I am compiling a list of magical items. Magical items are fun to play with and inspire creativity. If I’ve found it, I’m also noting the best place to obtain such items. Please add your own magical suggestions.

Crystals

I hang these from threads and tape them to the ceiling next to my window. When the sun shines through it makes rainbows on my walls.

There is a proliferation of new age websites which sell crystals and talk about them. These unfortunately tend to drown out any other discussion of crystals.

I finally found this cheap place to order good sun-catcher crystals.

For hanging rainbows, I found these 38mm tear-drop ones to work the best. The tear-drop is definitely the best shape for making rainbows, and any bigger than 38mm is too heavy to hang from tape.

The above image was made with a 76mm tear-drop crystal.

Magnets

Neodymium magnets are super strong! There are a bunch of places to order a variety of shapes, I don’t know what vendor is cheapest.

A special mention has to be made for acquiring large amounts of small spherical magnets. Here are a few pictures of sculptures I’ve made with them.

You can order these from Neocube.

Finally ferrofluid is an amazing magical substance, but messy. It is an oil-like liquid that is magnetic. When placed near a magnet it makes these amazing spikes due to the interaction between the magnetic forces and surface tension.

Mirrors

I have been having a lot of fun playing with mirrors recently. I’m not sure the best place to acquire them online, but I found a place in Manhattan, TT Plastic Land, that cuts acrylic mirror to any size you need. They also sell one-way mirror (transparent on one side, mirror on the other) which I’m psyched to do a project with.

You can do video feedback with a mirror and laptop webcam.

LED’s

Deal Extreme (which sells many other magical items) has a 10-pack of colored super-bright LED key chains for $4-5, free shipping! Warning: It takes weeks to get your stuff from Deal Extreme, they ship from Hong Kong by boat.

More

Here are other magical items that I don’t have as much experience with:

Miracle berry temporarily blocks your sour and bitter taste receptors. Get the tablets and try eating a lemon, etc.

Electronics are a lot of fun to play with, I only started programming my own stuff a couple days ago. Arduino boards are very easy to get going. Order one with the USB port. I ordered from SparkFun which seems good enough. This ITP page has tutorials to get you started.

Little mannequins that you can pose in various ways are fun. No idea where to get them.

Dichloromethane is used in those drinking bird toys to create a heat engine. Might have some potential.

You can order tapioca balls and fat straws and make your own bubble tea. Magic?