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DIY Monogrammed Cutting Boards

After you read this post, you might start to think that all I do is blog about the amazing things my husband creates. Built-ins, woodworking projects, playsets. Don’t think that.

I’m not saying it isn’t true. Just don’t think it.

Oh look, a distraction!

Okay, now I want to show you what Andy “and I” made for our moms and sisters for Christmas. Monogrammed cutting boards!

Centsational Girl got the wheels turning with her own gorgeous DIY cutting boards a while back. Except while she was smart enough to find a wood slab wider than her cutting boards, we only found small planks of hardwood lumber at Home Depot which we had to manually join together to get cutting boards to the width we wanted. (We used maple.) See the seams here where Andy joined them together?

It’s kind of hard to see because what you’re witnessing before you is quality craftsmanship, which I had exactly nothing to do with. They actually make tools – a joiner and a planer – which make joining three pieces of lumber like this easy do-able, but we have neither of those.

So imagine Andy hunkered down in the garage using stone-aged tools like a chisel and some large stones or something to get to this first step.

Once we had the wood joined together, we sketched out a shape we liked. (I would like to clarify that I took on a leadership role at this point. Leading Andy to help me figure out a good shape. But okay, mostly we collaborated.)

We like how CG cut hers with handles, so we were inspired to make something similar shamelessly copied that idea.

Then Andy used his router to create this drip edge to catch all yer juicy drippins, and he used his router to slightly round the edges of each cutting board so it’s soft and easy to hold.

Now for the monogram. We thought and brainstormed about the best way to do this for several days. I loved the look of the monogram on the same side as the drip edge, but it just wasn’t practical for every day use. We decided one side should be used for display and one for actual cutting of chicken parts and whatnot.

We used a fancy trick to transfer the monogrammed letter onto the wood as a template for the engraving, but I want to tell you about this separately later so pretend like you don’t know that this is possible.

Nothing to see here, move along, move along.

Once we had the template, Andy used his router to engrave the letter into the wood.

I realize it looks like engraving the “M” made it turn into a “B” magically, but I forgot to take pictures of the “M” cutting boards before we gave them away.

Then we brushed on this food-safe mineral oil* made for butcher blocks.
And this is how they came out!

The one on top was made with leftover lumber for our sweet neighbor, so it’s a little smaller than the ones we made for our mamas and sisters, but it’s cool. Tiny baby cutting boards offer their own sources of happiness.

And that’s the story of how Andy and I – together – equally shared in creation of Christmas gifts. Collaboratively.

*Amazon links take you to my affiliate shop. #bobvila



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Comments

  1. I love the monogram! Your hubby is super talented with the rocks and chisels out there in the garage I must say. 😉

  2. Collaboration happens a lot in my house, too. 😉 I love how you personalized them for your family members! That’s the best kind of gift. 🙂

  3. Such a great idea for a gift!! Collaboration is a key to a happy renovating and DIY life 🙂

  4. This made me laugh! But seriously, those are fantastic! I wonder if my hubby would be willing to “help” me make one… hmm…

  5. The skill of both of you supercedes anything we can yet do in this house but what a fantastic gift idea. I LOVE that you personalized them too.

  6. I cannot believe he MADE the cutting board! You are so lucky to have a rockstar for a husband! What a great idea….and girl….you are so funny!

    blessings,
    karianne

  7. these are awesome! i love the look!

  8. WOW. You guys are amazing. Seriously. (And for the record, I have one small cutting board amongst my big ones and I use it ALL the time!)

  9. Wow, I wonder if I can talk hubs into this project! Great gift, I would love to receive one as a gift from a loved one!

  10. Impressive JOINT project! Seriously – that is a really beautiful handmade gift!! Jeez!

  11. Beautiful! Love the grain of the wood and I’m seriously impressed with Andy’s craftmanship!

  12. That’s amazing! I would have been thrilled to get a gift like that!! btw there’s nothing wrong with collaborating! sometimes the hardest part is thinking up the brilliant idea in the first place, right? 🙂

  13. Such a thoughtful gift. I’m sure your family and neighbors were thrilled to receive it. The monogram tip is great…even if just to jazz up a store bought cutting board.

  14. Those are so amazing!! Can your husband make me one?? 🙂

  15. These handmade gifts are so thoughtful and looks fabulous to boot! I am sure your family and neighbors were thrilled.

    Your husband is so talented. Can you please send him over?

    Jessie
    http://www.mixandchic.com

  16. This is so impressive! It helps to have the right tools and to know what you are doing..I love these..perfect in any kitchen.

  17. LOVE this idea!!! 🙂 What a fantastic project…I’m a big fan of anything monogrammed. 🙂

  18. Thanks for sharing this great idea! Would love to try this someday. Nice to know about the sealing product too. Saw your post on Shabby Nest’s link party

  19. debra barley says:

    I might consider engraving on the handle – not the cutting area.

  20. How do i do the stencil transfer.. i couldnt find a link to it… it just says you will tell later!! Thanks

  21. Christian says:

    What kind of router bit did Andy use for the monogram?

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