One a Penny

Skateboard fanatics and designers alike will be glad to know that you can very easily make your own personalized version of the penny board now thanks to these free downloadable files from MyMiniFactory courtesy of designer Simone Fontana, who shows a perfect tutorial of how to print and assemble you're very own replica Penny Board. 

Of course because of the limited printing capacity of the 3D printer, this means that Fontana's download comes in five pieces that need to be put together using steel bars to give the board a bit of stability, but other than that it's pretty much a simple process that's a lot cheaper and more original than you going out and buying yourself a brand new board.

You can mix and match your Penny Board by picking your own wheels and printing each section in different colours etc; go mad with it because this is an awesome free download for the creative boarders out there. And whilst you're over at MMF don't forget to tip the designer, give back to the amazing creators out there. 

Survival Laces

I'm a bit of prepper, it's nothing to be ashamed about, and when the apocalypse does finally come around don't turn up on my doorstep expecting me to sleigh your zombies. Na, uh, get your own survival gear. And the latest in the line of cool Survival gear I've unearthed on the internet are the Survival Laces. 

Survival Laces are exactly what they say in the name; laces to keep you well equipped in any sort of survival, adventure and wilderness scenario. They're a way to carry important emergency equipment without lagging down your bag by carrying extra weight. The Survival Laces are made with 550 paracord  - which as any camper knows comes in handy everywhere and anywhere - and one strand of fishline in the core. 

Each set of Survival Laces also comes with an ingeniously covert fire starter; consisting of a one inch ferrocerium rod in the metal aglet and a four inch strand of tinder that's extremely flammable and waterproof so you can light a fire with ease. Survival Laces aren't only full functional, they're made of high quality material and come in a stylish array of red, khaki and black that can go in either your shoes or your hoodie, perfect for carrying around without making it obvious you're packing a lot of equipment. 

Prices for the Survival Laces start from $8.50 and if you're still new to starting a fire then you can get your hands on the Deluxe Survival Laces which have a full length strand of tinder in the core of the laces so that you'll never run out of fire. 

Crazy Arms

Ever wish your Lego characters could do more than just lift their arms up and down at their sides? (Yeah, I know it might not be the most prevalent thing on your mind but it's damn important to a plastic figure enthusiast let me tell you.)

Well a set of Crazy Arms will let your favourite brick based figure do out of the box things such as carrying a sword and a bow in their arms, finally you can let your little Lego man salsa!!!

Crazy Arms is a crazily genius invention that takes the pose ability of the plastic mini figures to a whole new dimension. Crazy Arms are removable, letting you modify at your own pace without tampering or damaging your figures. The plastic Crazy Arms parts snugly fit in to the inner holes on the figures hips and provide a loop support for the arms to fit in to which then allow you to pose your figure however you like. 

Crazy Arms are amazing for letting children and adults alike unlike modelling and playing potential by interchanging their figures limbs and they come in a variety of initial colours; white, black, tan, dark tan and dark grey with more colours to unlock as the Kickstarter campaign gains pledges.

And for $20 you can get your hands on three pairs of Crazy Arms in whatever colour you long for.

Saving the world one beer at a time- casually

How much energy is wasted each year powering our fridges and keeping our soda's, beers and ciders cool? Well I know it's a lot when you consider that you could be keeping your beverages cooled naturally.

eCool is a product developed by four guys from a small town in Denmark that utilizes the damp and cold of the earth to keep your drinks chilled. The eCool system is placed deep in to the cool earth (about a metre underground) and uses the natural dampness and cold atmosphere of the soil to keep each 33cl can refridgerated all year round. 

The eCool is a perfect camping accesory for those who want to crack open a cool beer in front of the fire with their friends, and it would also be perfect for storing fizzy drink cans at a family barbeque with its 24 can capacity. It's a convenient and organic way of storing and cooling your drinks and as it requires no electricity think of all the oil you're preventing from being fracked. All you need to do to get a cool drink is crank the handle and rotate the belt that keeps the cans stored, and suddenly all the cool berevages you could possibly want all for the cost of $369.

