DIY walnut cutting board

When we renovated our home last year, I fell in love with walnut- the color, grain, warmth, depth…all of it.  Our architect, Matthew Hufft of Hufft Projects and designer Kali Buchanan were the original instigators of this love (more on them and how lucky we were to work with them in another post some day).  And ever since then, I can't get enough.

I've come across a few walnut cutting boards in the last year and they go nicely on my wish list, but for $200+ a pop, theres no way to justify that spend when I have an entire house to furnish (someday) and about 5 perfectly functional cutting boards already.

So the last time I was in St. Louis visiting family, I got the urge to get creative.  A walnut cutting board couldn't be that hard to make/mess up, right?!  So my mom and I went to the local wood shop and picked out this piece of walnut for about $40!  We, or should I say my mom and step-dad, made the cutting board and a planter box out of the slab.

It makes a great backdrop for photos ;), and a pretty serving board for cheese etc.  I don't actually cut on it because I don't want to scratch it.

PS, my mom "heavily sanded" the wood and we used a mixture of walnut oil and beeswax to oil the boards and planter.