My friend Daniel Hempelman (known in our community blogs as rice cracker) is really into woodworking. So, when coming up with Christmas presents to give the people in our weekly gaming group, he decided pair this hobby with his passion for games and produced these very cool treats. 

The items he made include a Companion Cube paperweight, a likeness of Pac-Man and some tetromino fridge magnets. My favorite is the power-up mushroom, the cap of which can be removed to reveal its dual-purpose as a ring box. Dan also made me a kickass set of rosewood dice to appeal to my analog gaming sensibilities. He used various types of wood in the project, most of which I've never heard of before, such as basswood, brazilian cherry and osage orange.

The projects have awakened a bit of a taste for making game-related items and he plans to do more. He's setting up an Etsy store where he'll be posting his latest creations and he's open to doing commissioned work as well. If you need a gaming gift with a little class, these items certainly fit the bill. Dan can be contacted for commissions at "hapidan at gmail dot com".

Check out the gallery for detail pics of his work.