Something Special

Hey there!   Hope everyone is having a great week so far!  A few weeks ago I got my hands on something really special.  Some friends of ours, who also happen to be our neighbors, had a walnut tree fall during a storm a couple of years ago and they had it milled and then left it to cure outside for a couple of years.  Walnut happens to be one of my favorite woods.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  To me, it is true vintage in it's look with that scrumptious dark color and character.  So, I was beyond thrilled to be given some.  Here's a look at some of it before I got to work planing it down for a special project.

 I wanted to make something really special with it since it is a rare find.  So, I decided to make a unique bread board.  I love bread boards because they remind me of things I love.  Family, sharing meals together, bread baking and passing down a family heirloom used with care by each generation.   So, I started planing down the wood with a sander.  In the heat.  Did I mention it was hot?  110 degrees hot.

I even put up this little umbrella to keep things a little cooler.  Did it work?  No.  But at least the sun wasn't burning a hole through my skin any longer.  So, after all that, here's what I came up with.

I think this bread board is so much fun!   Doesn't it look like an heirloom?

I love how you can see the marks in the wood from being milled.  It just adds to the vintage character.  I thought it would be super fun to put my favorite number on the front of the board.  It's completely food safe as I used brown food coloring for the number and then I sealed the entire board with raw tung oil, also FDA approved.

Here is a before and after shot of the wood.   Isn't it amazing what it can turn into?  I think the rich dark wood is so beautiful.  I made five of them (one for me) but four of them are going up for sale in my Etsy shop!

I'm working on several projects in our home right now so stay tuned and have a great day everyone!