Drumroll please….

I am very excited to announce and share with you the launch of my NEW website. After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

The main goal of the new website was to provide online ordering that was user-friendly and easy to navigate. The website is full of features that include additional product information, size selection and engraving features, user can enter comments when ordering, rotating images, promotional codes, create an account, product reviews and more.

On the new website you will find a few new products that include wooden bowls, new cuttings board designs, trays, serving boards, additional hand mirror designs, and gift cards!

Below is a picture of my new Kitchen Board that I make with cherry and maple or walnut and maple. This is the perfect size board for chopping, cutting cheese, fruit, slicing bread, cold-cuts, serving sandwiches or for serving charcuterie at your next family gathering or party. This board has a leather loop for hanging on the wall. To allow the board to lay flat on your counter or table it has a routed slot for the leather loop.

Be one of the first to sign up for FREE shipping and exclusive offers that will be emailed to you!

Did I mention? with the new website I have a new logo. My friend Kate designed this logo for me! With the new logo I am still using the same tag line promoting my work, “Handcrafted Heirlooms Lasting a Lifetime”.

⭐️ I want to thank Kate for working with me,  all her help and support, working her magic and bringing my ideas to LIFE! She was awesome!  Please visit Kate’s Instagram page @primal_kate 

Please visit my new website and let me know any feedback (or bugs that need to be corrected) We can’t wait to hear what you think!  Click here MichaelsWoodcrafts

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Food Presentation Boards

In January of this year I started making these food presentation boards in Walnut and Oak as a prototype to see if they would sell. I only made two of these in a medium size board. It wasn’t long before I had customers asking for engraving on the handle and other sizes.

The above is the medium board in oak with engraving on the handle. I received a nice order from Ava’s Kitchen in New Jersey. Attilio is the owner, never been there but their pizza sure looks delicious! Attilio had purchased pizza boards from three years ago and was still following me on Instagram. When he saw my post on these he emailed me and gave me a nice order with engraving.

I designed a small board, above picture compares the small board (left) to the medium size board. Most of my orders are for Walnut wood.

Who doesn’t like Pizza?!!  I made an extra large board that will easily hold a 12″ pizza for myself. I use it all the time when I make homemade pizza. A local pizzeria owner had purchased boards from me before and when I showed him this new board he purchased a bunch of them to use in his restaurant.

These boards are great for serving anything, above are french pastries from our local french pastry shop in downtown Greenville. Their pastries are to die for!

One of my customers sent me an email with pictures of her homemade cinnamon rolls on the extra large board!

These boards can be used for serving food, charcuterie, pizza, etc. If you have a family gathering or parties this is the perfect food tray for you! It will be the talk of your party!

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

For more information, view more images or to order, click SHOP NOW

Making a Recessed Wine Bottle Stopper

Happy Friday!!!

It’s been awhile since I last posted and I miss everyone!! I’ve decided that I am going to try and post once or twice a week!

One of my most popular items are the wine bottle stoppers I turn on my wood lathe. They are very unique because they are recessed, meaning that the cork is on the inside of the wine stopper and can not be seen wen the stopper is on the bottle.

I can up with this design 20 years ago when my wife mentioned to me that the wine stoppers I was making were too tall.

A recessed wine stopper has the cork inside and slides over the bottle neck. The couple pictures above are a good example of how they work. You can not see the cork thru the bottle, all you see is the beautiful wine stopper!

 

The colors resin colors are endless, between the Maple burl and the colored resin, each wine stopper is unique. It’s virtually impossible to make two wine bottle stoppers with the same colors!

I start by creating a hybrid blank which I make using Maple burl and colored resin. I cut the piece of maple burl and place it into a square mold and the pour in the colored resin. In about 7 days it is dry and is ready to turn. I really like using the Maple burl, you never know what colors and grain you will see once it is turned.

Then I will mount the blank to the lathe and start turning. Here are a few pictures of the process.

 

 

Once the wine stopper is turned and while still on the lathe, before applying the high gloss finish there is a lot of sanding to do. I will sand starting at 150 grit then 180, 220, 240, 320 grit all the way to 12,000 grit.

