Zero-waste kimchi, fancy toothpaste, a Polish folk bird, a cloud cushion, and a Hungarian swing. #83

Welcome to this week’s installment of what’s hot in brands and products.

If you’re new around here: Every week, I share 5 of the coolest products from Europe I’ve discovered in the past 7 days.

Confession: Generally, I have rather high aesthetic standards… and still my gifts usually look like I wrapped them while running for a train. (And no, not at all like this.)

If you’re in the same boat, there’s a fix from Japan called furoshiki (Japanese cloth wrapping). It’s just a square cloth + two knots. That’s it.

And it makes even a boring rectangular gift look… intentional.

Also: you don’t need to import anything from Japan to try it. You can either grab a nice square at your local fabric shop and DIY it… or, if you want the “done-for-you” version, Europe has options:

If you have any other trick that makes gift-wrapping easier, I’d love to hear it.

I scout, you explore. Let’s get to it!

With love 🌞
Jakob

P.S.: Missed last-week’s edition? The very light and portable manual espresso machine from Emanuale was the most-clicked product.

I just started a new small batch of sauerkraut fermentation today. If you don’t want to do it yourself, check out Roots Radicals from Berlin. They’ve got plenty of gift ideas for your foodie friends. They follow the principles of a circular economy and make everything from ‘rescued ingredients’. In this case, cauliflower-leaf kimchi (yes, the part everyone usually tosses).

Add it to any gift bag and your friend will immediately ask, “where did you find this?”

There’s a Silicon Valley idea called a “toothbrush product”: something people use twice a day. Selahatin took that concept and made it… literal. It’s premium toothpaste built around taste as a full-on experience.

Founder Kristoffer Vural created it after a stroke triggered synesthesia — smells and tastes showing up as colors — and he basically refused to go back to “aggressive mint forever.”

I’d never gift normal toothpaste. This one? It’s weirdly personal. And they’ll think of you every morning and night, which is either sweet or slightly powerful.

This one is pure shelf charisma.
Folka is a London shop run by Karolina Merska (art historian, folk-art superfan), and they’ve got these hand-painted wooden birds made by Polish artists. The artist behind this Large Bird is Dionizy from Podlasie.

Bold colors, signature dots, and every piece is a little imperfect — the site even warns you about pencil marks and rough edges. (Not as a flaw. That’s proof a human existed.)

If your home needs one quirky “conversation starter” object, make it a bird with attitude.

Present Stories from Berlin makes kids’ play things that don’t look like a toy store exploded. Bless them. This Cloud is a foam building block / cushion / design object that works as a headrest, reading prop or soft seat.

Check the cloud out

Hungary showing up with the most joyful color palette of the week.
Eperfa’s indoor swing is hand-painted plywood + beech wood with a cotton rope. It comes in multiple colors, and it looks like something a cool museum shop would carry.

A practical note I appreciate that they say out loud: the hook is not included. (So you don’t end up staring at a swing on Christmas morning like: “great. now what.”)

If you want one “wow” gift that’s still actually used, this is a good bet.

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