9.99 for a 6-pack

These are darling placemats with pop-up silhouettes. (I love the birdcage and chair.) Made of 100% recycled paper. Set of 10 at $24.75; not too shabby.

Now to have that party…

For $28.50 you can get 3 reusable bags in cute designs (or plain colors). They’re large and sturdy, have great reviews, long handles incase you want to put them over your shoulder, and the best part? They’re made in a fair trade factory.

Buy soon, they sell out.

Spring in New York Design
Silicon Valley Design

I grew up watching the 1982 film, Annie many, many times. I sang the songs and probably annoyed my parents in doing so.

Recently, I got an itch to find some mp3s to sing along and annoy my beau. Besides being able to buy the album on Amazon, I found the children’s original story and soundtrack for free mp3 download.

Story albums are when you get dialogue from the film, with a narrator, and snippets of the songs to hear the entire storyline. How cute is that?

The download is .zip and comes with two (large) mp3s that breaks the record down in two parts. There’s some noise, as if it came from the real record, but it’s not too distracting after a while.

I listened to the entire thing and now just want to watch the film all over again and buy the mp3 album at Amazon…

So now it’s on my Netflix list. Sigh.

They are spoon rests for when you’re cooking and you need to stir or taste what you’re cooking. They just clip onto the bowl and keep the spoon from sliding around and keep it dripping over the concoction you are cooking! Brilliant!

They’re Trudeau Utensil Pot Clips for $7 each at Sur La Table stores and http://www.SurLaTable.com

My in-laws live here. Well, they’re here often enough that I frequently move their stuff out of the way to save my sanity.

Including the cell phone charger for their Razors. Razrs? Whatever. For some reason, I can’t stand the wires just flailing around the counter, in the way of my garlic bulbs and Kitchenaid mixer’s beauty.

Well, for $12.50, I can wrap up the little annoying thing and provide the neat space for the phone to rest while it charges.

Don’t we all just love good product design? Yes. Yes, we do.

If you have an Urban Outfitters near you, you may know that the store didn’t start with the same sense of self as it does now. It was a teeny-bop shop with silly things for purchase, like a frou-frou version of Hot Topic where blonde girls would giggle on in and boys would push their bangs out of their eyes to buy the checkered vans in green, dude.

Now, the store has seemingly grown up, especially the one at Santa Monica’s 3rd Street Promenade. With adult books [yes, even kinky ones] and eclectic stylings. I see it as a younger (and cheaper) Anthropologie. Which, suffice it to say, ROCKS DUDE!

Granted, it’s still on the young(er) side, but you can find the most amazing things there – especially for decorating your home. Like this tabletop clock that’s pictured above. Is that not beautiful or what? $28 ain’t so bad, no?

That damn clock made me start a wish list at their site.

Okay okay okay! Excited! Me!

This has got to be one of the greatest things I’ve stumbled upon. At first, I was going to post about BYOC (bring your own chopsticks) and how I bought a pair of these a long time ago at Z Gallery for $10.

But, then I saw that the site carried a Gorillapod, and I thought, is that a tripod? Is that, like, the most useful tripod I’ve ever seen?

Why, yes. Yes, it is.

They have 3 different sizes to fit your camera, and you must check out their gallery – I’m not sure why someone would wrap the tripod around golf clubs, but hey, that’s awesome!

(Search eBay for purchasing, much cheaper there.)

If I had known about this before visiting Paris, I immediately would have bought one. No more acting social and thanking someone that didn’t speak French or English for keeping all that space above our head available. Because, you know, everyone knows how to take a good picture, right?

Owl Holders for a small set of books or to keep mail in place. (Ouch, $55.)

even though I am having somewhat of an obsession with finding awesome baby products. Perhaps this is some stage of nesting? Even though I’m not pregnant?

Anyway. Good design is good design, and I wish I had the money to test all these products out. But, from the reviews I’ve read on Amazon, Boon is an awesome company.

Their modern look and thoughtful designs are not the only things going for them – they donate 10% to children’s charities!

I want their highchair, feeding spoon, potty, and faucet cover [pictured above]. Plus, their new line of clothing options (that isn’t quite out yet) has an awesome feature of a button-snap bib for their bodysuits.

Why didn’t anyone think of that?

And those big, ugly, unwashable fabric-covered highchair seats? BE GONE. Their Flair highchair is completely washable without seams for crumbs to fall in. Did I mention the HYDRAULIC LIFT ACTION WITH FOOT PEDAL?!

Okay. Now it’s sounding like an infomercial.