I like a high gloss finish, in order for me to get the high gloss I apply 40 to 50 coats of CA finish while the lathe is turning. CA is the short name for Cyanoacrylate glue, super glue.  I apply a few drops of CA to a paper towel and while the late is turning I apply it to the stopper. Then I spray is with a accelerator that dries it instantly. I do this 40, 50 times or more until I am happy with the finish. Once the CA hardens it is very durable.

 

After the finish is done, I will then, buff an polish the stopper by hand. Then I mount the cork. It takes 24 hours for the glue to dry from installing the cork, then is it ready to use!!

 

A wood turned bottle stopper is a great accent to a good bottle of wine.  I enjoy making my recessed wine bottle stoppers!

To see more pictures visit my Gallery of Wine Bottle Stoppers, click here

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

 

For more information, view more images or to order, click SHOP NOW

Engraved Catchall Trays

I have been making catchall trays for only about 2 months now. Since then I have made over 200 trays with “custom” engraving, many different sizes and another 80 that were ordered with one of my already engraving designs.

Above is my “I love you” catchall tray, this one is 6″ X 6″ square and 5/8″ inside. I originally made this one for a shop in Blowing Rock, NC but it has become very popular.

The above tray was a custom engraving order, they wanted a 3D heart in the middle with engraving on the heart. I have also engraved monogram letters on the heart for others.

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

 

For more information, view more images or to order, click SHOP NOW

 

 

Wood Catchall Trays

I recently started making Catchall trays. Each tray I handcraft from a solid piece of walnut. They have beautifully rounded corners, sanded perfectly smooth and then the bottom is engraved with various designs. My wife using one to keep her watch and rings in everyday.

The catchall trays are great for holding small items such as glasses, watches, rings, earrings, thumb drives, car keys, coins,  cell phone & charger, paperclips, thumbtacks, etc., the list is endless. It keeps all those everyday handy items within reach. They make great gifts!

The pineapple engraving takes a long time to do but this one is very popular along with the engraved honey bees!!

The trays are 8″ long and 4″ wide and I currently only make them using solid walnut.

 

I can also engrave the bottom surface with a special message!

Engraved Tiger paw!

The above Catchall tray has a carved bottom.

The tray with Live, Laugh, Love was a custom engraved, special order for a customer that was a gift to a friend. Now that I have this one set-up I can easily repeat this engraving.

After months of hard work and dedication, my NEW website is live!! I would love it if you would go take a look, here is the link:  MichaelsWoodcrafts

www.MichaelsWoodcrafts.com

 

For more information, view more images or to order, click SHOP NOW

Making My Wood Conditioner!

I spent a couple hours this afternoon making my Wood Conditioner today because I only had a few tins available. If you are not familiar with my Wood Conditioner, when used on your wood cutting board, wood utensils or anything wood it will penetrate and helps to revive, condition and protect it. I also use it on my cast iron pans for conditioning. Read more about my Wood Conditioner!

My Wood Conditioner is made using 100% food grade mineral oil and 100% food grade beeswax.

I have a label on the lid detailing how to use the Wood Conditioner. 

Tins ready to fill, I use the syringe to fill each tin, it makes for easy work and clean up too! Each tin will be filled with my Food Grade Mineral oil and Food Grade Beeswax mixture. It will be hot but once cooled becomes solid.

Once the tins are filled, it takes about an hour for the Wood Conditioner to cool and harden. Above are three tins that were filled at different times, the one in the middle has not cooled and gotten solid just yet.

They are all done, cooled, labeled and ready!

For more information, view more images or to order, click the SHOP NOW button below

Ooey Gooey

June 29, 2014

If you love Caramel Pie, this is the best ever, most delicious Carmel Pie ever! The recipe for this dessert is as easy to make as it is delicious! And today is your lucky day, this recipe only includes 5 ingredients but only two to make the pie, the others are garnishes and are optional!

Ooey Gooey Caramel Pie, that’s what O’Charley’s restaurant calls it and it is delicious. My recipe is the CopyCat recipe. I can remember when O’Charley’s first came to Greenville, SC back in the mid 1980’s. Their signature pie back then was this caramel pie and it still is today but it is not as good today as it was back then. They have changed the recipe and it is served nearly frozen. This copycat recipe is really delicious and ever so easy to make! 🙂

Most copycat recipes call for 2 cans of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk but I use three so that the pie shell is completely full. If you have never made this pie, you won’t believe step one. Remove the labels from the Eagle Brand Milk cans, DO NOT OPEN the cans. Step two is to get your large pot, add water nearly to the top, then add the cans to the water. Place the pot on the stove on high for boiling the water.

