Good morning folks! I’m writing to you straight from the Big Apple where I spent the morning back on the Today Show. This time it was all about the wacky, the wild, and the downright weird. You’ve likely seen a few of these items on our site via The BritList, but here are the 11 crazy items I showed off on the show.
1. Hog Wild Twirling Spaghetti Fork ($7): We kicked things off today with the Twirling Spaghetti Fork. This is the ultimate food gadget for kids or lazy eaters. We all know how annoying it can be to twirl up your pasta, so this fork does it for you! Just give it a click and watch the pasta wrap around the edges. Truly amazing.
2. Musical Wine Glasses ($62): Next up, a spin on your traditional wine glasses. These are musical wine glasses which feature notations corresponding with levels of liquid, so while a nice full glass might be a B flat, when you start getting low on vino, you’ll be playing a G sharp. Yes, this has always been a wine trick, but now you have notes to go along with it and really wow your party guests. There’s never been a more fun way of performing impromptu concertos with your chardonnay!
3. Just a Slice Cake Pan ($11): If you’ve ever wished for an easier way to cut perfect sized portions of a cake, you can look no further. The Just a Slice Cake Pan lets you evenly distribute batter so that your cake bakes up in individual portions. You can still combine all eight portions together to form a circular cake. Your guests will watch in awe when you serve them without cutting it. We used it to make a Color Wheel Cake for Brit + Co’s first birthday!
4. Hand Crank Emergency Cell Phone Charger ($60): This is the best thing to keep in your glove compartment. It’s a cell phone charger that works by converting a crank of your hand into power. One minute of cranking converts into 30-second bursts of battery for a connected phone. It’s great for placing that essential call or text when you are in an emergency and don’t have access to electricity. It works with most phones and can charge them all completely if the battery on the charger is also completely charged.
5. 3D-Printed Silver Jewelry: Did you know that you can design your own 3D jewelry and have it printed just for you? Seriously! You can create custom jewelry using all sorts of great online 3D modeling programs, or you can look through the Shapeways site and customize designs that already exist.
6. Foldable Me ($12): Have you ever wanted a mini cardboard cut-out of yourself? Foldable Me is taking paper dolls to the next level. The company lets you customize everything about the design of the print-outs — hair, nose, chin, outfits, etc — online and then prints them on a very high quality sheet of cardboard that is precision cut to easily fold into a 3D shape. No scissors or glue are required and you can put one together in just a couple of minutes. These make for great additions to a gift and can be displayed anywhere in the home or office. I’m planning to make one of my mom as her mother’s day card this year!
7. Ruby Wing Two-Toned Nail Polish ($10): Can’t decide between two nail polish hues? Meet Ruby Wing, the company behind this innovative color-changing polish. Wear one shade indoors, then step outside to watch it turn colors. The Poppy shown above starts as a light bubblegum shade and transforms into a rich burgundy when you’re out in the sun. Um, awesome! For more clever tricks on nail art, check out these 20 trendy tutorials.
8. Beer Buckle ($35): Here’s the scene. You’re at a huge sporting event, holding your soda or beer, and need your hands to cheer or do the wave. Instead of raising your drink up in the air, why not set it down… on your buckle. That’s right, the Beer Buckle is a belt buckle that extends to double as a cup holder as well. It fits both bottles and cans and gives you two-handed freedom anywhere you go. Definitely a fashion statement if I’ve ever seen one. Related: The Beer Holster.
9. Electronic Guitar Shirt ($30): Are you ready to take your air guitar skills to a seriously rockin’ level? This t-shirt has an electric guitar built right into it. It also includes a mini-amp that, naturally, goes all the way to 11. So awesome. You can remove the guitar component for machine washing and you can play most major chords. We’re not totally sold on the idea of having to rub your own tummy to play tunes, but we definitely dig the technology behind it.
10. Botanicalls Tweeting Plant Kit ($100): Botanicalls literally enables your plants to call you. When your plant is hungry or thirsty, the device will give you a ring and let you know exactly what it needs. So cool! If you don’t feel like getting called all the time, it can also send you a tweet. Botanicalls is definitely taking plan nurturing to a whole new level. We also like how the device has a minimalist, geeky feel with no fuss. It looks like the inside of a computer!
11. Aquanotes ($8): The shower. Not only is it great for busting out your favorite tunes and cleaning off the bod, but it’s also been known to be one of the few places where creative people can truly disconnect and spark new ideas. The one major problem? Remembering what those ideas were once you are clean and dry. That’s why we are obsessing over AquaNotes, a (seemingly magical) waterproof notepad that will change the way you rub-a-dub-dub. Each pad comes with forty sheets of paper, suction cups, and a water resistant pencil made from cedar wood. It is even durable while completely submerged under water.
All in all, it was a pretty fun morning on Today!
Want more quirky products? Be sure to look out for our weekly BritList feature where we highlight unusual and unexpected findings from all over the web.
What’s the zaniest thing you’ve come across online lately? Share links with us in the comments below.