Why design safety reflectors in the shape of musical notes and clefs? Because we love music and musical notation is fascinating! But we also want to help musicians and music lovers get home safely after concerts. Our reflectors are stylish and easy to hang on jackets, bags and instrument cases. In other words: perfect gifts for musicians and music lovers! We know how often rehearsals and concerts take place late in the evening. Especially at this time of year, that means coming and going in the dark.
The funflector treble and bass clef safety reflectors are perfect stocking stuffers for musicians and music lovers who already have “everything”. Urban areas are magnets for concerts and theater performances and with that comes restaurants, bars and coffee shops. What can be better than combining a great performance with seeing dear friends and enjoying good food? Wether you arrive by car or public transportation, you will likely walk between the performance venue and your favorite restaurant. You might not think much about it, but you will most likely also cross a few streets with traffic during the course of the evening. And that is when safety reflectors come in handy. We know you probably cringe and think neon yellow when you hear “safety reflector” but with funflector you get a nice looking charm, that doubles as a safety reflector – even the black ones!
✅ Tickets. Check. ✅ Restaurant reservation. Check. ✅ Good Friends. Check ✅ Phone, money and house keys. Check ✅ Good looking safety reflectors. Check?
Musicians and music lovers are at double risk ending up in nighttime pedestrian crashes. 1. They are mostly dressed in black. 2. They often head homewards in the dark after evening concerts and rehearsals. Obviously, these things won’t change, so the easiest solution is to add some reflective gear that fits right in. A black treble clef safety reflector is stylish and blends in with any black outfits. It can hang on instrument cases, jackets, purses, backpacks and bags.
Then in nighttime traffic, it puts its wearer in the spotlight with its reflective power. Thanks to a unique manufacturing technique, …
This is a tricky one: Stocking stuffers for physicists and science buffs, especially those geared towards cosmology and subatomic (particle) physics. What do you do when your geek friends don’t want any more science kits and own all the cool/fun/silly T-shirts, tea mugs and mousepads from red bubble, cafepress or sazzle?
Particle Zoo Stocking Stuffers for Physicists
Fortunately, graphic designer Julie Peasley combined her interest for cosmology, the quantum world and theoretical physics with her design talent and created the line of Particle Zoo plushies. The felt creatures reflect the personalities of the various particles in a fun and educational way and are as much fun on the distinguished professor’s desk as in the class room. The Particle Zoo line has since expanded to magnets (who would not want to play with Feynman diagrams on their fridge door???), pencil pouches, buttons, greeting cards and reflectors! The reflectors, you can of course buy in the funflector webshop. They are perfect gifts and stocking stuffers for hard working students, grad students, engineers, teachers and professors who get home from work after sunset. For everything else, go to the Particle Zoo website. Just don’t forget to say hi from the funflector team!
Relativity Watch
Although a bit over budget, we could not resist this cool Einstein Relativity Watch for $43 at 3B Scientific! What do you think, will those who use it be on time or not? And if so, where?
Three middle school kids can result in a flurry of activities. Weekends are filled with soccer and little league baseball games. Week nights are busy with choir, band and orchestra rehearsals and performances. Last weekend, we had the pleasure to be blown away by the Highland Middle School musical “Hello Dolly” and “The Sound of Music” at the Chicago Lyric Opera. It’s also a season when it’s time to come up with fun, clever and personal gifts for dedicated teachers and hard working graduates.
Awesome Gifts for Music Teachers and Musicians
We’ve collected a few gifts for music teachers, music graduates and music directors. The treble clef safety reflector is something all music lovers need as concerts and rehearsals often end long after sunset. Pair that with the most perfect thank you note and you are all set.
Heavy Metal Rock Band
How fun isn’t this heavy metal rock band, and we love that it is made with reused pieces!
A T-shirt every Cellist Needs
Silly questions require silly answers. Here is the T-shirt every cellist needs.
Cosy Tea Mugs for Musicians
Big handmade mugs for coffee, tea or soup. There are even musical designs at the bottom of the mugs. Great for a slow breakfast after performance nights or to cuddle up with in the couch and your favorite music.
Gift card
A gift card is not as personal, but sometimes a better option than filling peoples’ homes with “stuff”. Consider a a gift card from a local music venue to be used towards conserts, or one from you local music store to be used towards instrument repairs or sheet music. In addition to being a useful gift, it gives much needed support to organizations and small businesses in your community.
