Record Bowls
Home

When you decide to get rid of the record player that’s been gathering dust in the corner, know that your LPs might do more than just rot in the dump. Vinylux converts them into beautiful vinyl bowls that playfully remind you of the transience of technology. Start thinking about what you can make with your outmoded CDs, and you could make millions.

$26,vinylux.net

Dutch City Bike
Recreation

Bikes: good for you and good for nature. Nobody knows this better than those free-pedaling fools from the Netherlands. Dutch company Jorg & Olif stylishly and thoughtfully designed the Dutch City bike specifically with American cities in mind (i.e. we have hills, but no legalized marijuana). While fulfilling all your biking needs, this elegant design will set you apart from the pedaling masses.

$795-$1,295,jorgandolif.com

Juxtaposed: Religion
Library

If you adhere to the maxim that one should never discuss religion or politics in polite company, this might not be the conversation piece for you. The reclaimed-wood shelf features a copy of religious texts of each of the world’s major religions, from the Bhagavad Gita to the Torah. It’s 5,360 pages of more than 5 billion people’s most important books. Get reading.

$2,500,blankblank.net

Organic Bouquet
Delivery

Just because it grows in the ground and smells nice doesn’t make it healthy. The sad truth: Many of the flowers you buy are covered in pesticides. It’s disgusting. Organic Bouquet has pioneered a new category of organic certification—organic floral—and encourages farm worker safety. So the next time you need to apologize for “working late,” buy your flowers here and know that your roses will be both guilt and DDT-free.

from $45, organicbouquet.com

Nabaztag
The Future

Nabaztag (phonetic Armenian for “bunny”) is a friendly electronic rabbit that turns the 1s and 0s of our digital lives into charming audio and visual communications. He connects to your computer via Wi-Fi and can read you the weather, stock prices, the text of websites, or even your emails. In addition, a series of lights on his belly and his motorized ears help make the daily exchange of information a little more personal.

$180, nabaztag.com

Terrorism Finger Puppets
Fun and Games

An epic hand-to-hand battle between President Bush and Osama Bin Laden might go a long way toward solving some of the world’s problems, but it’s unlikely to happen without your help. This set of macramé finger puppets features all your favorite figures in the war on terror—Bush, Bin Laden, Kim, Ahmadinejad, and Hussein—and sets the stage for just such a fight. (Sadly, the set has been rendered 20 percent out-of-date by current events.)

$55, mossonline.com

Dutchtub
Outdoors

Fill this plastic, portable hot tub with 200 gallons of water, light a wood fire in the attached heating coils, and you’ve got yourself a party. Dutchtub can be hitched to the back of your car for camping trips, but also makes a stylish addition to your porch or your backyard. It comfortably fits four, but you can certainly jam more in—as the Dutchtub designers note, even if you’re not friends when you jump in, you will be friends by the time you get out.

$6000, dutchtub.com

Your Name on Toast
Philanthropy

YourNameOnToast is hoping the bizarreness of their idea will help it gain visibility, all in the name of charity. You pay a fee (which goes to an organization like Oxfam—your votes will help them decide) to have text of your choosing written on a piece of toast, which they photograph and post on their site. Your toast image acts as a link to your own site. Paying more money moves your toast higher, driving more traffic to your site, and more dollars to charity. So stupid it just might work.

From $30, yournameontoast.com