Brooklyn is brimming with artists and indie designers and several of them have pooled their hand-crafted wares into a city sampler curated by Nicole Davis of Brooklyn Based, an e-newsletter offering its readers the 411 on cool things to see and do in Brooklyn. The curated samplers were sold by the amazing Home of the Sampler, which sends out boxes chock full of handmade goodies on a monthly basis to indie lovers.
I was lucky enough to score one of these limited-edition Brooklyn samplers -- all 100 of them sold out in a record four hours! -- and here's just a few of my favorites:
The first thing that grabbed my attention were these adorable egg cups by Design Glut. They are pants for your eggs! Design Glut's egg cups come in a white/yellow color scheme and have three legs to hold your wobbly eggs upright. Sit them out on the table for a conversation piece during your next brunch with friends. Or pick up several of them as an unexpected hostess gift for someone who loves to cook...or boil water!
SkinnySkinny makes their soap from scratch using organic ingredients that soothe the skin, such as cocoa butter, neem oil, and sea kelp, and then scents it with fragrant essential oils for a truly wholesome bar that smells good and feels even better. Check out their gift sets and shaving sets that are packaged in a gift box that's sustainable, made of wild grass and looks like a book. Reuse the book box for hiding your favorite chocolates or trashy romance novels.
Reiter8's mini wallets are made out of recycled sailboat sails. How brilliant! I love that this company takes old or used sailing materials and gives them a new life. And each time I pull out my cute little recycled wallet, I'll be reminded that I need to get out on the water and sail more often. Get one for the sailing enthusiast in your life or your fellow Lawn Guylander!
My best bud is a keychain fanatic, so I can't wait to show her these keychains from Swigg and RePlayGround. Swigg creates cuddly creatures, pillows, and tote bags out of silk-screened vinyl. RePlayGround makes something out of everything, including recycled glass beads and repurposed wine corks and Jiffy pancake mix boxes.
This holiday season, pledge to buy handmade and locally-made goods. Check out all of the contributors to the Brooklyn Sampler for some great gift ideas.
Cheers,
Corris
