Catalog – The Goods

Cover for Us! Contest

September 13, 2013

We admit we can be a little indecisive sometimes, and when we are we love hearing from you guys!

Help us choose which design will be on the cover of our holiday catalog and you could win a $50 gift card to UncommonGoods. Head on over to our Facebook page before midnight on September 16, cast a vote, and you’re entered for the prize.

Not only will you be really helping us out and possibly getting a jump start on your own holiday shopping!

For entry and full rules, please visit http://bit.ly/15XI3Zt.

The Uncommon Life

Welcome back the Plastiki

July 27, 2010

If you haven’t heard the news yet, be sure to congratulate the crew of the Plastiki on their epic voyage across the Pacific. They set out to raise awareness of the threats of plastic bottle waste and ended up inspiring a wave of activism.

Here at UncommonGoods we try to do our part. We print our catalogs on recycled and FSC- certified paper. More than half of our products are handmade or constructed from recycled materials. We’re always looking for more ways to become more sustainable.

And just last week, we resolved to shake up our monthly company lunches. Each month we all get together for lunch, and we go through a fair amount of plastic plates and silverware.

So we agreed as a company that we would try to reduce and reuse. Next month, many of us will be dining with these Box Appetit lunch boxes.

And after seeing photos of the Plastiki docking in Sydney Harbor, I’m gearing up to do more.

What about you? What kinds of things can you do to cut back on plastic waste?

The Uncommon Life

Just arrived: our latest catalog

July 26, 2010

It’s hard to think about fall in the middle of a heat wave…but I must admit it was nice to see our latest fall catalog – chock full of lots of fun new things for the end of summer and start of autumn. Plus, doing a little online shopping with the AC blasting sure beats heading out in the heat!

Check it out: UncommonGoods online catalog.

The Uncommon Life

I’m on Cloud 9

April 26, 2010

In third grade, I was the last person to pick a topic for the science fair. While my classmates got the more glamorous projects – lizards! exploding volcanoes! mold & bacteria! – I got clouds. Clouds! Can you believe it? My project consisted of me going outside taking pictures of the sky and taping them onto a sky blue poster board. I was virtually ignored at the science fair, “Please!!!! Let me tell you about cirrus clouds!!!” “No thanks, going to see the lizards.”

If only I had had these cute paper clouds back in third grade – nobody would have been able to resist my report!

These happy, little (and, if memory serves me right, cumulus) clouds were leftover from our recent catalog, and since it would be a crime to throw a cloud away, they now live up in the atmosphere of the creative studio.

They make me smile whenever I come into work – I just find them so darn cute! And not only do they make lovely office decor, but they also would look darling in a kid’s room or (on a smaller scale) above a crib in place of a mobile.

Want to make your own paper clouds? It’s easy!

Continue Reading…

The Uncommon Life

Our “Paper” Catalog

April 22, 2010

Before we started on our most recent catalog, we all got together and decided that we wanted something fresh! something new! something different! And that’s when it hit us like a lightning bolt from a paper cloud: “Let’s make everything out of paper!”

Now, you’re probably thinking, “Isn’t the catalog always made of paper?” And, yes, you would be right, the catalog is always made of paper. But beyond the pages, we wanted to incorporate paper as a unifying theme throughout the book. The catalog was divided into six chapters, all of which feature sets made entirely out of paper, paste and paint. We started with six, but we liked them so much, that we decided to up the ante to 12 (“How about a cover?” “Sure it only takes two days to make!”). These paper worlds vary from the size of a book (the cover) to the size of a real-life living room complete with paper couch. In all of the scenes the only thing that isn’t made out of paper is the product.