Holiday Gifts with Uncommon Goods

There are some people who are just easy to shop for. Kids will give you a list with the exact (and I mean exact) extensive list of toys that they would like. Girlfriends love sparkles, coffee, and cozy scarves. A giftcard to a coffee shop is perfection for teachers and daycare (because hello, caffeine.) And then there are those people who either have everything or tell you nothing. What do you buy for the person who doesn't have much for practical needs, or has interests that are a bit trickier to find a custom gift for? Enter Uncommon Goods. I was so excited when they reached out to me to partner and share their line of fantastic holiday gifts. Their name exists for a reason, these items are definitely not your every day gifts, and you won't find them on the shelves at your nearest mass retailer.


While perusing their items, I was continually struck by the fun, unique, and 'wow I never would have thought of that' gift ideas for anyone and everyone. Does a person ask for a kit to make their own whiskey? Most likely not. But, it would certainly be so fun and unexpected to receive! I have pulled together a list of my favorite items for him, her, and the kiddos!



For him:
How fun is this baseball dart board. Perfect for a mancave or to play when you have guests over. I saw these scotch infused toothpicks and immediately thought of my father, who absolutely loves scotch. I think toothpicks are such a fun little twist on his favorite drink!

I love kabobs, but despite loading everything onto skewers, so this kabob grilling set would be such an amazing gift to either give or receive! ;-) I laughed a bit when I saw this portable Table Tennis, but also think it is totally genius and such a fun item that you could pack up and bring along to things like family holidays or get togethers. Finally, I think it is pretty safe to say that all men love beer, and all men love barbeque. Put those together in this beer infused BBQ sauce, and you are golden!
There are a whole bunch of amazing gift options for men on the website, and no matter who you are shopping for there is sure to be the perfect fit!


For her:
There are so many fun gifts for her available at Uncommon Goods, too! Does anyone else hate that when you have something like grilled cheese and tomato soup, it becomes a huge hassle because you need separate plates/bowls for everything? This little soup and sandwich tray is seriously genius, and I can't believe I never thought to create something like it!

These self chilling wine glasses are perfection, because I think we all have been caught wanting a glass of wine that we forgot to stick into the refrigerator a time or two. Now that winter is upon us, I have already experienced my fair share of frozen feet, and I am swooning over these warming slippers. Have you all seen the Himalayan salt lamps that are all the rage lately? Well, combine that into a
foot care. set, and whoever receives it will be one happy lady. And finally, Uncommon Goods definitely has us covered in terms of inconvenient dishes and drinkware, because this
cookie mug holds your cookies while you drink your cocoa. Again, genius and so much fun!



For the kids:
Kiddos are often easy to shop for, but at the same time I love to gift things that aren't your typical noise making, comes in a million pieces type of gift. This birth year box is so cool, and a great way for parents to commemorate the year their little ones were born. For any mamas like me who have a little one who is currently chewing on anything and everything, these veggie teethers are a fun and adorable option! Mealtime is often a battle in our house, and I think dinner would be a bit more fun with this choo choo dining set for my toddler to eat off of. I just love creative items that make everyday things like mealtime a bit more special. And, what will make something more special than a personalized 12 days of Christmas book?

It is truly an item a child will cherish, and will become a keepsake once they have grown. Finally, I can't resist anything cute and fuzzy, and these bunny slippers are precious, and I may already be thinking about using them at the next religious holiday a few months down the road!


I was lucky enough to receive a product from the website to get a taste of the items myself, and after much searching, I finally settled on a little self care kit for my hubby! I have bottles of lotions, oils, and countless other self care items lying around the house, but I would venture to guess that, like most other men, my husband does not. I thought it would be so fun for him to have items that are made for a man, but provide a little extra pampering that he will never admit he likeS!

It came packaged beautifully, in a fun and rustic design.

