The Mystery Thing Revealed: The Black And The Orange.

Have you been playing along with this week's Guess The Mystery Thing challenge?  Let's take one last look before I reveal the orange-and-black solution.  The challenge: identify these mysterious, Halloween-hued hoops.

What can they be?  It's obvvy, right?  (Insert evil cackling here.)

Think you know?  Did anybody get it right?  Read on to find out...



But first, here is Mich's Honor Roll of Most Creative (Totally Wrong) Guesses:

Dena: Brass rings from the elvish carnival's merry-go-round.
Shannon:  Fairy hula hoops.
Katherine:  Barbie's bangle bracelets (say that five times fast). You really should stop stealing from Barbie.
Anne P: Now Mr. Skeleton is missing some vertebrae out of his cervical (orange) and lumbar (black) sections.
Beth: Lego guy's inner tube!
Amy: Barbie's belly button rings.
Jill: Float rings from Barbie's swimming pool.
Squarefeet: Bracelets from The Tiny Witch boutique.


Insert amused cackling here.  In addition to the funny ones, there were tons of clever 'serious' guesses.  Painted grommets?  Automotive washers?  Parts from a model car?  Hmm...very smart...but no. 

Prepare to be surprised.  Because there were no guesses even close.  I gotcha with this one.


Ready?


Sure?


I told you it's not Halloween-specific, but the colors make me think these things were probably some kind of Halloween-colored party favor.


Behold...

The rings are the ends of sliding pitch-changers, on some little plastic penny whistles.

The DIY: I just snipped off the rings with wire cutters, sanded down the small burrs where I snipped, and then had a grand time designing with my newly minted rings.

I also came up with these odd-but-interesting necklaces, using the whistle mouthpiece:

Aren't they tweet?  (Okay.  That was uncalled for.  I am very sorry.)  Strange as they are, I can totally see them as a cute gift for a coach, a flautist or a drum major.  Know anyone in a marching band?

Winners, winners!  Since nobody guessed it, random.org has chosen Annie and Betsy to receive prizes this week.  Congrats, you two!  Keep your eyes peeled for an email from me.

Thanks for playing, everybody - see you next time!

p.s. I am sitting here in L.A., beaming dry thoughts to everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy.  Today I sent a donation to the ASPCA, to help the pets whose small lives have been caught up in this awful storm.  Here's a linky in case you want to add a little to the rescue fund:

Click here to donate to the pets of Hurricane Sandy.