1. A pack of two silicone microwave covers that also multitask as a trivet, potholder, food cover, and jar opener.
2. A securely latching tiny box you can hook onto your keychain (or water bottle or belt loop or wherever) to hold your pills so you know you always have them with you — or to stash your jewelry in when you need to take your ring off for a second, but don't want to lose it.
3. Or an Enso Ring silicone wedding band so you can still wear a ring even if you're going to be at the beach, hiking/camping, swimming, woodworking, or doing some other not-so-precious-metal-friendly activity for hours (or days) at a time.
4. A nearly silent fidget toy — it's small enough to slip discreetly into your pocket to help get you through work meetings, and quiet enough that no one will notice.
5. A reusable silicone zip bag because you can use it to pack snacks and sandwiches, steam veggies in the microwave, and even seal up sous vide (if you're fancy enough to cook like that).
6. A set of two miniature spatulas — they reach into even the deepest corners of makeup bottles and food jars so you can use every. last. bit. of product.
7. A packet of water bottle cleaning tablets that also scour out coffee pots, pressure cookers, and basically anything with stubborn stains that regular soap and water don't even come close to helping.
8. An acupressure back-and-body massager so you can get relief for the tension in your back (and shoulders, and feet, and legs) ~on demand~.
9. A box of heavy-duty grease-cutting cleaning wipes that you can keep in your garage to tackle all kinds of messes, no drippy soap and water required.
10. A seat gap filler for when you're tired of accidentally dropping your phone down in the crack of no return for the two-thousandth-time in the past year.
11. The Safety Nailer to give you the courage to actually use a nail and hammer. It has magnets to hold the nail or screw in place, two elastic loops to make the gadget easy for you to hold, and of course the plastic shielding to protect your fingers.
12. The Oogie Bear nose and ear gadget that makes it (relatively) easy and painless for you to clear your baby's boogers and earwax without going too far in, thanks to the cute little bear head shape.
13. A silicone ~Frywall~ that fits snugly in your skillets and sauté pans so you can cook all kinds of food in oil without coating your entire stovetop — and the rest of the kitchen — in a fine mist of sticky oil that smells like whatever you cooked.
14. A memory foam neck pillow with a hoodie-like hood attached because sometimes it's easier to doze of on an airplane or bus if you can just block out the rest of the world.
15. A Squatty Potty toilet stool to help make pooping easier and faster because it aligns everything in a supposedly more natural way.
16. A tube of Nerdwax to keep your glasses firmly in place on your face, so you can stop pushing them up every time they slip a little.
17. Some stretchy elastic shoe laces so you can turn any lace-up pair of shoes into slip-ons but still have your shoes look like....any other ordinary pair of shoes.
18. A Cincha travel belt because it's SUCH a pain when your tote or backpack continuously slides off the top of your roller bag at the airport — and even more of a pain to carry that heavy tote on your shoulder. This buckles your tote securely to the handle, and comes in a bunch of cute designs so it won't cramp your style.
It adjusts up to 38 inches, so it works with most bags. My mom has one of these she's used several times and loves it!
Cincha Travel is a Black-owned, California-based small business that makes these cool belts — and they donate 100 airline miles for every purchase to reconnect migrant families.
Promising review: "This is such a useful little item!! Stylish, too! I gave them to my whole family for Christmas and they are a huge hit. I will never travel without it again!" —Joanne
Get it from Cincha Travel for $39.99 (available in 23 colors and designs).
19. A whole-grain, protein-packed pancake and waffle mix that you can use in all sorts of recipes as a substitute for white flour.
20. Two bottles of a natural all-purpose cleaner perfect for anyone who's sensitive to scents or harsh ingredients in regular cleaners.
21. Reusable, washable towels made from bamboo to reduce your reliance on single-use paper towels and help the world's landfills — and your wallet — breathe a sigh of relief.
22. Pop-up cards that don't just say just the right thing — they're basically a little gift in and of themselves.
23. Single-serve Vietnamese pour-over latte packs so you can enjoy a cup of delicious, fancy coffee without paying big bucks at the store, but also don't have to put together some contraption every time you want a delicious caffeinated treat.
24. And a box of Third Wave Water capsules that'll do wonders no matter how you make your coffee: they're composed of particular minerals that enhance your standard tap water in a way that makes your morning brew go down noticeably more smoothly.
25. A ramen cooker because sometimes you just want to enjoy a hot, cheap, and delicious meal fast, with the most minimal dishes possible.