All of the items included soak, hand lotion, foot salve, knuckle wax (perfect for those guys who use their hands all day at work!), lip balm, a walnut scrub, and a dry oil. I am having to practice some major self control to not dive into these goodies myself. They all smell amazing, whether you are a 'working man' or not!

 

 

 

 

 

I am so happy with this product, and cannot wait to gift it to my husband. Our little gifts typically consist of items we hand pick, and I am so thankful that Uncommon Goods allowed me to try out something fun and out of the ordinary!

Have you every shopped Uncommon Goods before? The items I shared only touched the surface of all of the fun and unique things they have to offer, so head on over and check them all out!

*This post is sponsored by Uncommon Goods. All thoughts and opinions expressed are solely my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Stang&Co.

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The Next Breast Thing

For those of you that follow along with me, you likely know by now that my babies are on the larger side of the scale. They are both proportionate, healthy, and doing great, but boy, are they big. They are both off of the charts for their height and weight, and don't seem to be slowing down any time soon.


Needless to say, babies who grow that much eat, a lot. Here we are, over five months in with Lincoln, and sleeping through the night is a concept makes me laugh out loud, because I would do anything if we could even get it down to ONCE a night at this point. While the sleepless nights may be driving me a bit crazy, I will say that nursing makes it much easier to handle. We still have the bassinet in our room, and when Lincoln awakens, I simply pull him into bed with me, lay alongside while he nurses, and we both fall back asleep. Most of the time, I am awake no more than a few minutes for a feeding, so at least in that respect I am thankful.

Once I went back to work, we had to introduce bottles during the day. Okay, rewind. I tried introducing bottles before going back to work on a few occasions, but the little guy has gone through some rough patches, involving lots of crying and being upset all.of.the.time., and on those days the last thing we were going to do was mess with a feeding method that calmed him down. So, on my first day back to work, I dropped him off with grandma, handed her a stack of bottles, and made a dash out the front door. And he did surprisingly well. While I would not say that he took to the bottles like a fish to water, he at least was willing to drink out of them. If he was propped in the perfect position. And had a view he could enjoy. And a hand to hold. And was being bounced. I do not lie when I say that my precious boy is demanding.
So, while feeding was going okay while I was away, it was not going great. And then I came upon the Breast Flow bottles. And knew I had to try them. I have seen plenty of bottles with valves and countless parts claiming to improve flow and risk of colic, but what was different about these bottles was in the design of the nipple itself. It has a suck and compress feature, so it truly operates as a breast would during feeding. I have watched both of my babies take bottles with milk dripping down their necks because they stopped sucking, but the bottle flow did not. And while neither of my babies have had major issues with gas or colic, and therefore I have never branched out much in terms of trying bottles, I figured, why not give these a try?

And you guys, I am sold. I left these with my mom, and after his first feeding I was truthfully a bit discouraged. He was not particularly hungry, and did not seem thrilled with them, and so I thought shoot, I guess it's back to the old bottles. And then a few hours later, when he was truly hungry, I received rave text messages that he LOVED them. The biggest thing that was noticed almost immediately was that my baby truly had complete control over the flow of the milk. He has reached that age where he gets distracted during feedings, and when he decided to take a break, he was able to leave the nipple in his mouth, with no milk flow disrupting him. They have taken him a bit longer to drink than his other bottles, but that is likely because he is a) not losing an ounce that had in the past been dripping onto his neck and clothing, and b) he genuinely seems to enjoy his feedings and is taking his sweet time, because these bottles allow him to do so. In fact, since using the Breast Flow bottles, he has been falling asleep during feedings, which he has never done before!

