I’m not a great pumpkin carver. I think it stems from the fact that I’m not really a great artist. I know you don’t have to be DaVinci to carve good pumpkin, but I don’t think it would hurt things. The whole process is a little gross, what with scraping pumpkin guts out of the middle of a pumpkin just so you can slash it up a bit. I do enjoy the pumpkin seeds though, which only adds to the grossness because I have to paw through the guts a second time to pick out the seeds. Regardless of my talents (or lack thereof) and my weak stomach, I do enjoy the Jack-O-Lantern aspect of Halloween.
If you’re also into the pumpkin carving scene, then I suggest you check out the Jack-O-Wax Votive Kit (Wrapables, $16.99). It’s a nice alternative/addition to the generic Jack-O-Lantern idea, and a hell of a lot more sanitary. The base of the set is a wax votive cup that you can carve just like you would a regular pumpkin using the included carving tool. You then put a votive candle inside, and presto! You’ve got a Jack-O-Lantern without the mess associated with pumpkin carving. This thing isn’t going to last forever, but it sure isn’t going to slowly rot on your counter.
The best way to eat pumpkin seeds is to coat them in all seasoned salt and throw them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. Then give them a good stir and bake them for another 10 minutes or so. Makes it almost worth the whole pumpkin carving process, doesn’t it?
4 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 4.25″ diameter
-Includes a carving tool, votive cup with votive, and a felt bottom
-Votive made of soft wax for easy carving
I used to be a pretty regular coffee drinker. Nothing fancy, but I could be known to put down a couple coffees a day. But everything changed once I started drinking tea. Sure, I knew tea was out there, but I really had no interest. I mean, who drinks tea? Sissies and old ladies, that’s who. But one day I thought, hey I’ll give it a go. And nothing supremely special happened. I didn’t acquire any magical powers, I wasn’t more attractive to the ladies, and I didn’t feel any different. The next day, I decided to have another cup – who knows, maybe this tea fascination took more than a cup. And then I was hooked. Completely. One cup of tea was like a gateway drug for me, and I wanted more.
I thought I knew the magnitude of tea’s awesomeness, until I tried loose tea. And then I was done for. There’s just something about the crispness of a freshly brewed cup of tea, something to which bagged teas don’t even compare. The Tea Infuser with Base (Sur La Table, $9.95) is the perfect tea lover’s accessory, created specifically for the brewing of loose tea. See, with loose tea you have to put it in an infuser and pour hot water over the tea leaves. Tea infusers differ slightly in design, but the most popular kind sits right in your tea mug so it can brew the plain hot water into a tasty tea concoction. After you’ve gotten your tea to the desired strength, you take the infuser out. Now, this is where this infuser leaves all others in the dust: it has a stand. If you take a regular infuser out of a cup of boiling hot tea, what happens? You get a dripping mess all over your counter, which you could try to prevent by cupping your hand underneath, but then you have to remember that the dripping tea is BOILING HOT and maybe you shouldn’t do that. Instead, you could use this tea infuser with a built-in drip catching receptacle. No mess and, more importantly, no burnt hands.
Reason #85063 I love tea over coffee: I can drink as many cups as I want in a short period of time and not feel like someone has gouged a hole in my stomach lining.
5 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 2.5″ x 2.75″ x 7″
-Receptacle catches drips
-Base keeps countertops clean from tea stains
-Easy to store
-Stand up design
-Dishwasher safe
-Made of heat resistant polycarbonate and stainless steel
I know it’s not even Halloween yet, and there are a bunch of you out there who really don’t want to hear what I’m about to say, but the subject needs to be broached. Christmas is just around the corner. I know, I know, October is only half over and I’m already harping on about Christmas, but it’s true. This is the time of year when it’s not even Halloween yet, but tomorrow it’ll be Christmas eve. Time seems to magically evaporate during the holiday season, which is why you see that mad rush of people at the mall frantically trying to buy anything and everything at the last minute. Now, I’m not a huge fan of Christmas (Halloween is my holiday of choice), but I do try to put some thought into the gifts I choose for my family and friends. There are just some people though, if there’s a gift out there that’s perfect for them, I’d never know it. So you leave those people til last on your shopping list, but before you know it (as I may have mentioned), it’s Christmas eve and you’ve got nada for your cousin. What inevitably follows is the popular gift card purchase, which feels like a cop out.