Blood Sport

It's so easy to get lost in a video game, and with the way the news has been reporting how games like GTA and COD are making our younger generations more violent its about time someone revolutionizes the way in which we game for the better. 

And Taran Chadha and Jamie Umpherson are just the guys to do it with their new gaming system Blood Sport. Blood Sport is essentially a fun and entertaining way to donate blood in which what happens in the video game has consequences in real life; i.e. every time you're shot or take damage in the game a proportionate amount of blood is taken. Apparently you'll be so immersed in the game you won't even realise the blood is being taken in a slow trickle compared to the butchers job you usually get when you go to give a couple of quartz at the hospital. 

It's all a pretty easy and harmless process; a medical professional inserts the cannula and the machine that takes the blood is hooked up to an Arduino board which can monitor blood flow safely and has your height, weight, age and other conditions preset so that you can be assured you're playing and donating responsibly.  

The creators of Blood Sport say they're developing the technology to get gamers thinking about more important issues whilst still doing what they love. For some reason (perhaps the many ethical issues) the Kickstarter campaign was taken down, but the concept is so amazing that hopefully Blood Sport can become a reality and will change the way people think of gaming as addictive and violent to productive and beneficial. 

I just had a vision

Everyone loves a good old nostalgic moment and with Projecteo you can keep your happy memories close at hand in the form of a miniature slide projector that with the click of a button will display your favourite Instagram pics for a personal slideshow. 

How does it work? Well, you sign in with Instagram and pick nine of your favourite Instagram pictures, which then gets developed on to a single cell of 35mm slide film and is inserted in to a small black wheel. Then all you have to do is wait for your Projecteo and wheel of images to arrive in the post. It is that simple. And once you've got your Projecteo you can project your photos on to any surface as a homage to the retro days of projecting. 

And there's endless possibilities as to what you can use a Projecteo for; its not just a way for you to keep your photos in a nostalgic way, Projecteo would make an awesome and very personal gift for a friend or family member. You could give Projecteo as a wedding keepsake or a customized valentines or birthday gift. Projecteo is so small and cute you could keep it in a pocket, on a desk or even on a necklace. 

Projecteo costs £23 for the mini projector itself and the wheel of nine images and comes with free worldwide delivery, and for roughly £6 for each new wheel of nine images you can have as many old memories as you want. 

P.S. if you're interested in getting your hands on the tiny Instagram picture then look online for people's 'friends codes' so that you can get $5 off the total. 

Rock, Scissors, Paper!

As Nerf has proven you don't have to be a kid to enjoy shooting a plastic gun and playing army with your friends, and with PaperShooters there's now a better way to get even with your buds and sharpen up your shooting skills. 

PaperShooters is a construction kit that lets you build all the components of your weapon; including the air chamber, springs and trigger mechanism. You can interchange the cardboard skins on your plastic 'skeleton' so that you can blend in with your battle field as you go to war. 

The ability to construct your own 124 piece weapon will give you extended fun before you do get round to mastering your weapon, ready for firing rounds at objects up to 65 feet away. 

No more collecting your plastic ammo after an intense shooting battle, because PaperShooters ammo is ultra safe, mess free and 100% biodegradable because the pellets are made out of paper, therefore no more ouchies when you do eventually get hit. 

And you'll never run out of ammo because each PaperShooters kit comes with a mold so that you can continuously make soft splat ammo, giving the perfect blend of functional and fun all in one innovative package. 

And you can get your hands on a PaperShooters 'Zombie Slayer' for just £30, which includes the authentic looking plastic and cardboard weapon as well as a wall target for accurate shooting and endless fun. 

Lego be gone! Pinblock's are upon us!!!

Now I know this'll be hard to come to terms with but sadly Lego isn't the 'It' thing any longer. You know all those times you got a chunky yellow brick stuck in your foot? And you got aggravated with the basic 90 degree joints on all your models? Well with Pinblock's your feet are safe and you can now make your models around six rotation points!!! There's nothing better than rotation points. 

