I found a piece of flame maple at a woodworking store and made three utensils: two spoons and a spatula. The “flames” in the wood grain really shine once the utensils are finished!

For these I hollowed put the bowls of the spoons first, then used the bandsaw to cut out the rough shapes. Then on to the band sander to get to the final shape. I used 120 grit sandpaper to remove the sander marks by hand, then smoothed with 220, then 400 grit. I wetted the utensils and let them dry, then sanded again with 400 grit. I then used a pencil to draw in maple leaves on the spoons and a dragonfly on the handle of the spatula, which provided guidelines for wood burning the images. Finally, I finished with four applications of food-grade mineral oil. I did not use olive oil because I read that olive oil can go rancid and effect the taste and smell of the food.

The spoons were Mother’s Day gifts (yup, this was awhile ago), but I am keeping the spatula!