Calling All Pencils

For some reason, I went on a mini spending spree a couple of weeks ago.  I occasionally check out shopping online at Goodwill.  I bid on two things and won both.  Both bids were won pretty cheap, less than ten bucks each, but shipping was more than what I paid for the items.  I was pleasantly surprised by both when they arrived.

Here is the pencil sharpener, shaped like an old telephone.  There is a hole on the left side for the pencil, and you crank the handle on the right to sharpen it.  The blades need sharpening, but it otherwise works. The front comes off so you can empty the shavings.  The phone earpiece on the left actually comes off the hook, like on a real phone.  It is just too cute for words, mainly because it is in miniature.

The other item was what they called a "rabbit stamp" and they apologized in the description that it does not actually stamp a rabbit but rather some scribbling.  I recognized it as a Chinese chop and I figured it probably had something to do with Year of the Rabbit.

It was much bigger than I expected, as you can see with it pictured next to a Chinese chop I already had (which has my name and on top has a dragon since I was born in Year of the Dragon).  What I found fascinating is the middle section with the round thing carved that you can see from all sides. I cannot seem to find a seam anywhere and it looks like the whole thing is one piece.  But there is a marble inside the round section - how on earth did they get it in there?  Don't have a clue.

All four sides below the window part have something carved, either Chinese characters or a scene.  Pretty impressive. 

The symbol on the bottom however kind of looks like a beginner carving.  I searched the net to figure out what the character is.  Definitely nothing to do with a rabbit or new year.  The closest symbol I found appears to be for the word Beautiful or Beauty. 

 

All in all, it was fun to get a couple of packages and not really know what they would look like in person.  When I go to the Goodwill site, I usually only look at the Office Supplies section.  They also have Arts as well as Crafts/Hobbies, but since their categories are not broken down any further than that, you have to go through every page to see what's there.  I don't usually have the time or patience for that, though I'm sure there are lots of treasures there!

The website is shopgoodwill.com

From what I can tell, Goodwill stores all over the country list items there, so shipping varies depending on how close you live to that particular store.  Kind of fun to look....