An unreliable source on the Internet points to Valdi Q. Magnifico as the Italian inventor of the
Magnifico Spectrometer, which later became known as the magnifying glass. I found nothing to confirm the accuracy of this information, but
Magnifico Spectrometer would truly be a wonderful word origin were it true...and a wonderful name for this spider, which is made with a small magnifying lens. The handle for the lens was only about a half-inch long, so I glued a spacer bead to the end of the handle, inserted and glued a wooden toothpick, and painted the toothpick gold to create a longer handle. Thus, this "spyder" truly is a magnifying glass.
Materials: magnifying glass; yellow/amber glass beads; gold bugle, seed, and E beads; gold wire