If you’re looking for the perfect way to jazz up your practical (albeit a touch boring) gift, the Gift Card Puzzle Vault (Think Geek, $4.99) can work wonders. It’s really like an additional gift, if you think about it, because it provides amusement/frustration time after time. All you have to do is put any standard sized gift card inside, and your gift has just reached platinum status. See, in order to get the gift card out, the recipient has to solve the puzzle. It’s pretty simple actually, all you have to do is navigate the metal ball through the plastic maze and the interior chamber will be opened, releasing the gift card from captivity. Best of all, it can be resealed so the giftee turn gifter, and watch as their prey struggles to free the gift card.
I personally like getting gift cards because then I don’t have to worry about saying I like a gift when I really don’t. People usually don’t want to buy gift cards though, probably because it seems like they didn’t give much thought as to what to get the recipient. Also, you can’t really be cheap if the person’s gift is going to say exactly how much you spent. I mean, it’s not like anyone’s going out bragging about the great deal they got at the gift card sale.
3 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 10.5cm x 8cm x 1.5cm
-Put gift card in clear maze and watch loved ones struggle to open it
-Fits standard sized gift cards
-Resealable for additional puzzle solving
I never really used to have a problem with getting up in the morning. I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a morning person as I wasn’t overly chipper upon rising, but I wasn’t a grouch either. I never hit the snooze, never went back to sleep, I just turned my alarm off and got out of bed. Then I met someone. Someone who likes to sleep in and whose best friend is the snooze button. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I sleep late now, but I have trouble getting out of bed in the morning and I have been known to slap the snooze button a couple times a day. Basically, my morning wake-up ethic has been destroyed by the notion that there’s this great thing out there, and it’s called sleep. I mean, who wants to be jolted awake by some annoying beeping sound, over and over?
The Wake-up Light (Amazon, $199.99) knows that while sleep is precious, so is the ability to afford food and shelter, so you better get your ass out of bed and to work on time. So this baby isn’t going to mess around when it comes to waking you up, but it will go about it in a gentler way. See, instead of harsh beeping noises that rip you from your latest REM cycle, this alarm clock uses light to wake you. Starting 30 minutes prior to your selected wake-up time, the light slowly gets brighter and brighter, simulating natural light coming into the room. In case that’s a little too subtle for you (even though the light does get quite bright), you can also set an auditory alarm that also gradually increases in volume. The auditory alarm can be in the form of a beeping noise, one of the four preloaded nature sounds, FM radio, or even songs from your iPod. When you’re not using the light to wake up or slowly drift off to sleep with its dusk simulation, it has 20 different brightness settings that allows it to double as a bedside lamp. And if that’s not already enough to blow your mind, it has a detachable iPod/iPhone dock so you can charge and play music.
Christmas is coming up, you know, and I just wanted to tell you that I might really enjoy one of these. In case you were wondering.
5 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 5.5″ x 12.6″ x 9.4″
-Gradually wakes you up by light for a more pleasant feeling
-20 different brightness settings for use as bedside lamp
-Detachable iPod/iPhone dock allows for charging and playing music
-Dusk simulation helps your drift to sleep by gradually dimming light and sound
-Optional FM radio
-4 nature sounds
I have a friend whose birthday is coming up and as such, we’re planning on having a truly monster celebration. Because of its sheer magnitude, this annual celebration has been dubbed “Rocktoberfest” by those involved. Now, there’s really nothing all that different about “Rocktoberfest” versus a traditional bar hopping birthday extravaganza, but the name itself sets a certain bar for the evening. In order to reach such a high standard of excellence, you’ve got to be ready to pull out all the stops. You’ve got to pregame like it really matters, because this time it does.
On that note, the Bombs Away Shot Glasses (Perpetual Kid, $19.99) are here to assist you on your mission. Everyone knows that the best way to pregame before going to the bar is to get a couple of shots in. Shots are quick and easy, basically just providing a nice little base for your buzz so you don’t have to lay down a fortune on drinks while out at the bar. But just because shots are a quick layover on the way to boozetown doesn’t mean that they have to be boring. And it’s pretty obvious that these shot glasses are anything but boring. What says birthday bonanza better than a bomb shaped shot glass?
I have to say, I’m pretty excited about this upcoming “Rocktoberfest.” Between that and Halloween, I think October is shaping up to be a pretty banging month.
5 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Set of 2
-Frosted interior finish
-Made of double walled borosilicate glass
