Wondering what to do with all of those pencil stubs that collect in the top desk drawer and sometimes lay one on top of the other so the drawer won’t even open? I thought so. Here is a little inspiration.

Dalton Ghetti, a professional carpenter and artist who lives in Connecticut, took 2 and 1/2 years to complete this set. In an interview on Lifesyleasia he says a teacher friend had given him a bag of about 100 pencil stubs she had collected from her  students. He likes that along with dents there are bite marks on the pencils from the kids.

Ghetti has been a carver since he was child; he gravitated to pencil sculptures when he decided to carve the smallest object that could be seen with the naked eye. His tools are simple: a razor blade, sewing needle, and good light.

A consummate recycler, he keeps pieces that have broken while being made in his cemetery collection, glued to pins and stuck upright in a  foam graveyard.

Ghetti does not sell his originals. He considers his art more of a hobby — “from the heart” and believes his creativity, not to mention his steady hand, would falter if he worked for a commission. There is a limited selection of postcards and prints for sale. (A print of the alphabet series is $10.00; a signed limited edition is $160.)

Signed with a pencil, by the way.