DIY Personalized Cutting Boards

I’m so happy with how my first wood burning projects turned out! These diy personalized cutting boards can be done in so many creative ways for yourself or as a gift. You know I had a hard time forcing myself not to do a monogram! Next time…

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Let’s talk monthly subscription box programs. Have you tried any? I have a bit of an addiction. Who doesn’t like getting surprise goodies in the mail?! I feel like I’ve tried them all, not really, but I have tried several – Fancy (random-ness), Popsugar (beauty), Stitch Fix (fashion), and now Darby Smart (crafts). I try to limit myself to just one at a time. I’ve had my eye on trying a craft subscription box for a while. I love the idea of trying something new and that they send all the supplies (and just the right amount to you). Going to the craft store for me is like going to Target, I end up buying things I had no intention of buying when I went in! In this case they provide the supplies and thought starters, you add the creativity.

Last month, Darby Smart was running a deal on their subscription box, and I had been toying with trying it for a while, so I ordered it up and waited anxiously for it to arrive to find out what this month’s project would be. I was thrilled when it arrived and I found a wood burning project inside. It’s like they knew I have been wanting to try wood burning! Inside the box was a wood burning pen, two small bamboo cutting boards, a practice board, some stencils and wood paint.

I wanted to make a cheese serving tray with “cheese” in a variety of different languages – subway art style. Since I’ve never done word burning before though, it seemed ambitious. Luckily the box included two cutting boards, so first I chose to create a simple fork, knife, spoon design as a practice. The box contained a piece of scrap wood to practice on too, but I found it to be really soft and burned differently than the bamboo. It was still a good way to try out the different tips though and get the hang of using the tool.

After I had done my first one I was ready to tackle the cheese board. First I designed and cut my stencil with my Silhouette Cameo. I had also read a tutorial on transferring designs using a print out, so if you don’t have a Silhouette, you can still create custom designs. After adhering my stencil to the board, I traced the words with a pencil.

Then I started burning my words in. I worked on an old cookie sheet so that the wood burning tool wasn’t on anything it could burn (or catch on fire). Using two different tips, I traced the words and filled in the thicker ones. I practiced with each on the scrap wood. For the thicker lines and fills, I used the Universal Point tip. For the more fine lines, I used the Cone Point tip. You need to wait for the tool and tips to cool off before changing tips, so I did all the words I needed to with the thicker lines first and then switched to the finer point.

Bamboo was a great wood to work with. The wood burner flowed smoothly on it. With the softer practice wood piece I found myself getting “stuck” and overburning certain spots.

Here’s the final piece, which I promptly had to go out and buy some cheese to try it out. For me, cheese in any language sounds good! Evidenced by all of our visits to The Cheese Shop on date nights.

Now I’ll know how to order cheese in several other countries, always a good to know (along with wine, beer, and where is the bathroom)! I looked up translations on the How to Say In site.

• queso – Spanish
• ost – Danish/Norwegian
• Fromage – French
• keso – Filipino
• peynir – Turkish
• cheese – English
• juusto – Finnish
• kaas – Dutch
• ser – Polish
• queijo – Portuguese
• formaggio – Italian

Big miss on my part not including German (käse) since my heritage on my mom’s side is mostly German.

Simple wood burning is surprisingly easy. More intricate designs would certainly take practice with all the various tips. I made a recipe box with wood burning stamps that I am finishing up and will post about soon. All-in-all, I’m very happy with trying out the Darby Smart subscription box. I’m ordering April’s box too and I’ll see what new thing it inspires me to try!

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