Pinblock started as a Kickstarter project aiming to re-imagine the building block, to bring these tiny, flexible pieces of plastic to market so that every creator and dreamer out there can surpass the limitation of conventional construction.

These bad boys are amazing in that you no longer have to search through the box for the right piece; because all the pieces are the same size, dimension, width; what I'm basically saying is that every brick is identical! And no longer are your models stiff and lifeless, they're flexible and able to curve; no more restrictions in your buildings and creations.

Pinblock's aren't just for creators, they're also for designers, they provide the perfect, slim material to create pixelated images with. These Pinblock's are so clever yet so uncomplicated! There's really no end to what you can do with them; build watches, make portraits, construct the Empire State Building!!! Whatever you want to do you can do it.

I happened to make a loose interpretation of Mickey Mouse in my first go at Pinblock's, proving that even the simplest of minds can get carried away with this awesome new toy.

What's even better is the variety of boxes available. Pinblock offer a choice of freestyle colour schemes, as well as kit boxes which give you a step by step guide to building rockets, ships and jets. The genius minds behind Pinblock's - great mates Vlad and Jun who decided to change engineering for the better - are really on to something here and I hope to see Pinblock's go global; encouraging kids and adults alike to get their build on.

At the end of Pinblock's Kickstarter campaign they launched The Manual Challenge, which was a race among pledgers to share pages and collect all fifty two pages of the Silver Falcon Model Manual for the chance to win a box of each of the Pinblock sets (seven boxes in total) for absolutely nothing! Pinblock's sent different pages out to each person and it was a battle on Facebook, Twitter and Kickstarter to send pages to each other and share their own in order to gather all the pages of the manual. Of course by sheer determination and brazen annoyance, yours truly managed to wrangle together all 52 pages first and nabbed herself the awesome prize.

And this week the box turned up all large and full of tinkling brick noise and I practically wet myself in excitement, eager to get my build on. And build I did; cathedral's, characters and other cute critters! I did my best to test the durability and flexibility of these Pinblock bricks and am utterly astounded by the versatility in one tiny 1 cm wide brick!

Well done Pinblock; live long and prosper.

Paper Fairytale

If you think you're journal is a one of a kind then you really need to get a load of these Polymer Clay Journals that really bring a whole new meaning to the word 'ethereal'. 

These Polymer Clay Journals are amazing feats of art that combine realistic 3D form with magical characters to create journals that are truly one of a kind and thought provoking. They're the work of Etsy shop owner Mandarin Duck who is a London based designer that specializes in Polymer clay artistry with anything from journals to jewelry to tutorials for you to experiment yourself. 

The life like creatures featured on the skins of these journals are gorgeous and so greatly detailed in they're layers, surrounded in the complimentary scenery, bound to make your writing more exciting and adventurous. And if you'd like a Polymer Clay Journal then it'll cost you around £300 for a bespoke journal, or roughly £15 if you'd prefer to follow a tutorial and try your hands at one of these unique pieces. 

Get Passive Aggressive!

I've left a few post it note rants in my time that end up spanning three separate notes - double sided might I add - which is when the Post-It Note Roller would have come in handy. The Post-It Note Roller lets you get your notes down without having to cram it all on one sheet, allowing you to roll out as much as you need all in one pretty pink go. 

No more restricted telling offs in the office, no more post-it notes losing their stick and fluttering around the place; with the Post-It Roller you can literally paste your notes on any surface as if laying down wallpaper. 

The Post-It Note Roller is spunky and fun, letting you be creative with your notes; making a great gift for the 'passive aggressive' post-it note culprit in your dorm room. And at roughly £8 it's a nice filler present. 

Take a hike

There's good weather on the way so there's no more excuses to stay indoors wrapped in in your duvet watching Youtube when there's a whole world out there ready to be explored. And if you do plan to be putting miles of gorgeous countryside and wilderness under your feet than you should go prepared by picking up some of these awesome, compact hiking and camping essentials. 

