Gift Lab – The Goods

Gift Guides

Gift Lab: Screen-Free Kid Fun with Flipbooks and a Castakite

June 14, 2018

Products
Flipbook Kit (T. Rex/Pteranodon version)
Castakite

Research
I was once a child. Isn’t that enough? OK, no.

I was planning a Mexican beach vacation with my mother, my brother, and his five year-old son, “The Chooch.” Like most kids, The Chooch is addicted to screens of all sizes. We wanted to get him away from them. His dad and I chose these two toys for our experiment in behavior modification.

Hypothesis
The Chooch will have a blast with these. More importantly for us, he’ll be distracted from his tablet for a significant amount of time.

Part I: Flipbook Kit

Boy and Flipbook. Initial response: positive. (Note experiment-appropriate lab wear.)

Gift Guides

Gift Lab: Braving Hot & Cold with Our Nesting Prep & Serve Bowls

May 1, 2018

UncommonGoods HR Assistant & Receptionist, Julia. (Hold tight, Julia! Don’t let that bowl get away!)

Product

Nesting Prep & Serve Bowls

Research

I recently moved… our first place—need to buy everything! I saw these Nesting Prep & Serve Bowls on the UncommonGoods website and thought they could be perfect for all my mixing, serving, and storing of leftover food while maintaining a color scheme I am happy with.

Hypothesis

Based on the details of the Nesting Prep & Serve Bowls, these utensils will be convenient to use interchangeably for mixing sauces and pastes and for refrigerator/freezer storage. I expect, based on quality, no staining and peeling of outer coating.

Gift Guides

Gift Lab: Getting Ready for Spring with the Cold Brew Coffee Maker & Carafe

April 19, 2018

Cold Brew Coffee Maker and Carafe | UncommonGoods

Marketing Analyst Morgan B. poses proudly with her latest brew. (You can also buy her necklace here.)

Product

Cold Brew Coffee Maker & Carafe

Research

Like most humans these days, I love a good cup of coffee. I am a completely non-functional blob before my daily dose of caffeine. Warm weather is quickly approaching over here in Brooklyn, and that can only mean one thing for us coffee addicts: it’s cold brew time. I drink my fair share of cold brew and have absolutely no idea how it is created, so what better way to find out than to test this handy-dandy Cold Brew Coffee Maker & Carafe?

Hypothesis

I’m going to make some dope cold brew coffee that will keep me caffeinated until the end of time.

Gift Guides

Gift Lab: Going Glam at Home with Mix-It-Yourself Masks and Bath Bombs

April 5, 2018

Content Creator Hadley poses with her spa-ready wares.

Product

Create Your Own Bath Bombs and At Home Tranquility Mask Set

Research

I’m a sucker for anything you can slather on your face that promises baby soft skin or smaller pores or… well, I won’t lie, I’m mostly in it for the baby soft skin. I’m also a sucker for any excuse to light a candle, put on a podcast, and take a warm bath, but that’s a newer obsession of mine. I’d been looking for something new to Gift Lab ever since I gave our Homemade Tortilla Kit a (very successful) trial run, and when I noticed our At Home Tranquility Mask Set and Create Your Own Bath Bombs kit, I was supremely intrigued. One can never have too many masks—just ask my medicine cabinet—and hey, who can resist a fun, fizzy bathtime accoutrement? Not me. And so a new Gift Lab was born.

Hypothesis

Armed with our At Home Tranquility Mask Set and Create Your Own Bath Bombs kit, I’ll be able to host a successful girls’ night that ends in soft, supple skin for all and the promise of a relaxing soak once you retreat to your tub. Plus, the Create Your Own Bath Bombs kit is kid-friendly, so it’ll be super easy to use… and will maybe even help me reconnect with my inner child (or something like it).

Gift Guides

Gift Lab: 3-in-1 Produce Chopper

March 21, 2018

Product

3-in-1 Produce Chopper

Research

I love to cook, but I don’t love to chop. Not only am I slow, but my knife skills (or lack thereof) tend to mutilate veggies into useless blobs. I saw this gadget on the UncommonGoods website, and I knew I had to test it out.

Hypothesis

With my new produce chopper, I’ll be able to churn out delicious dishes much faster than I could with my old chef’s knife.

Gift Guides

Gift Lab: Will Our Dairy Free Cheesemaking Kit Impress this Curd Connoisseur?

December 15, 2017

Beloved Marketing Analyst Morgan warms up to vegan cheese… or so it seems.

Product

Dairy Free Cheddar, Mozzarella and Ricotta Kit

Research

As a self-proclaimed cheese connoisseur, I knew the moment I saw the Dairy Free Cheddar, Mozzarella and Ricotta Kit that it had to be mine. Melty mozzarella, creamy ricotta, tangy cheddar: say no more, you had me at melty. (Editor’s note: Morgan loves the Fondoodler, so her predilection for meltiness comes as no surprise to us.) I’ve dabbled in the realm of vegan cheese before, but as a non-vegan, I’m much more familiar with the dairy varieties of my favorite delicious treat. I decided to go to my local grocery store and sample their vegan wares and I was a little disappointed. The consistency and flavor just didn’t meet my exceptionally high cheese standards. Alas.

This is when I decided I was up for the challenge of creating a vegan cheese even the most dairy-loving person could enjoy.

Hypothesis

As a former research scientist, I hypothesized that my laboratory skills could help me concoct this vegan cheese masterpiece. I knew there were challenges, based on my prior vegan cheese sampling and dislike for its odd texture, but the images on the box of this kit looked delightful and I decided to judge a book by its cover.

Gift Guides

Gift Lab: Will Our Homemade Tortilla Kit Smash the Competition?

December 12, 2017

Hadley, UncommonGoods’ Junior Content Creator, thinks about tortillas. (Note the glint in her eye.)

Product

Homemade Tortilla Kit

Research

I’m an avid cook, and so is my boyfriend, Royce. We often make dinner together, and eight-ish times out of ten, we make one tasty thing: tacos. (Curry’s a common winter dish, too, but I digress.) I’d been talking Royce’s ear off for months about how we should try making our own tortillas, but we never got around to it. It follows, then, that I got pretty pumped when I saw our new Homemade Tortilla Kit for sale. It felt like I’d finally found my chance to force us into making our own tortillas, a project that would otherwise have continued to elude us for, you know, more months.

Gift Guides

Gift Lab: Can a Self-Watering Pepper Planter Be Trusted?

December 4, 2017

Data scientist Dr. Ken proudly displays his wee peppers. Spicy!

Product

Self-Watering Pepper Planter

Research

House plants that enter into my care rarely thrive. More often, they have the sort of existence Thomas Hobbes (no, not that Hobbes) might have written about—that is, “nasty, brutish, and short.” And while I’ve tried many different types of plants, the problem is always the same: water. Some occasions it’s too little too late, others it is a root rot-inducing flood. Frequently, it’s one followed by the other as I overcompensate. Whatever knack is required, I don’t have it, and I was ready to give up on the idea that anything could grow in the barren desert landscape of my living room.

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