is usually glitter. Our glitter package includes a small glue gel pen with a 3/8” wedge tip and 3.2g vials of festive glitter in red, blue, green and silver. You’ll also get a tiny funnel for applications. Photo-safe, acid-free and non-toxic. Wait ten minutes for the glue to set.

When is a spiral-bound notebook not just a spiral-bound notebook? When it’s got a pair of nunchaku (or maybe you say “nunchuks”) embossed on the cover with an actual little chain for, like, verisimilitude, dude. Inside are 94 pages of ruled, white 8” x approx 11” sheets, like that part matters.

We’re in love with these 22” long dusters covered with 1” long microfiber fingers, the better to snarf up the dust. Measure 2-1/2” wide x 1/2”, and have a very pleasing flex, and can be bent to reach otherwise inaccessible places. They’d also make dandy sabers for fencing practice. We’ll pick one in purple, neon green, orange, red or peacock blue. (Speaking of which, if you’d like a set in every color to make your own peacock, give us a call.)

It’s a 5-draw extension shaft that extends from 7” to nearly 26”. One end has a padded black rubber handle and the other has, well, nothing. To be fair, it has a 3/8” long metal cylinder with a 7/32” ID at the business end, but for what, we don’t know. We suspect it was on its way to being some kind of pick-up tool but got distracted. As is, it’s a dandy pointer or the beginning of a clever something that you’re going to invent.

This thick glass lamp diffuser measures 10-1/2" x 6-7/8" inside with a 1/4" perimeter lip. The 1/8” thick glass is patterned in 1/16” squares, and the whole shebang is an offset triangle that’s 2-3/4” high at its tallest. We’re thinking small custom skylight cover, translucent birdhouse roof, terrarium lid, non-bellish bell jar or a way to keep your triangular cupcakes fresh.

This vacuum pump from Koge Electronics draws 100-250mA at 4.8V and is rated for >2.6L/minimum output and -460mbar of pressure. Measures 2-9/16" x 1-3/16" x 1-5/16" with a 3/16" OD x 3/8" inlet barb and a 3/16" OD x 1/2" tall outlet barb, plus (4) 1/8” ID mounting wings. Power terminals are exposed and you may get short leads. Koge model #KPV276.

These heavy polystyrene sleeves are slightly over 3-3/4” x 2-5/8” ID. Not unlike laminating sleeves, they’re closed on three sides, and some have a slight bluish or gray tint. Great for baseball or football cards, Pokemon cards or any other flat collectibles.

Perfect for collectors who are sick of kittens and puppies, or for the lunchroom at the shop, this pair of salt and pepper shakers includes a nice fat bolt (pepper) and a stack of (3) big nuts (salt). In silver-coated ceramic with rubber stoppers. Both are approx 1-7/8” tall.

From our selection of things you didn’t know you needed until you saw them, these 32-sheet notebooks have lightly ruled pages that are 8-1/4” x 5-3/4”. Open them up and place the center crease on your nose, however, and they turn into a mask. You pick the Gas Mask notebook, with eye holes; the Zombie mask, ditto; or the pink Pig mask, that you just look over the top of. Perfect for adding a little something to Monday morning meetings.

When you can’t or won’t drill through the walls to get the cable TV or satellite signal inside, try this short piece of flat coax cable, made to lay down along the internal sill, so you can close the window over it. Also perfect for outdoor-mounted, over-the-air antennas. Measures 7-1/2” long x 11/16” wide x a darn near flat 1/16” thick with standard female F connectors on both ends and is covered in white vinyl. Even has a little self-adhesive strip on one side to keep it flat.

The FolkArt® company calls these Dye Brushes for, yes, applying dye or creating blended or ombre effects (think shading). Feel free to use them for whatever, because it’s a free country. One is 8” long with 7/8” wide bristles and the other is 7-1/2” long with approx 1-1/4” wide bristles--both nylon. Includes a pair a thin plastic gloves, so you don’t dye your fingers.

We had a brother-in-law like that, but this is a Philips bright-white LED floodlight. With a medium base (think standard light bulbs), and rated for 500 lumens. Made to replace a 50W incandescent, it draws a stingy 6W, and is instant-on and dimmable. Measures 2-1/2” at the lens with a 35-degree beam angle. At (3) hours usage per day, it will last 22 years and 9 months, but don’t call us if it’s a month short of that.

Oh, and the washers, too. It’s like a hardware store in a box, or your grandfather’s collection of spare stuff, but carefully organized instead of dumped in old jelly jars. Our each is an SAE 330-piece collection of (110) bolts in assorted sizes (from 6-40 to 1/2-20) and threads, with the same number of matching nuts and flat washers, all sorted in a plastic case with a chart to identify them so you don’t have to empty all those jars.