First up for handy camping gear is the Gerber GDC Essentials collection which feature assorted blades and tools that attach easily to your zips for quick access and light carrying. They feature a clip for easy removal and are a perfect carry companion for daily use; attaching to virtually any zip with a small, sleek form made out of durable stainless steel. In the GDC essentials collection there is a Hook Knife Ring, LED Light and Bottle Opener, Mini Key chain Knife, Hex mini multi-tool and Driver Mini Multi-tool. Anything you could possibly need for a camping expedition all within reach and perfectly compact. 

This next product is an all in one item that features anything you could probably think of needing. The Kelvin 23 Ninja (cleverly named for it's twenty three functions) is unique and designed for the everyday jobs, including; an ultra handy screwdriver, a bright LED light, a tiny yet nifty spirit level, a five foot tape measure, a powerful magnet to hold loose screws, a tiny hammer and 16 essential screwdriver bits to fit practically every fixture out there!

A Kelvin 23 Ninja on your key-ring or in your back pocket means you no longer have to scramble around looking for your hex key to tighten up the book shelf; probably the ideal gift for the college kid or new home owner who will encounter DIY for the first time. It may not be much of a camping essential but you're sure to find a use for it if you plan on getting crafty with nature.

The final tool on my list is the LighterBro which literally means you have to carry around a back pocket tool roughly the same size of a lighter. The LighterBro Multitool clips around your regular lighter to provide on the go tools such as; a micro Phillips screwdriver, a Flathead screwdriver, a super sharp knife, scissors, a bottle opener and a key chain attachment so that you can keep all your essentials in one place.

LighterBro is the perfect tool for camping/hiking with it's durable metal case and compact body; it's perfectly affordable and clips to your average Clipper Lighter. Even the reviews rave about how useful you'll find it and screaming praises for the swiss army style tool that wraps easily around your lighter; brilliant!

There's a point to pointie

You never know nowadays who's following you down the street and you can't premeditate an accident so when you're in need of a self-defense and survival tool that's practical, tactical and concealable then the Pointie Self Defense Marker is where it's at, and should be in your handbag for simple peace of mind.    

Simply put, Pointie is a hardened stainless steel spike inside of a marker body (concealed as our favourite David Beckham endorsed marker pen) that can be used for anything you think of. Use it as a self-defense tool, take it hunting and hiking, use it as a hole punch, an engraving tool or a glass breaker; it literally can be whatever you make it; except a pen, it'll never be a pen. 

Pointie comes in two different styles; the 'signature head' which features the iconic pointed Pointie shaft inside the pen body, or the 'concealed marker head' which has just the tip of the Pointie inside of a marker shaped body with an extended plastic piece to further enforce the 'marker' appearance of your self-defense tool. And for this compact multi purposed it'll cost roughly $30, a great bag companion for those times when you just don't know what'll happen. 

Utilize the outdoors

It's always important to have critical supplies when venturing out in to the wild (I mean the forest, not the streets; it's not that wild out there, jeez) and there's no better way to carry what you need in a compact way than with a VSSL canister of outdoor utility tools. 

A flashlight is one of the most primary camping tools out there; so it's essential for a VSSL to have a high efficiency LED light attached to the end of the canister for quick and easy use. And within the canister you'll find all sorts of useful equipment perfect for your camping, hiking and outdoor adventures all in mini capsules; Such as first aid kids, a compass, candles, a razor blade, aqua tablets, a wire saw, an emergency whistle, water proof matches, tinder (not the app!), fishing gear and a punch of other stuff. Everything you could possibly need in a crisis. 

The aluminium VSSL tube is 9" by 2"; perfectly compact and totally durable with its military grade aluminium casing which is weather resistant. 

VSSL come in four forms; the Supplies canister, First Aid canister, Shelter canister and the Blank/Empty canister. The latter of which allows you to store all your emergency items securely with the VSSL flashlight on the canisters head. Prices for VSSL's range from $49-$105; a great price for a small and easily accessible emergency pack. 

