I love a piece of functional but fun kitchen gear.  Take, for example, this absolutely awesome Space Invaders cutting board from ThinkGeek.  When I first took a look at it, I had assumed that the Space Invader was simply burned into it, or marked on it with ink or staining or whatever it is woodworkers do to get cool patterns in wood. 

I would be wrong on that account.

As it turns out, the Space Invader isn’t simply some random pattern stained on the normal hard maple board, but pieced together bits of walnut that is glued down, sanded, and polished to a shine.  Each cutting board is hand-made, so if you want one you’d best not delay.