Ingredients:
1 – large graham cracker crust
3 – cans Eagle Brand Condensed Milk
1 – can of Reddi-wip
1/2 cup Pecans
1 – 6 oz bag of Toll House Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

The Eagle Brand Milk cans need to boil for 3 hours.

VERY IMPORTANT: During the boiling process, water will quickly evaporate from the pot, be sure to add water often during the process so that the cans are always covered. I had to add water about ever 25 minutes. Be sure that the cans are always covered with water, cans have been known to explode if the cans are not kept covered with water.

Now, go find something to do while your Eagle Brand Milk is turning into the most creamy, decadent and rich caramel sauce you have ever tasted!

After 3 hours, I remove the pot from the heat and let the water and cans cool. If you open the cans while hot you are asking for trouble. The caramel will ooze out as soon as you pop the top and will burn you, might even hit your ceiling, trust me on this one. 🙂

In about an hour, remove the tops of the cans, be very careful, the caramel will still be extremely hot and can burn you. Pour the caramel into the pie crust and smooth out carefully to not break the crust with a spoon or spatula.

Place your pie into the refrigerator on a wire rack and let it chill for about two hours. DO not add the Reddi-wip until the pie is completely cold! We add the Reddi-wip to each slice as we cut the pie.

Once the pie is completely cooled, cut a slice, top with Reddi-wip, then garnish with a few chopped pecans and mini chocolate chip morsels! Or you can eat it plain too.

I am now ready to eat, it’s so easy to make and very delicious!

Add more whipped cream if you like. I hope you try this recipe, you will enjoy it a lot 🙂

 

Best ever, delicious Hot Fudge Cake

Be sure to check out my dessert recipes!

If you love to cook check out my handmade, Round Cutting Boards

For more information, view more images or to order, click SHOP NOW

Making Wood Conditioner

Making Wood Conditioner to care for all your wood kitchen items

For those of us that love using wood in the kitchen, wood cutting boards, spoons, spatulas, rolling pins and all those other utensils taking care of them can be challenging. The best solution is to use mineral oil and beeswax mixture for reviving, conditioning and protecting your wood items. It will keep wood items from drying out and make them look great again. My Wood Conditioner is very popular for use on wooden spoons, sometimes called wooden spoon wax.

With a purchase of wood kitchen wares from my shop I include a 2 ounce tin of Wood Conditioner. It has been a huge hit and many write to me requesting more.

I began making my wood conditioner years ago, sometimes called wood butter or spoon butter, or Bees oil for all my cutting boards that I make in the shop. I would make a good amount in a large jar and use it as I needed it. When someone purchased one of my cutting boards, they would always ask me how should I care for my cutting board. This year I began making up tins of my beeswax finish to sell and give away when someone buys a board.

It is wonderful for all your wood when they start looking dry. My Wood Conditioner penetrates wooden bowls, wooden utensils, cutting boards, rolling bins and more. Prevents drying and cracking, removes knife marks adding a soft lustrous finish.

I purchase the beeswax from a local source and the food grade mineral oil from the local pharmacy.

 

After melting the wax and adding the oil I add the Wood Conditioner to the tins. You can see the first tins I did are starting to get firm. When it is firm and cooled I put the lids on then add a label to the top and a label with directions to the bottom.

I include a tin of my Wood Conditioner with each cutting board that I ship. The Wood Conditioner is a nice gift or surprise to someone’s package. Then I know their wood will look great for many years.

My wood conditioner will keep your boards looking great.

To order, go to my Cutting Board Conditioner page.

Click picture to view more about my Cutting Boards!!

Beautiful Cheese Boards

Double Handle Cutting Board

Board Butter will protect all your boards, spoons, all wood items and help seal your cast iron skillets if applied when skillet is cold.

Directions for using Wood Conditioner:
All you need to do is apply sparingly in a circular motion using a dry soft cloth or paper towel. A little goes a long way. Let sit for an hour or so and buff using a clean soft cloth. The mineral oil soaks into the wood to condition it while the beeswax seals the oil into the wood and helps to keep the moisture out.

My Work