Unofish

If you've got a bit of a basketball obsession and you've got money to splash then maybe you should invest in a handcrafted leather basketball that takes swag to the next level. 

Unofish are the designers behind these sexy basketballs who use a range of different patterned and treated quality leathers to make these striking basketballs that'll make you feel like a queen or a king. Several of their 'crocodile' inspired balls feature alligator embossed leather, whilst balls like 'the state' have cross sections of pony hair leather which add an elegant edge to the material. 

With an Unofish basketball you're paying for great quality and finish to beat all others. And although your game might not be on your ball game definitely will be with everyone marveling over your basketball as you will stand out and above all others with your £160 basketball. 

Let it Grow!

Bring the outdoors in with these awesome terrariums from Urban Outfitters as part of their Urban Grow movement. 

Terrariums are the perfect way to give your home some fun and fresh furnishings; these glass and metal planters are futuristic, almost like a tiny rocket-ship for your plant, with their geometrical forms and striking edges that give an outer-space vibe to your home. These Urban Grow planters come in all shapes and sizes ideal for letting you keep all of your favourite plants only a breathe away, and for little green fingers to create their own fairy gardens.

You don't have to be a botanist to use Terrariums either, as all it takes is some sand, bark and a couple of air plants to get your Terrarium set up. Easy as. And all because the air plants are self sufficient; surviving on nothing but the moisture and nutrients in the air so that you don't have to water them frequently or give them much attention except for when you want something pretty to look at.

And if you don't mind giving your new little house plant a little love, then you can get your hands on some pretty succulents and cacti. There are many health benefits to having plants in the house; for example in increase in oxygenation in the environment, terrariums allow for you to close them during the night time so that you're not breathing in all that carbon dioxide again. Also air plants filter dust out of the atmosphere; less dust equals better air or something like that...

These terrariums by Urban Grow are sleek and attractive with their metal and glass composition, suitable for any room be it on a table, in the corner of the room or hanging from the ceiling. By far my favourite terrarium is the Large Star Terrarium, which features only sixty facets, creating an intricate ornamental piece that allows you to build your own little garden in the comfort of your own home that needs nothing more than a quick spritz for maintenance.

Like a VIP

It's game day and you're in your comfy chair with a beer in your hand and the television remote well and truly under your control, no one is taking the game away from you and if they step in front of the TV during play time they risk ultimate death. 

But there's something not quite right. You're wishing you could be there, wishing you could smell that fresh tennis ball scent and feel the sweat running off your brow as they debate whether it was a penalty or not. Well if you had yourself a Sportstyle chair from Paolo Lillus then you'd feel so immersed in the game you'd struggle to remember you're not LeBron. 

Paolo Lillus' Sportstyle chairs are awesome feats of design; made to look like practically every iconic sports ball you could think of; be it the tennis ball, the basketball, the football, the golf ball, the baseball or the old pig's bladder they used to kick around back in the day. Each of the Sportstyle chairs are made with intricate and immaculate detail, completed to a high standard using an aluminum base, leather skin and tennis felt. You can chose to have a 4 spoke base on your seat and stool or a rotating circular base; making the seat suitable for any environment. 

These lounge room Sportsyle chairs would be perfect for sports fans and teenagers alike, and wouldn't look too foolish in a games room either. Imagine having one of each of these chairs seated around the dining table; bringing great craftsmanship and entertainment to dinner. 

Chocolate!?!

Forgive me for making your mouth water but forget that diet you're on for a minute, give in to temptation and dribble over your screen as you marvel over this new Cadbury's bar. 

This limited edition chocolate bar by Cadbury's is their Dairy Milk Spectacular 7 which features a row of each of their seven dairy milk flavours; perfect for those chocoholics out there who can't make up their mind and end up with more chocolate than they rightfully should have. Asides from the classic whole Dairy Milk chocolate, you get a row of Turkish Delight, Oreo, Daim, Caramel, Whole Nut and Fruit & Nut. A row for each mood! 

