All Things Light and Shiny

Sometimes, it's nice to step back from all the expensive gadgets and delight in the simpler things. Things that cost little money but still amaze. Over the holidays and birthday season (we have 3 birthdays in the 3 months around the holidays in our family), we got a chance to step back and revel in some of these simple pleasures.



For her birthday, Dova received an Orbeez Light Up Star from one of her friends.  What are these magical shiny balls, you ask?  Orbeez start as tiny beads of superabsorbent polymers, like the stuff found in diapers.



But once hydrated to 100-300 times their size, they become firm but squishy, slippery, shiny, bouncy balls.  They are so much fun to play with, you just can't stop touching them. Dova made a batch of blue, green and clear Orbeez and they are still sitting on our counter.



The intended use for this gift was in the light up star, which even our cat Wysiwyg found enchanting.



At our local senior center, there is a swap table where people donate items. I saw this pyramid-shaped candle cover for $2 and picked it up after a few weeks when I had cash to spare. I wasn't sure if it was part of another set, as it didn't fit over any existing candle jars because of its square footprint. I lit a votive candle inside and put a coaster under it, and it was instantly transformed into a magical pyramid of stars. Beautiful!



After the holidays, we went for half-price ornament shopping and I found this delightful USB Fiber Optic Christmas Tree. The beauty of this mesmerizing device is that we have a power strip full of USB chargers for our various devices on our kitchen counter and we always have a port open for it!



OK, I guess you can't take the gadget geek out of me!