On the Cheap: Magic Man

I don't talk about it much on here, because it's pretty off-topic most of the time, but I'm a Harry Potter fan. Nay, Harry Potter devotee. I'm not quite so obsessed that I have Daniel Radcliffe's face on my duvet cover, but when my sister and I were younger, we DID send a letter to the director of the fourth movie, explaining all the reasons we thought it should be a musical. We even wrote out some scenes to illustrate our point. Obviously, he was too threatened by our brilliance to use our idea.

Anyway, I've been seeing a lot of "fancy" memorabilia for sale the last few years, and while I think it's cool, "fancy" is usually code for "expensive." It would be nice to have Voldemort/Dumbledore bookends, but I'm not willing to pay $195 for the honor. Nor am I willing to pay $125 for a replica of the Triwizard Cup that's only eight inches tall.

A more reasonable alternative would be a magic wand. Alivan's is a web-based company that makes many, MANY styles of wands. They start at about $25, but can go over $100 for some of the more fancy-pants varieties. Twenty-five bucks isn't bad, but they can be found for less. This one is only $8.50 on Etsy.

The description says it's made of PAPER! Merlin's beard, you guys. I'm sold.