Except for the fact that you probably wouldn't dare to dip in to this sweet temptation as only 50 bars are being made. (I know, it hurts me too). And the only way to get your hands on one is to follow the Cadbury Twitter page and wait for contest details! 

Get Keyed in!

So you've got a key chain full of keys; your car keys, your house keys, your partners house keys, your folks' house key and that miscellaneous key you know opens something but you haven't quite worked out what that something is yet. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. And you can't sneak anywhere without making a noise all thanks to that noisy little wind chime hanging off your belt loop.

Well good thing there's a solution. The KeyDisk (number two and one) are awesome key companions that fit up to nine keys in a tiny, compact disk, therefore making it easier to access what you need when you need it whilst it's tucked away safely in the meantime.

KeyDisk is sleek, simple and geometric; ace for all of those people you know who have more keys than sense my friend. Now you don't have to keep all those tacky key chains people gift you for birthday because they don't know what to get you; leaving your pocket light weight and your keys secure in its durable frame constructed from aluminium. And as an added extra KeyDisk features a bottle opener in its center; absolutely great for those get away days with your mates.

The KeyDisk two isn't just for keys, it's for all your wallet essentials; such as membership cards, flash drives, car remotes and other junk that you might need. And at $25 you can get your KeyDisk tidy tool in either Gun Metal Gray or Onyx Black. Smooth, a very much an essential part of daily living. 

Lazy Basketball

With society like it is it's a given that someone would come up with a way for people to play sport without having to move. And that product is the Lazy Basketball chair by Campeggi; a seat designed to allow you to shoot hoops without having to move an inch (well, depending on your shot to miss ratio). 

The metal structure of Lazy Basketball is covered in a synthetic net that catches the ball the minute you score a shot, and rolls it straight in to the arms of your friend in the other chair, ready for a game of back and forth free throwing. Lazy Basketball is colourful and would make a great garden game for both able bodied and disabled people alike. And although some may argue that Lazy Basketball will breed a, well, lazy generation, I'd argue that you're more than likely to miss the hoop altogether and end up running after the ball; as well, isn't it better to be sitting in the garden or house having an interactive game of Lazy Basketball than to be cuddled up in your room with your computer under your nose? 

Lazy Basketball is a great and fun invention and for roughly £600 you can get your hands on one of your own, ace for adding a new flare to your games room and getting your arms moving. 

If I had a fin for a day

To be a unicorn, knight or a mermaid is probably the dream of most little kids out there. And with a Mahina MerFin you can make at least one of these dreams come true. (You can probably guess which dream I'm referring to). The MerFin is a unique mermaid mono-fin that plays on the conventional swimmers fin by mimicking the ethereal style of a mermaid's tail with dreamy colours and a curved shape. 

MerFin's are made from recycled rubber - helping to endorse a sustainable attitude towards our ocean friends - and are soft and flexible, therefore perfectly functional as well as fascinating, allowing you to feel like your fish kin as you slice through the ocean currents. It's a great pool toy and can make snorkeling more fun with a simple flick of the ankles and knees to get you swimming like the mer-folk. 

And if the fin isn't enough for you to feel submersed in the mer-folk-iness (?) then you can also get yourself some scales with the MerSwim suit which consists of a pair of opalescent swim tights and Bikini top; perfect for perfecting that Mermaid look. 

Mahina Mermaid do both adult and Kid sized fins and suits to get the whole mer-family involved. The adult sized MerFins are $109 and the children's MerFins are $99. The woman behind it all is Mahina (commonly known as Mahina Mermaid) renowned for her modelling career as the rare marvel that is the mermaid; its this equity that made her want to inspire the hearts, imagination and dreams of children in promoting the art of 'mermaiding' and bringing the fin in to popular beach and pool culture. 

All I know is that they're super cool and otherworldly and that if I could swim I would have a pair on my feet at this very moment.