This light fixture takeout has (8) 1/16” dia surface-mounted COB LEDs on a 1-7/8” dia circuit board/heat sink. Nominally rated for 1A at 32VDC via a 4mm ID 2-pin Molex connector. Most will have a 3/8” square clear lens over the elements. The lumens are a mystery, but it’s brighter than an MIT physics major. Color temp is warm white.

Good advice for us all, and true of this clear, flexible shatter-resistant plastic ruler from Helix®. Measures 12” in 1/16” (and 30cm in 1mm increments).

Blaise Pascal would have given his arithmetic triangle to have owned one of these scientific calculators. Has (67) functions, a 2-1/4" 10-digit LCD screen, a 41-page instruction booklet and a flip-over lid. Includes a Constant Table in the lid, and is powered by a small solar cell or the included battery. Measures 6” x 3-1/8” x 1/2” in a hardshell case.

We couldn’t think of any clean jokes for this part, so just add your own. Meanwhile, this little, 1/4” dia, bright white COB LED is mounted on a 3/8” square PC board. Requires 70mA at 9VDC. Our in-house Fire Prevention & Ophthalmology Team suggests a heat sink as well as indirect viewing.

Our hottest hot pink carabiner. Call it fuchsia, in honor of Leonard Fuchs, who discovered the flower of that color--which is a shade of dark pink. Measures, 3” long with “safe working load 150lbs” printed along its flattened fuchsia side. But it’s not for climbing, no matter how much you weigh.

Forget watchmaking, you could write the "A Tale of Two Cities" on a piece of tortellini with this triple magnifier visor. Magnifies from 1.8X to 4.8X. Has a permanent 2.2X lens, a flip-down lens, and a flip-down loupe. Separate white LEDs at each temple, powered by (2) "AAA"s each which aren't included. The whole thing is in a black plastic visor, 7-3/4" wide x 5-1/4" deep with a flexible plastic strap held by a hook-and-loop closure. Opens to 9" max dia and has coated acrylic lenses. Now then: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…..

Quick Links from Stanley® are zinc-plated steel chain links that can be slipped over existing, welded links and tightened with a thumb-nut. Measure 1-7/8" x 1/2" inside, and open to just over 1/4”. Rated for moving loads of 770 lbs, or a stationary load of 1500 lbs.

We won't say magic, what with Science being our middle name, but these cut-resistant, composite-yarn technology gloves are pretty mystifying. In cobalt blue or bright white, our each is either a pair or single glove (see description above), and since you only wear one on your non-slicing hand it's a great deal.  Lengths are from wrist to middle fingertip. They're not puncture-proof, of course, so no stabbing please, but Barb, our Director of Accounting & High-Speed Fish Gutting, was unable to slice into them. Made in the USA by Best®.

Our each is a pair of textured, ambidextrous, black or red silicone gloves for taking the lasagna out of the oven. Size small to lesser-medium (“Billy-size,” here at the home office), they’re heat-resistant to 425 degrees. Measure 10” from index fingertip to wrist, and have a small hole at the top of the wrist for adding a hook or loop to hang them by. Also dandy for opening stubborn jars. (And no, you don’t have to reserve them for just lasagna--gloves don’t know what they’re grabbing.)

Do these pants make your apple look fat? Plop your fruits, veggies, meats, pastas, candies, crackers, eggs, salad dressings, wine, beer and whatever else on the Nutra Track™ Mini Nutrition Digital Scale. It’ll tell you how many calories (also: salt, protein, fat, carbs, cholesterol and fiber) you’re about to injest--or it’ll just weigh the stuff, which doesn’t have to be food. Has (160) common food codes printed under its tempered glass top, and you can program more, for a total of (999). But it’s also just a great digital scale that weighs anything up to 5kg/11lbs in 1g/.1-oz increments. Compact, at 10” x 6” with a 4-3/8” LCD, and comes with a 24-page booklet plus (3) AAA batteries. From Mackie Scientific.

Just how big are your hips? Big enough to handle our 64-oz hip flask? Measures 11-1/2" tall x 6-7/8" wide in the traditional curve x 1-5/8" thick. Holds a party-ready half-gallon, which is 1.89 liters which would be, yes, bigger than those 1.5 liter bottles. In surgical stainless steel with the all-important attached screw cap that won't get lost. Brushed-finish sides, polished top and cap. Suitable for engraving as an extra-special award item.

The digital boonies call for a digital boonie hat. Ours is cotton with adjustable chin straps and a headband divided into a dozen sections so you can clip stuff onto it.  New, from Mil-Spec™. We’ll pick one in a size from 7 to 7-3/4.

These brand-spanking new 12VDC motors are made to move automobile seats but are willing to change. They spin at approx 190 rpm, draw 1.5A no load, and stall at approx 25A. Threaded shaft is at a right angle and is 4-1/8" x 7/16". Shaft thread is non-standard, so treat it as a smooth shaft and mount pulley or gear with a setscrew. Measures 5-5/8" x 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" overall, not counting the shaft, and has power terminals opposite the gearbox with (2) 1/4" mounting holes opposite the shaft.