In addition to feedings being easier, cleaning has become easier too! The nipples are very wide, and to clean them does not require special brushes, as there is enough space that ensuring all milk has been washed away is very easy to do. While it may have one more part than our old bottles, the ease of cleaning and ensuring they are completely sanitized with each wash makes it totally worth it.
Aside from nipple design, the starter kit also comes with a storage container for formula if that is your method of feeding, as well as a brush for cleaning. And, a particularly thoughtful part of the design is that the covers snap onto the bottom of the bottles! This is a lifesaver when trying to give a baby a bottle and not wanting to set down the lid on a random surface, making it one less thing for a mom with a hungry baby to have to worry about :-)
I would recommend these bottles a hundred times over. I have seen so many styles and products out there, but none that so closely reflect the real thing as these. I am still trucking along with breastfeeding, and it is a comfort to know that when I am away, my baby is receiving something as close to the real thing as possible. If I can't be there, at least I know he has the next breast thing!
Have any of you tried Breastflow bottles before? Are you thinking about giving them a try? I would love to hear your thoughts, and am happy to answer any questions that you may have!

*This post is sponsored by The First Years. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Stang&Co.

Linking up with Annie.

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Life's a little sweeter with POPSUGAR!

It's not every day that the UPS man is dropping something off at our house. Okay actually, maybe it is (shh, don't tell!) However, it really isn't every day that my favorite delivery men are dropping off a package that I have no idea as to what is inside. And not in a bad way. In a world of instant gratification and always being one step ahead of everything (hello online package tracking!), the POPSUGAR Must Have Box is such a fun change of pace!

I received my box last week, and seriously could not wait to open it! Of course I was attracted to it right away because, well, it was pink. All things that are pink are usually good, in my experience :-) Of course life only got better once I opened it up!


The first thing I noticed was the black wool hat. I will be honest, I am not particularly daring when it comes to fashion, and when shopping if it comes down to it I am just not inclined to spend my dollars on a hat. That does not mean I don't always secretly wish I could try out wearing one, though! The hat in my must have box is totally darling, and my toddler also took approximately two seconds to claim it as his own. I think it looks better on him than it does on me, because how could it not ;-)

I was also SO EXCITED to see the retractable lint roller! I cannot tell you how many sheets have been thrown away on old lint rollers because the outer layer always has to be peeled off after it has been sitting in the drawer before you can get to a new useful sheet. Not with this guy! It comes in a sleek silver tube, is easy to throw in your purse or a drawer, and you aren't wasting sticky sheets due to them collecting dust. Genius.

I think the mani E.R. kit is self explanatory. And excellent. And obviously made its way into my purse immediately!


I will be honest, I was not the biggest fan of the hair mask. It probably boils down to personal preference, but I love for my hair to feel sleek and clean. That is probably also why I wash my hair WAY more than I know I should. I hoped this mask would leave my hair feeling buttery and soft, but in all honesty it felt kind of, well, dirty afterwards. Which did help give my hair some awesome volume! But I don't know if I would purchase it again.


While it was probably the most minimal thing in the box, I was the most excited about the Gluten Free Bites! I don't have issues with gluten (give me alllll of the carby baked things), but that doesn't mean that the words chocolate and coconut didn't speak to my soul when I saw these. You guys, restricted diet or not, these little bites are delicious! They are a perfect treat when you are craving something sweet, and are really dense so they actually feel like you are getting something with substance. They are seriously delish.


And of course, perhaps my favorite item from the box is the Smith&Cult lip gloss. I feel like so many tinted glosses don't give a good amount of color, but one layer of this stuff is seriously all you need, and it stays on super well. It is a bright red color, but little gold flecks make it fun, especially for a night out. Or on a Target run, in my case. This is another piece I know I will definitely be using every last bit of!

What is truly the best part of the #musthave box is that it's a total surprise! And as you can see, it is some seriously awesome stuff that I otherwise probably wouldn't buy for myself. It is kind of like giving yourself a Christmas present that you are just dying to open and see what is inside. Products inside collectively retail for well over $100, but subscribe and each box only costs you $19. AND, use code SHOP5 and you will receive $5 off of your first box!


Do any of you subscribe to POPSUGAR? I would love to know what others think!


*POPSUGAR sent me this Must Have Box to try and review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are solely my own.


Linking up with Our Pretty Little Girls.

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