This is an excellent starter kit for learning the rudiments of Chinese brush painting. Includes a lavishly illustrated 47-page instruction booklet, an 11-1/8" x 8-1/8" pad with (36) practice sheets and a few sheets of xuan, the vellum-like paper that brush-painting artists use, plus 5ml tubes of Chinese watercolors in white, indigo, burnt sienna, carmine and gamboge, a saffron color. Also includes (2) brushes, an ink stone and ink stick, all in a nice boxed set.

For traveling surgeons? Veterinarians? Dunno, but this is a small, retractable utility knife with a pointed, #11 scalpel blade inside. Measures 4-1/4" long with a plastic handle when retracted. Looks to us to be great for crafting, hobbying and pretty much any fine cutting. Made in England, and they ain’t talking.

A variety of shapes and ugliness, though no unbroken tips. Some single ended, some double. Super for all manner of hobbyism, except for do-it-yourself-dentistry. Excellent price in today's weakened dollar market. All stainless steel.

More artistic than using a router, and much, much less work than carving with chisels: wood-burning is back. Practice your skills with our 20W wood-burning pen set. Easily details and decorates wood, leather and cork. (Also butter if you're very, very quick.) Includes a safety stand, (2) pointed tips, and (2) wedge-shaped tips. For the extra-creative, our set of nibs for the pen adds another (28) points, including a hot plastic and foam cutter, (10) soldering tips, (15) varied wood-burning nibs in assorted shapes and points, and both number and alphabet stencils.

Turn rocks into jewelry, a few pieces at a time. Our small Rock Tumbler Geology Kit (1lb capacity) plugs into the wall and rolls those rocks around until they're all shiny and beautiful. Includes coarse and fine grinding powders, fine and finer polishing powders, 4 oz of practice gemstone rocks, a geology poster, glue, and mounting hardware to make a keychain, adjustable rings, earrings and other items. Can be set to turn from (1) to (7) days (rocks are hard, which is why they're called rocks). Measures approx 9" x 11" x 6" high overall, including the plastic dome to reduce the sound of the operation. For 10-year-olds and up.

Trying to cut back on hobby expenditures? This incredibly priced utility knife set is x-actly what you need. Standard interchangeable blades and holders, the largest of which has an easy-grip, screwdriver-type handle. Everything is lined up in a fitted plastic box with extra blades magnetically anchored. The 13–piece set has (3) holders, plus assorted blades. The 48–piece set has (7) holders, a wide assortment of blades, (1) tube of glue, and (1) sharpening stone. Very nicely priced. Very sharp.

Rock hammer with one squared chipping face and one pointy picking face, ideal for prospectors, rock hounds, construction and more. A single piece of forged and polished steel with a molded rubber grip makes this a solid and reliable tool that will last. 10-1/2" long x 6-1/2" across the 20 oz. head, 1-3/4 lbs. total. Well made. Good buy. Good bye!

Very popular with elementary school teachers, these hardcover blank books let students create their own storybooks. (Middle-schoolers interviewing and making books for primary grade kids is a popular and civilizing project.) Also great for sketching, journaling or scrapbooking. Pure white blank covers with (14) sheets (28 pages) of 80-lb blank paper inside with a sewn-in binding. You pick the 6” x 8” books or the 8-1/2” x 11” versions.

Our each is a pound of modeling clay, ready for pounding into shape and re-pounding, since it’s non-hardening, which means the fun never stops. You’ll get a quarter-pound each of bright red, blue, green and yellow clay in 5-1/4" x 1-1/8" x 3/4" sticks, but feel free to mix ’em up to make new colors. Non-toxic and gluten-free, seriously.

These're pleasing tweezers, these are. They're clever cross-lock tweezers, 6" long with wood-grain grips and 1/2" long, serrated 90° jaws that grip tightly. The handy cross-locks will lay flat on their backs to hold stuff, like wires, while you solder.

Lovely to look at, delightful to make jewelry out of or placed as shiny companions of small plants. Our (20) piece set of polished gemstones can include: Carnelian, Chrysocolla, Aventurine, Hematite, Lapis, Amazonite, Pyrite, Citrine, Amethyst, Tige Eye, Garnet, Mookaite, Indian Agate, Botswana Agate, White Howlite, Rock Quartz, Apricot Agate, Rose Quartz, Leopardskin Jasper, Blue Lace Agate, Turritella Agate, Yellow Aventurine, Dalmation Jasper or Orange Calcite. All approx 5/8" across.

Penciltype soldering iron imported from Taiwan. Overlook the charming instructions, it works just the way everyone does. 30 watt 110 volt, nice, serviceable unit.

And then give us a little tweeze, and a couple more for luck. Our 4-piece stainless steel tweezer set includes: 4-5/8" long bent tweezers; 4-1/2” fine point; 4-5/8” cross-locks; and 4-1/4” blunt-tip stamp tweezers with 1/4” wide tips for you philatelists.

No autoclave machine? Worry not. Like syringes and half of the medical equipment in the world, scalpels are now disposable. This one is 5-3/4" long and has a green plastic handle with a textured grip (with a 60mm rule on it) and a #11 (that’s pointy, for you non-surgeons) stainless steel blade. Perfect for all your hobbyist needs. Please replace the blade guard before disposal.

From Brazil, rescued from the guts of quartz crystal antennae, these clear rock crystals are pebble sized (some maybe 3/8" long, most smaller). We're thinking classrooms and microscopes, small jewelry items, or, at these prices, a nice little bowl of crystals for the table. Each small box contains approx 2-1/4 oz of crystals. We'll send you (2) boxes, which will about fill a test tube if combined.

Whip any number of small things into shape with our set of (30) assorted diamond burs and bits-cylinders, ball-tips, cones and points in graduated sizes. All with 1/8" shanks and all 180 grit, in a black-plastic case with a clear top. Not the super-expensive grade 3 quality, but these are definitely grade 2 and-are you ready for this?-better than the average bur!

Keep your magnetic hematite. Keep it tight! And keep it close because word on the street is, it has potential healing powers, or at least the ability to possibly-maybe boost your mood. At the very least, the specimens we have are great for the fridge or the side of a file cabinet. They have a super-stylish and refined shiny-pewter look, and they’re each about 3/4" to 7/8" x 1/2" thick. Plus, they look super-cool in bunches. Takes about (25) of them to weigh 1 lb, and you’ll get a dozen per order. Never hurts to have some nice, small reliable magnets hanging around--especially these, which won’t lose their pull in your lifetime.

Create your own crystal garden and you'll never again have to run out to the store in the middle of the night for more crystals. Put the approx (2) ounces of rocks from this kit in a bowl, add white vinegar, put it in a warm place, and wait for the vinegar to evaporate. You'll have crystals in (2) days to (2) weeks. Add food coloring if you want to change your tasteful monochromatic crystals into a phantasmagoric garden of color. You provide the bowl, vinegar, food coloring and warm place. For ages 8+ with adult supervision.