18 Gifts for Makers, Tinkerers, Crafters & Hobbyists

Now that you know about the weird science of gallium, you're probably wondering what the WTF you can do with it once you've scored a nugget. My suggestion: spoon prank.

Slightly more sophisticated than "Pull my finger", yet slightly less hilarious than removing part of the assembly on your friend Cornelius' bedroom door and then setting it back on its hinges such that it falls on him when he opens it, a spoon made of gallium will melt into a pile of liquid metal at surprisingly low temperatures. Even body surface temperature should do it, as liquifying begins at 85.85 degrees F, and a bowl of soup will definitely do it.

This kit includes everything needed to make a gallium spoon, except the gallium, which you can buy separately here (at least 20 grams are required). In addition to the silicone spoon mold, Rotometals' gallium kit includes: bolts, screws, wing nuts, and washers; acrylic backing plates, a syringe, and a manual with how-tos and tips.

Complete with insertable Super Mario Bros. cartridge. Don't forget to blow first. LEGO's Nintendo Entertainment System debuted in August 2020, and even as someone who's not a Zack, Zack LEGO Maniac I gotta say, LEGO has done the NES right.

The set is equal parts nostalgic and modern, a LEGO display piece whose ultra-realistic console and campy companion TV with antenna analog controls levels up, if you will, typical LEGO takes on pop culture items. Unlike, say, LEGO Stranger Things or the Friends Central Perk LEGO set, the LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System gives builders a final product that's doesn't just look like a pile of bricks stacked into a trendy model or scene.

And now it's in me / always with me / tinyTesla in my hand... Master the tinyTesla Musical Tesla Coil Kit, and you'll make yourself a science project, a light show, and an Elton-John-MIDI-slaying machine all in one.

Like its papa version, the oneTeslaTS, tinyTesla is an SSTC kit - Solid State Tesla Coil for those out of the electrical acronym loop - that comes with all of the parts you'll need to assemble a palm-size coil that shoots sparks up to 4" long. The device also has USB connectivity for laptop plug-in so completed coils can play MIDI files using the sparks themselves.

The second part of this book's title is Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat. Now let's think about that for a second. It's preposterous to imagine you and your cat could team up on craft night to make some dog voodoo dolls and tuna fish-scented glitter balls for him to chase around the living room. Right?

But I'd rather think a book believes that's possible than the reality of the situation. Which is that when author Kaori Tsutaya says she has some cute handicrafts to make with your cat, she means she has some cute handicrafts to make out of your cat.

Rather than designer animal kills from sub-Saharan Africa, Tristan Sopp is into killer animal designs from his own head. The exotic head trophies Sopp has conceived and developed for his Resident Design Co. shop are all made of paper. But don't worry, when you mount the likes of Tim the Mammoth and Red the Dragon above your fireplace, you can still beam with pride over your accomplishment because Sopp sells all of his paper animal heads as kits you gotta put together yourself.

Dremel knows that bigger isn't always better, and sometimes all you need is the tip. Their Versa Tip butane soldering torch kit is a portable tool for makers, craftsmen, and handymen that comes stocked with accessories for soldering, hot cutting, shrinking, wood burning, area heating, or any project that requires the power of the flame. Dremel says its Versa Tip's size, precision, and variable temperature settings make it the perfect tool for those doing detailed tasks or working with tiny parts.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but it is worth a thousand hours of putting together one of Wooodsum's DIY Pinhole Cameras? OK, maybe a thousand is a bit of an exaggeration. The kit actually specifies 2 to 4 hours of "continuous work" to pop all 79 pieces of laser-cut wood out of their cards, and puzzle them together into the fully functional analog camera you see here.

The next time you throw your hands to the sky and lament, "Argh! If only I had a doohickey with a flat lip on that end and a kind of hook-claw on the other that's small enough to fit in this slot here, and strong enough to hold up that bit of stuff there..." take a breath, go to the cupboard, and bust out your InstaMorph moldable plastic. These tiny beads of non-toxic, biodegradable polyester thermoplastic soften to a state of easy pliability at around 140 degrees F, and then harden again at room temperature.