These Brazilian themed serving trays were made with the intention to intertwine aspects of Brazilian culture with the desire to develop my wood working skills.

All Brazilians understand the concept of what a churrasco is. For it is a large part of their social culture. A churrasco is a traditional Brazilian meal, where a churrasqueiro prepares a variety of meats on a grill. Then once the meats are cooked to satisfaction, they are served to the numerous family members/guests attending the churrasco. These meats unfortunately are served either on a plate or on the cutting board, which the churrasqueiro is using to cut into the meat once he thinks that they are done.

The final aesthetic of the these serving boards was inspired by the Brazilian flag below. The two boards were made from poplar and alder planks. The green poplar wood was a tribute to the green hue, which appears on the flag. The serving board above on the left, has the diamond shaped pattern inspired by the flag, which accents the wood burnt design of the globe and banner. The tray above on the right also takes the diamond concept, but in the green poplar wood.

These boards were intended to provide a easier and more appetizing method to serve food to guests at a Brazilian churrasco. Since my family has been living in Brazil, I have attended and helped host multiple churrascos, and I consistently find myself having to ignore the unappetizing way the delicious food is being delivered to me. With these serving trays there is more room for all the mouth-watering variety of meats, I know there was no raw meat that touched the tray, and it is a unique way to celebrate the beautiful culture of Brazil

First, I cut and planed down poplar and alder planks to the similar sizes, and I glued them together making sure they did not warp as they dried.

Once they dried, I sanded down the boards, and I cut the corners off at a 68 degree angle. Once I cut the corners off, I sanded down the edges of the corners and the edges of the boards, then glued the poplar corners onto the alder diamond.

Then, I added different handles to each in order to add to the ease of using them as serving trays. I countersunk the washers and nuts into the rectangle board, and routed out holes in order to attach the handles to the side of the diamond board.

Finally, I wood burnt the global and banner into the rectangle board, and I finished both with a food safe oil in order to bring out the natural beauty of the wood.