The Most Perfect Thank You Note!!!
The other day, we found the most perfect thank-you note! When shopping at our favorite gift store for musical gifts, the CSO gift store in Chicago (On East Adams, just around the corner from the Symphony Center on 220 S Michigan Ave), we also help support a phenomenal orchestra. The cute card is perfect as is or with a gift card and/or a funflector® treble-clef reflector!
Elisabeth # ps. almost forgot the footnote for those of you who want to look sharp… 😉 🎶
We are so excited that the 2014 funflector® wholesale catalog is off the press! We hope you are too! It has all our new (and old) designs and our first licensed line of reflectors from the Particle Zoo. New for this year is also an online flip book, (you just need a little bit of patience while it downloads) but we have stocked up with envelopes and stamps and will gladly mail a copy to your store! You can order it here or shoot us an email.
As some or our customers were quick to discover, new colors of the reflective slap bracelets are in stock in the funflectorwebshop. Slap bracelets are always fun, and these double as quality pedestrian safety reflectors!
The old world has come back to Chicago! The German Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza is open until Christmas and offers authentic German wooden and glass ornaments as well as Bratwurst, Pretzels, Strudels and Glühwein (mulled wine). See our blog post from last year about the Chicago Christkindlmarket.
For the second year, the Swedish American Museum also has a booth at the market and that’s where you go to get your Tomte fix. Tomte can be translated to gnome, elf, Santa, Father Christmas, nisse, Heinselmänchen depending on what language you prefer. Today, I volunteered in the booth and tried to count the “Cute!” (or “cuuute!”) but quickly lost track. The tomtar are all handmade in Sweden and come in many styles and sizes – and they are truly cute!
Traditional Angel chimes, modern moose or dalahorse chimes are available as well as wooden toys and books. Since most Swedes wear reflectors, the museum has teamed up with funflector.com to spread some Swedish safety culture and offers a wide variety of funflectors! There is even a tomte funflector! The Chicago Christkindlmarket is open every day from 11am to 8pm (to 9 on Fridays and Saturdays). The Swedish American Museum Booth is #52. located outside the main market, East of the Daley Center, close to the intersection of Randolph and Dearborn. Stop by next time you are downtown Chicago and say “Hi” from The funflector Blog!
Christkind is to German kids what Santa is to American. Christkind visits on Christmas day to put presents around the tree. Kids are kept away with closed doors to the living room until a little bell is heard. That means Christkind has finished its mission and the family can be let in to marvel at the pile under the tree. Christkind (“Christ Child”) has long golden hair and angelic wings and is a central part of opening ceremonies at many German Christmas markets, which are often called “Christkindlmarkt”. Here is a glimpse of the Nürnberg Christkindlesmarkt
Chicago has its own Christkindlmarket with tight ties to the Nürnberg one on which it is modeled. The opening ceremony (Nov 20, 2012, 4:30pm) often gets visits from the Nürnberg mayor and the previous Nürnberg Christkindl. This year, you can meet & greet the Christkindl on November 22, 11:00am, right after the Chicago Christmas parade. Being brought up with a mix of Swedish and German Christmas traditions, I love to go to the Christkindlmarket for some real German Bratvurst, Kartoffelpuffers and to look at the handcrafted ornaments that look just like those my grandmother had. Except for skyscrapers instead of small half-timbered houses surrounding the market, it does take me back to Germany for a little while. German vendors come all the way here just for this, which gives it an authentic flair. This year, there is a new section at the NE corner of the plaza. That is where you will find the booth of the Swedish Amercian Museum, filled with Swedish ornaments, handcrafted collectible tomten (Santas), Angel Chime rotary brass candle holders, wonderful wood toys for children, funflector® safety reflectors in fun shapes for kids and adults, and a wide assortment of Scandanavian books. Here are some pics from previous years:
Le bonhomme du neige – the good man of snow – is the french expression for snowman. And who does not like snowmen? Shoveling snow might not be our favorite pastime, but making snowmen is fun, creative and brings us outside. After the snowman has been adorned with a broom, stick arms, a carrot nose, a scarf and a hat, we dry our mittens and enjoy some hot cocoa or cider while we let our rosy cheeks fade away.
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