If you want to explore your inner designer, the Denim Design Lab Kit will allow you to finish and distress jeans to your own specifications. Only 200 units of each of the limited edition kits, available in three different case styles, were produced and each includes a complete set of design tools and a handbook to guide you through the process. Is it worth getting a kit to customize your jeans rather than just buying a pair you like in the first place? It depends on how much you enjoy doing it, but if you get good enough, people might start coming to you instead of heading to the store. Price: £180 (about $340).

While some doctors can help parents-to-be select the gender of their as-yet-unborn child, should they be interested in such a decision, it is an expensive and time-consuming procedure. For those interested in a less involved procedure, GenSelect makes kits that are supposed to help influence the gender of a baby, one for boys and one for girls. The kit claims to be 96% effective in "pre-conception sex selection" and comes with a money back guarantee. It's an interesting concept and, while less creepy than having a doctor actually choose a particular embryo, the FDA-approved product is bound to raise some eyebrows. A 3-month kit will set you back $439.

[via ShinyShiny]

After last year's brutal hurricane season - and predictions that this year will be just as bad - it seems like a good time to invest in some disaster supplies, just to be on the safe side. Engadget Mobile posted about a $5,000 Personal Hurricane Kit made by Assemble Communications. It won't hold a lot of food or water, but the waterproof suitcase has a battery-powered satellite antenna to let you make calls to loved ones and emergency personnel. Even to FEMA, if you're so inclined. The kit comes with 400 minutes of air-talk time and 150 mb of internet access, as you can hook it up to a laptop with ease, though checking your e-mail or surf the net may not be the best thing to do in an emergency situation.

Once little girls are old enough to accompany their parents on shopping trips and start having an input in what they want to wear, it is not a big leap for them to want to design their own outfits. Most girls don't get the opportunity to do this, but with the Custom Couture Kit they can make their dream a reality. The design portfolio that is included has fabric swatches, pencils, sketchpad, and a questionnaire, which will help determine the final design. The design will then be made by a professional designer in New York, who will consult on color, fabric and fit, before completing the garment and sewing in a custom label bearing the designer's own name. Price: $800.