In a hurry, on a budget, and shopping for a friend who's hard to please? We've got you covered. Browse these top picks for unique gifts on Amazon, all for under $25.
A feat of human invention and ingenuity in the service of laziness, these spectacles function like a periscope to allow you to watch TV (or read) while lying in bed.
A walking dad joke if there was ever one.
Protein-packed chips that come in several flavors, are extremely tasty, and just happen to be made out of crickets.
Flaunt your love of eccentric science weirdoes with this enamel pin honoring everyone's favorite inventor, engineer, and all-around mad genius. It's not a death ray, but with this pin, you'll still be killin' it.
The perfect accessory for your next cemetery cocktail party, make any drink more curious with skull-shaped ice.
Tuck these tiny wind-up butterflies into an old book or a birthday card and watch the recipient's surprise as they suddenly fly away.
A timeless practical joke in the form of a wine glass. Designed by an ancient Greek philosopher, it functions like a normal wine glass but spills everywhere when over-filled by the gluttonous.
Give a classic arcade feel to any rocker-style light switch. No electrical wiring (or quarters) needed.
This magical Southeast Asian flower does some pretty amazing color-changing tricks in cocktails and teas. It turns hot water into shades of blue, or combined with lemon juice, a stunning magenta. As seen on Gastro Obscura.
Ulexite remains a surprising visual delight. The mineral is a complex arrangement of sodium, water, and hydroxide, and when an image is placed on one side of the rock, you can watch as the tiny fibers inside “transmit” it to the top.
These pocket-sized packets are all you need to create your own color-changing fire, no magical powers needed. Perfect for whimsical fireplaces that delight children of all ages, or mystical campfires that shock friends.
Make your place smell smarter with a book-scented candle. Options include “Sherlock’s Study” and “Reading at the Cafe.”
Spend a peaceful minute watching ferrous sand, glass, gravity, and magnetism combine to form a spectacle of stalagmites that shifts with each passing second.
Wear your heart on your sleeve or anywhere else you might like with this anatomically-correct iron-on patch.
Unsettlingly realistic and featuring posable feelers, this mask is sure to brighten (or ruin) everyone's day.
A spindly twig that predicts the weather? Think what you will, it's probably just as accurate as your smartphone weather app, or, for that matter, Karen from Mean Girls. Made from "weather-detecting" balsam fir, this elegant 14-inch pseudo-meteorological device curves upwards for clear skies or downwards for rain and snow....
Beep Boop. Beep Boop. Beep Boop. Beep Boop. I'm an adorable, little tin can robot. Beep Boop.
Discover worlds unseen with this beginner field microscope! Perfect for leaves, bugs, and drops of pond water teeming with life.
Combine a ship in a bottle, a sea monster, and an enamel pin and you're going to have some very smitten Atlas Obscura employees. What's not to love?
We spotted a very stylish Atlas Obscura event attendee donning this world map necklace. What a wonderful statement piece for a travel-minded fashionista!
If you haven't heard, single-use plastic straws are on their way out. Get ahead of the curve with this elegant and easy-to-clean set of twelve.
Sometimes you want to add vinegar to things, but you don’t want to get ’em wet. With this miracle powder, there’s no conflict.
Stay a safe distance from creepy-crawlers with this one-handed, bug-catching tool and 5x magnifying lens. After a good, close look, initiate the quick-release and send your insect friend unharmed and on its way.
Knowing your way around rope is like having a secret super power. This little knot-tying set is the perfect pocket-sized introduction to mastering friction, tension, and strain. You'll have the most able set of hands at any camp site, boat dock, or rock face.
Turn any piece of clothing into a space suit with this classic logo patch.
The packaging of this Svensk Dröm (or Swedish Dream) Sea Salt Soap is so charming you might opt to decorate with it rather than use it, but if you do open the box you'll enjoy a textured round of soap and an invigorating scrub.
My grand uncle used to stock in boxes of Blenheim Ginger Ale at his farm. When I was a kid, it was the first thing I would seek out upon arriving for a weekend stay. I was proud to be the only one of my cousins who could drink the pink...
Place this miraculous, flopping fish in your palm and learn your future. Don't like what it reveals? No worries, it's a 72-pack.
When lightning strikes the ground, it can fuse some kinds of sand, clay, or soil into glass. This produces a hollow tube called a fulgurite that can suggest the form of a lightning bolt.
The Spill Not is both an ingenious demonstration of centripetal force and a foolproof way for a drunkard to carry around his preferred beverage.
Civilian space tourism isn’t quite ready for blast-off. In the meantime, this poster—which evokes the slew of 1930s-era Works Progress Administration posters that touted America’s national parks—can help armchair astronauts’ imaginations take flight.
If you're not Anish Kapoor, you'll have a hard time getting your hands on Vantablack—it's the blackest pigment ever synthesized and exclusively licensed to the artist. What's another artist to do? Pick up a tube of the next best thing! (That is, unless you actually are Anish Kapoor in which...
This salt lamp provides a beautiful dreamlike glow that helps you wind down and drift off to sleep feeling relaxed. I’ve gifted one to practically all of my girlfriends. If I were Oprah, it would definitely be one of my favorite things.
Earthlings have gazed at the dark, star-speckled sky for millennia, and this box of postcards compiles 50 impressions, from the scientific—such images plumbed from Galileo’s notebooks or the NASA archives—to the fanciful.
This unique pen lets you mix Cyan, Magenta and Yellow inks to achieve a wide range of colors with a minimal amount of supplies. Perfect for bringing a splash of color to your quick doodles in the field, or color coding your notes.
All the wooden sticks and Styrofoam balls you need to build the classic science project in one box.
Learn the basics of photography and make beautiful shadow prints using just the sun, water, and this light sensitive paper.
When I was a kid, I used to charge my older cousins fees for returning borrowed books late. This personal library kit would have made cataloging my collection a whole lot easier.
Hide your most important secrets deep in your bookcase. If you're a bibliofile, this book safe will fool the most cunning of thieves.
This clever bandana turn the most versatile bit of travel gear into the most informative. Printed on the bandana are guides to NATO phonetic code words, Morse code, sign language, and more.
Bringing seafood on a long-haul flight may irritate your seatmate for reasons of malodorousness. Solution: shrimp pillow. This soft and comfy neck-encircler brings all the appeal of the briny sea with none of the rough surfaces associated with actual crustaceans.
Each of the cards in this deck holds a low-stakes challenge. Accept it, and you’ll find yourself paying attention to the shifting textures of the terrain under your feet, keeping watch for circles and squares, or spreading out a picnic in an unexpected place. Pack a few for your next...
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