Made to order in Interlochen, Michigan — most trays ship 7–10 business days after order.
A shallow round tray with a single sunflower engraved across the surface. Pick the wood that matches your kitchen, your coffee table, or the person you’re giving it to. Solid maple for the bright room, cherry for the warm room, walnut for the dark room, mixed hardwoods for the person who wants every grain to land somewhere different.
This is a small tray. Eight inches across, with a low rim that catches your keys at the door, your rings on the nightstand, a candle on the mantel, or a coffee cup on the ottoman. Carved on the CNC in our shop, finished with the same board butter we use on the cutting boards, and one at a time.
Pick your wood
- Solid maple — pale cream, tight grain, the bright wood. Reads Scandinavian in a white kitchen, reads “Grandma’s pantry” in a country kitchen. The engraving lines come up dark against the pale background.
- Solid cherry — medium reddish brown, deepens with age and sun. The reading wood — warm under candlelight, warm in a north-facing room. The engraving is subtle on cherry; you have to lean in.
- Solid walnut — dark chocolate brown, the premium look. The engraving reads as contrast lines on a dark field. Pairs with leather, brass, mid-century furniture.
- Mixed hardwoods — banded and varied, no two trays the same. The petals are carved from different wood species (cherry, maple, walnut, occasionally oak or hickory from the offcut pile), so every tray’s sunflower comes out a different palette. The most varied and the most “I made this one” of the four options.
What it’s good for
- A jewelry tray on the nightstand — rings, earrings, the watch you keep taking off
- A catch-all by the door — keys, change, the chapstick that lives in every pocket
- A candle plate — burn a candle in the center, the engraved petals show around the flame
- A serving platter for a small cheese board, three cookies, or a slice of bread with olive oil
- A desk tray for paper clips, the day’s receipts, the business cards you’ve been meaning to file
- A gift — paired with the wood species the recipient’s kitchen runs (maple/walnut is the safe combo)
- A keepsake — the sunflower is generic enough to last, specific enough to feel picked
Specs
- Diameter: 8″
- Depth: ~½″ shallow dish, low rounded rim
- Wood: Your choice — solid maple, solid cherry, solid walnut, or mixed hardwoods
- Engraving: Single sunflower (no inlay) carved on the CNC
- Finish: Two-step — food-safe mineral oil first, then our homemade board butter (Sleeping Bear Farms beeswax + USP food-safe mineral oil)
- Lead time: 7–10 business days from order to ship
- Made in: Interlochen, Michigan
- Shipping: USPS Priority within the contiguous US
Why this one
- CNC-engraved, hand-finished. Carved on the CNC, then oiled and waxed by hand. Same shop, same hand, same board butter as our cutting boards — the only difference is the form. We’re not outsourcing trays to a different process; this is just us making a small thing carefully.
- The wood species choice is the inlay. We’re not doing maple inlay work on a walnut base here — it’s solid wood throughout. The visual variation lives in the wood you pick, not in a multi-species carve.
- The sunflower fits. It’s not a Michigan-specific motif. It’s not a floral specialist motif. It’s the kind of engraving that doesn’t date, doesn’t regionalize, and doesn’t impose meaning on the buyer. You can give it to anyone.
- 8″ is the right size for the form. Smaller reads as a coaster. Larger loses the tray feel. Eight inches is the catch-all that lives where it lives.
- The board butter finish is the same finish we use on the cutting boards that sell at $595. Your $35 tray gets the same board-finishing pass. It’s the cheapest way to put our care on your counter.
What’s not in the box (so no surprises)
- No personalization on this design. The sunflower IS the design. For a custom engraving (a specific farm, a wedding date, a quote), contact us for a quote.
- The tray is decorative-functional — engraved and finished to look right on a counter, but use it however you want. We don’t warranty it for food prep on the engraved face (wipe a cutting-board-grade use case out — get a real cutting board for that), but rings, candles, cookies, and change are all in scope.
Care
- Wipe with a dry cloth. Don’t soak it — even on the engraved face, water in the grooves over years will lift the finish.
- Re-oil once a year (or whenever the wood looks dry). For the closest match to our factory finish, use our homemade board butter — same Sleeping Bear Farms beeswax from Benzie County, MI + USP food-safe mineral oil. Any butcher-block oil also works fine.
- Don’t put it in the dishwasher. Hand wash only if you need to, with warm water and mild soap, dry immediately.
- The engraving is permanent. Sun, oil, and wear will darken the grooves over the years. That’s the wood, not a defect.
A note on the wood
Every species behaves differently as it ages.
- Maple stays light and tight-grained for years. It darkens slightly with UV exposure but reads as “the bright one” forever.
- Cherry darkens noticeably in the first year — the medium-brown tone you receive will trend toward a deeper amber-red by year three. That’s the cherry tradition; it’s why colonial American furniture looks the way it does.
- Walnut stays close to what you receive. Slight lightening in direct sun over years. The dark chocolate brown is stable.
- Mixed hardwoods varies with the species mix. The cherry parts will darken, the maple parts will stay light, the walnut parts will hold. After two years, the original palette softens into something quieter. We like the way it ages.
Wood is wood. Each tray has its own grain pattern, its own color variation, its own character. The sunflower will look slightly different on every tray because the wood is different on every tray. That’s the wood, not a defect.
