The Bean's Pick: Uncommon Goods

This pick is one of my favorite online stores (and I also love their catalogs that come in the mail). Meet Uncommon Goods, an online store based out of Brooklyn dedicated to bringing you "creatively designed, high-quality merchandise at affordable prices." Visit their website and you'll find everything from home decor to baby onesies to garden gnomes. Browse through their items and you'll see their focus on offering a number of "green" products, many made via fair trade practices (they sell a number of repurposed products such as photo frames made out of old magazines, vases made of old windshields, and clocks made out of vintage camera bodies). Their website features a review system where buyers can rate products for quality, price, value, etc. Perhaps my favorite thing about Uncommon Goods is their Better to Give program, where customers gain the opportunity to contribute a portion of their purchase to a non-profit organization. Not bad! Some of our favorite items:

Lumen Oil Lamp Shadow Projectors $48; candle refills, set of 2 for $5
The #1 item I am craving from Uncommon Goods right now! Invented by artist Adam Frank, this modern little oil lamp casts an enchanting shadow from a tiny, stainless steel tree. As the flame flickers, the shadow of the tree moves like a light breeze is rustling its branches. A unique twist on a normal candle. Comes with two containers of odorless, clean-burning liquid wax that last 17 hours each. Available in five styles (from left to right): Cedar, Nest, Magnolia, Pine, and Bloom. Made in Brooklyn.

Gnomes-be-Gones with Gnome $125
How can you not love this? Your average, everyday garden gnome being carried away by two creepy, metallic critters with sharp teeth and no tongues. Excellent!







Bingo Clock $35
Made with reclaimed vintage bingo cards from a church in Pennsyvalnia. Very cool!

Recycled Multi-Color Wood Frame $48
A picture frame made from recycled wood from old boats, houses, schools and buildings in Thailand.




If you don't see anything that piques your interest here, I recommend you still check them out. They basically carry all sorts of cool things you never knew you needed!

P.S. Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!