26. A pack of two gift wrap cutters so you can get perfectly straight lines every time, and *so much* faster than with scissors. The open cylinders slide over the roll of paper, with a sharp blade that cuts precisely where the paper comes off the roll.
27. A tiny dinosaur beginner crochet kit because it makes learning a new hobby skill super simple and adorable (just look at how CUTE it is!!), and you get a wee little creature companion for your effort.
They're made by an Asian-owned small business that has made DIY amigurumi — that's what these handmade yarn creatures are called — super simple and accessible.
The kit includes everything you need to have success, and you can always get extra email support too: yarn, stuffing, plastic eyes, an already-started piece of crochet material, a stitch marker, a needle, a PDF pattern download, a carrying bag, and an optional crochet hook
My colleague Katy Herman loves these kits; here's what she says about them:
"After writing about this awesome biz many times, I was finally influenced to try them for myself — which is a huge vote of confidence for anyone who knows me, considering I am very lazy, not particularly artistically inclined, and my "hobbies" primarily rhyme with Schmetflix. However, I have now made four Woobles and purchased several more! The videos are suuuuper detailed so like they promise, anyone can learn to crochet with them. Once you get the hang of it, it's so soothing and hard to stop, and it becomes — get this — a great thing to do with your hands while watching said Schmetflix! And of course, the finished products are so, so cute and great to keep for yourself or give as gifts. I made the rainbow version of this dino for my boyfriend and it honestly might be the cutest one I've ever made. The spikes and arms were really fun to do, too!"
Promising review: "Fred was the first thing I ever crocheted. I decided to give Woobles a try after my daughter made several Woobles animals. It was very easy to get started and the videos were very easy to follow. I’m so happy with Fred and plan on making him a tiny birthday hat and gifting him to my 3-year-old for his birthday." —Tiffany Z.
28. A snug-fit undershirt for anyone who's usually pretty sweaty — it has built-in padding that soaks up your sweat before it forms a ring on your dress shirt.
29. A collapsible pizza-shaped storage container perfect for saving space in the fridge — no more making room for a whole pizza box just to keep five slices — all while keeping your pepperoni slice fresher than wrapping in foil would. Adjust it to one of three heights, too, for more space-saving goodness.
30. Burlap & Barrel spices like Royal Cinnamon and Purple Stripe Garlic — the brand ethically sources unique varieties of spices directly from farmer cooperatives and small farms and works to help the farmers themselves maximize their earnings. The result? Distinctive, delicious spices ready to pack your food with flavor.
31. A bottle-emptying kit because it will let you get every penny's worth of product out of your favorite shampoos, lotions, and even food products like honey or that gourmet salad dressing you can't get enough of.
32. Some Neuro Gum or Neuro Mints, which contain 40 mg of green tea caffeine — about half a cup of coffee's worth, meaning it'll help give you the smooth boost you need through the afternoon without leaving you tossing and turning when it's time for bed.
33. The Cut Buddy because it makes it incredibly simple to get a perfectly curved, straight, or angled line for your head or beard right at home. It has six different sides so you can create dozens of different shapes or angles!
34. And a Beard King trimmings catcher that'll make cleaning up after shaving (your face, at least) SO MUCH easier. Just carefully grab the edges off the mirror — they secure there with suction cups — and take the whole thing over to the trash can.
35. A pair of Drainwigs so you never have to deal with sloshing through a few inches of water in the bottom of your shower thanks to a slow, hair-clogged drain again. This catches all the hair as it goes down, and you simply pull it up and toss every few months.
36. The Lip Bar vegan lipstick — its smooth, creamy formula is long-lasting, and also happens to be cruelty-free!
37. A Cat Amazing, aka a box with holes in the side and a system of barriers with holes on the inside that your kitten will be incredibly interested in hunting through to find the tasty treats you've hidden inside!
38. InstaFire because when it's cold out and you want a fire in the backyard fire pit or at your campsite, you want that fire started NOW. And this will do it using only eco-friendly ingredients.
39. A bottle of Grip Clean heavy-duty soap that's made with coconut and olive oils to throughly and easily clean your hands — even if they're exceptionally dirty — while ALSO moisturizing them at the same time!
40. An EZPZ mat, which is completely un-budge-able by toddlers. They still might drop the food on the floor, but at least it'll be just a piece or two at a time, instead of the entire bowl of painstakingly cut up fruit at once.
41. A Turbie Twist that'll wrap your entire sopping-wet head of hair in its microfiber lengths and hold everything securely with it's elastic loop, even if you start head-bopping as you sing along to your favorite morning playlist.
You, receiving all your cool new finds in the mail:
The reviews in this post have been edited for length and clarity.