Freeze-dried Neapolitan ice cream, it says on the foil package, just like the astronauts got if they ate all of their freeze-dried peas. Not frozen, of course, or even chilled, but you get one yummy pack, ready to eat, just under half an ounce, which is more than you'd think. 

A whole bunch of science and scientific learning happens outside of the school lab. These 144-page books by Liz Lee Heinecke have a year’s worth (that’d be 52) of experiments. You pick: Outdoor Science Lab for Kids with (52) experiments in (12) units covering biology, gardening, botany, physics, earth science and chemistry, all with common household items; or Kitchen Science Labs for Kids, with experiments in biology, physics and chemistry using the ever-popular common household materials.

That’s what they call the hooch just out of the still in Kentucky, but this version is a white dog on a stick. Dog head, anyway. Looks like a plain white polyresin Labrador retriever, and as such, it’s ready to paint. (Tan dog? Green dog?) Measures approx 7” x 6-1/2”, and sits right up on a 3” long, 1/4” rod on a square, black painted wooden base.

The original Joy Buzzer was called the Joke Buzzer (1932 U.S. patent #1845735, Soren Adams) and it replaced the more dangerous Zapper, which is lost to time, more's the pity. Our standard wind-up model is a 1-3/8" dia circle of perennial vibrating fun, with a 7/8" dia finger loop. (Watch for the solar-powered joy buzzer, still under development.)

Like returning to the ’80s! Perfect for stayin’ alive! This big bright gold-colored track-style light has a standard medium base socket and will take up a 60W incandescent bulb. Measures 4” dia x 5-3/4” long, and pivots on a 4” dia base with a screw and Mollie for the keyed 1/8” mounting slot. Rotary power switch on the back. UL.

This 3-6VDC motor operates optimally at 6VDC, draws 450mA no load, stalls at approx 2.4A and spins at about 13K rpm. Measures 2" long x 1-1/16" dia with a little 3/8" dia x 5/16" 12-tooth gear. Simple +/- leads are wired to a double jack that can easily be cut off or jumped. Leads are 14” long.

Because we’ve got both, and in enormous versions from Lindberg Science Kits™, on stands. You pick the cyclopean 4” dia human eyeball model with the (26) parts listed on the stand, and detailed multilingual instructions; or the 4-1/2” human ear (even bigger than Lyndon Johnson’s or Alfred E. Neuman’s ears) with a (23) components, including the famous hammers, anvils and stirrups, listed on the stand, plus detailed instructions. You provide glue and paint. For ages 10+. Made in the USA.

Stainless steel mortar and pestle set. Mortar measures 5-1/4” dia x 3” on a 4” dia attached saucer-like base. Holds approx 250ml. Pestle is 6-3/4” long with 1-1/4” and 2” dia heads. Nice for the lab, or for folks who want everything in their stainless steel kitchen to be stainless steel. You know who you are. And we salute you.

This little 5/8" dia, 5X acrylic lens is mounted in a 4-1/4" long acrylic base/handle. Good for really close work. Comes in a little storage pouch, too.

Paul the Purchasing Agent says this is Cymbal Clanging Monkey: the Next Generation. This reincarnation of the percussive primate is all in plastic and he walks (or staggers, really) forward while he bangs those cymbals. Stands 8-1/4" tall in all his wind-up magnificence. And don’t go hitting him on the head; this guy won’t stop until he’s all wound down.

So you don't have a gas jet in the garage? You don't think Margie and Ted are old enough to handle the high temperatures of a Bunsen burner? Our alcohol lamp is the answer. It burns alcohol (available at the hardware store), and is hot enough to boil water, to soften glass tubing for bending, and to generate the chemical reactions generally called for in science projects. The lamp is shaped like a long-necked ink well, 3-1/2" tall x 3" dia at its widest point and comes with a wick assembly and a handy little glass lid/extinguisher.

Small, but mighty useful if you need a tiny tap and die set for threading wire or stripped screws. The micro set has a 3-1/4" long die plate and 14 taps (sizes 7 through 20 -- read 0.7 mm through 2.0 mm), and a mighty attractive price. A little oily in its vinyl storage pouch -- but it's all steel, after all, and has to safeguard its complexion.

Can't beat a classic. These uncoated ceramic donut magnets have a 1-lb pull, which makes them dandy for classroom or refrigerator use. They measure 1-1/4" dia x 3/8" ID x 3/16" thick and are polarized on the faces. You get a wrapped roll of 29 donuts.

Grow a beautiful garden full of plants that love your soil! It's easy if you know your soil's pH, and we have a gauge to help you! Stick the probe into moist soil for the pH to register in a separate 4" x 2" x 1" gauge box on the end of a 26 inch cord. That lets you read the gauge without having to lay on the bug and worm covered ground to see it! A needle indicates the pH on a scale of 3.5-9, and you get a list of which plants like which pH levels.