Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener (A joyful review)

“Find gratitude in the little things and your well of gratitude will never run dry.” 
― Antonia Montoya

I have definitely discovered that taking joy in the small things in life certainly does makes me happier and more thankful on a regular basis. This latest review is one of those little things that brings me joy. What is it, you may ask? A pencil sharpener... from Classroom Friendly Supplies.

Really? A pencil sharpener?? Well, yes!
You see, for years I have used:

• Little manual twist sharpeners ~ They hurt my hands if I need to sharpen more than a few pencils at a time. I just checked, and it takes about 24 "twists" of the pencil, and about 1/2 a minute to sharpen a brand new pencil to a point. 
• Electric sharpeners ~ That seldom last more than a few months, whether battery operated or plugged in... didn't seem to matter.
• And what I had hoped would be the last sharpener I ever purchased, the old fashioned, wall mounted, multi-sized pencil sharpener that was similar to the one I used in grade school. 


• However~ it had its own troubles~ I regularly nicked my right hand against the wall while turning the handle... OUCH! 
• The receptacle would get knocked to the side, creating a mess, and guess who doesn't like pencil dust in her food??? (Since the only place we could mount it ended up being the only place we could store our dog food as well)
• Often the receptacle would get knocked totally off, and if it was a little person, they might neglect to pick it up right away, at which point it would be "lost" behind the dog food container. BLECH! 
• This particular sharpener was also difficult to "Clean out" if a pencil lead happened to break off inside. It also tended to EAT the pencils occasionally, which I assumed just went with the territory. 

Enter the Classroom Friendly Supply Pencil Sharpener... 

It takes only about 14-15 turns of the handle, and about 10-15 seconds to sharpen a brand new pencil, with no strain on my fingers, and no nicked knuckles! 

Here is a set of photos. One with colored pencils that were all sharpened with one of my other sharpener options, and a photo with a select few pencils that were sharpened with the Classroom Friendly Sharpener.... can you figure out which ones? (Leave your guess in the comments! ) 

I have to say that after a few months of pencil sharpening, my children and I still comment to one another almost every time we use our new shiny red pencil sharpener, how WONDERFUL it is, and how much we enjoy using it! 

A video of the Classroom Friendly Sharpener in use... 

There are tips and videos on the Classroom Friendly Supplies website showing how to troubleshoot the sharpener when lead gets stuck in the blades. Also, the handle can come off for cleaning purposes. It can easily be put back on after cleaning. Check out the videos on the website if needed on the photos and videos tab.

The Sharpeners retail for $24.99 each with free shipping.

Bundle rates:

Teacher Special 3 Classroom Friendly Sharpeners $53.97 ($17.99 each) 

School Special 36 Classroom Friendly Sharpeners $503.64 ($13.99 each)

The sharpeners come in  green (forest-ish), blue (royal), red, black and pink(bright!), and can be used free standing, clamped to a surface, or permanently mounted. We use ours free standing, and it moves from room to room, as well as taking a trip in a bag when traveling for longer than a day or two with my artsy kids. 

The Classroom Friendly Sharpener has a new option, for those with primary students and fat pencils~ currently only available in black. 

I'll leave you with one more quote about the small things in life... 

“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.” 
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

When considering the frustrations of sharpening pencils on a regular basis, this can indeed be considered a little thing that is most important. 

Blessings~