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Cool Gifts on Amazon for Under $25

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.

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Why We Love It

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.

Bed Spectacles

$15
Why We Love It

A walking dad joke if there was ever one.

Freudian Slippers

Currently Unavailable
Why We Love It

Protein-packed chips that come in several flavors, are extremely tasty, and just happen to be made out of crickets.

Cara Giaimo Staff Writer
Cara Giaimo

Cricket Protein Chips

$20
Why We Love It

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.

Eric Grundhauser Senior Producer
EricGrundhauser

Nikola Tesla Enamel Pin

$16
Why We Love It

The perfect accessory for your next cemetery cocktail party, make any drink more curious with skull-shaped ice.

Paula Mejia Gastro Obscura Associate Editor
paulamejia

Skull Ice Cube Trays

$10
Why We Love It

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.

Larissa Hayden
larissahayden

Magic Butterflies

$13
Why We Love It

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.

Larissa Hayden
larissahayden

Pythagorean Wine Glass

$20
Why We Love It

Give a classic arcade feel to any rocker-style light switch. No electrical wiring (or quarters) needed.

Arcade Light Switch Plate Cover

$12
Why We Love It

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.

Larissa Hayden
larissahayden

Butterfly Pea Flower Powder

$14
Why We Love It

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.

Dylan Thuras Co-Founder
Dylan

TV Rock

$9
Why We Love It

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.

Larissa Hayden
larissahayden

Magical Flames

$25
Why We Love It

Make your place smell smarter with a book-scented candle. Options include “Sherlock’s Study” and “Reading at the Cafe.”

Eric Grundhauser Senior Producer
EricGrundhauser

Book-Scented Candle

Currently Unavailable
Why We Love It

Spend a peaceful minute watching ferrous sand, glass, gravity, and magnetism combine to form a spectacle of stalagmites that shifts with each passing second.

Magnetic Hourglass

$14
Why We Love It

Wear your heart on your sleeve or anywhere else you might like with this anatomically-correct iron-on patch.

Anatomical Heart Patch

$7
Why We Love It

Unsettlingly realistic and featuring posable feelers, this mask is sure to brighten (or ruin) everyone's day.

Banana Slug Mask

$16
Why We Love It

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....

Tao Tao Holmes Director of Special Projects, Experiences
taotaoholmes

Weather Stick

$13
Why We Love It

Beep Boop. Beep Boop. Beep Boop. Beep Boop. I'm an adorable, little tin can robot. Beep Boop.

Jordan Schultz Director of Marketing & Audience
schultjh

Tin Can Robot

$10
Why We Love It

Discover worlds unseen with this beginner field microscope! Perfect for leaves, bugs, and drops of pond water teeming with life.

Pocket Microscope

$14
Why We Love It

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?

Jordan Schultz Director of Marketing & Audience
schultjh

Ship in a Bottle Attacked by Sea Monster Enamel Pin

$10
Why We Love It

We spotted a very stylish Atlas Obscura event attendee donning this world map necklace. What a wonderful statement piece for a travel-minded fashionista!

Larissa Hayden
larissahayden

World Map Necklace

Currently Unavailable
Why We Love It

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.

Stainless Steel Straws

$6
Why We Love It

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.

Luke Thomas Senior Software Engineer
lukert33

Malt Vinegar Powder

Currently Unavailable
Why We Love It

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.

Tyler Cole COO
tyler

Bug Catching Tool and Magnifier

$10
Why We Love It

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. 

Samir S. Patel Editorial Director
samirpatel

Knot Tying Kit

$9
Why We Love It

Turn any piece of clothing into a space suit with this classic logo patch.

NASA Patch

$7
Why We Love It

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.

Tyler Cole COO
tyler

Sea Salt Soap

$6
Why We Love It

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...

Luke Thomas Senior Software Engineer
lukert33

Blenheim Spicy Ginger Ale

$4
Why We Love It

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.

Miracle Fortune Teller Fish

$6
Why We Love It

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.

Fossilized Lightning

Currently Unavailable
Why We Love It

The Spill Not is both an ingenious demonstration of centripetal force and a foolproof way for a drunkard to carry around his preferred beverage.

Joshua Foer Co-Founder
Josh

The Incredible Spill Not

Currently Unavailable
Why We Love It

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.

Jessica Leigh Hester Senior Editor / Writer
jessicahester1

Space Tourism Travel Poster

$25
Why We Love It

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...

Blake Olmstead Head of Design
Blake

World’s Almost Blackest Paint

$20
Why We Love It

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.

Sheila Baker Designer
Sheila Baker

Himalayan Salt Lamp

$20
Why We Love It

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.

Jessica Leigh Hester Senior Editor / Writer
jessicahester1

Night Sky Postcards

$15
Why We Love It

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.

Shiraj Ganguly Senior Software Engineer
shiraj

CMYK Ballpoint Pen

$8
Why We Love It

All the wooden sticks and Styrofoam balls you need to build the classic science project in one box.

Styrofoam Solar System Kit

$14
Why We Love It

Learn the basics of photography and make beautiful shadow prints using just the sun, water, and this light sensitive paper.

Larissa Hayden
larissahayden

Sun Art Paper Kit

$14
Why We Love It

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.

Jordan Schultz Director of Marketing & Audience
schultjh

Personal Library Kit

$20
Why We Love It

Hide your most important secrets deep in your bookcase. If you're a bibliophile, this book safe will fool the most cunning of thieves.

Jordan Schultz Director of Marketing & Audience
schultjh

Book Diversion Safe

$13
Why We Love It

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.

Blake Olmstead Head of Design
Blake

Cipher Bandana

$14
Why We Love It

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.

Ella Morton Contributing Editor
Ella Morton

Shrimp Travel Pillow

$10
Why We Love It

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...

Jessica Leigh Hester Senior Editor / Writer
jessicahester1

Anywhere Travel Guide

$12

Atlas Obscura Goods

Online Experience Gift Card

Atlas Obscura Page-A-Day Calendar 2021

An Explorer’s
Guide to the World’s
Hidden Wonders, 2nd Edition

An Explorer’s Guide
for the World’s
Most Adventurous Kid

Explorer’s Journal:
Let Your Curiosity Be Your Compass

Atlas Obscura T-Shirt

Objects of Intrigue T-Shirt

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