Arlis's Christmas Tree Cutting Board

Name: Arlis's Christmas Tree Cutting Board
Brand: Handmade by Arlis Henke
Price: 59.0 USD
Availability: InStock

$59.00

$59.00 ~~$85.00~~

SAVE $26 Sold out

🐝 Gives wild bees a safe nesting home

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🪵 Solid, untreated cedar — built to last

☔ Copper roof keeps tunnels dry

🌿 Chemical-free, natural materials only

Quantity

Arlis's Christmas Tree Cutting Board

$59.00

$59.00 ~~$85.00~~

SAVE $26 Sold out

the real outline, 11 × 13.8 in

South Texas huisache · Arlis Henke · Goliad, Texas

Slice on the back. Serve on the front.

A Christmas tree cut by hand from huisache, the thorny acacia South Texas ranchers push into burn piles. Arlis Henke, 68, cut the first one for his wife in 1988, when there was no money for presents. It has held the tamales every Christmas Eve since. Every board is air-dried for two years, shaped by hand and finished with food-safe mineral oil. Nothing sprayed on, nothing to flake off.

38Christmas Eves on his own table

2Sides: cut on one, serve on the other

1 in 5Boards thrown out at the bench

90Days to send it back

from Thanksgiving to New Year’s

Three tiers, three jobs

It isn’t a decoration you put away on the 26th. It works the whole season.

The back sideCutSummer sausage, cheddar, the onions for the dressing.

The front sideServeTurn it over: cheese and grapes on Christmas Eve, cookies for Santa, cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning.

In betweenShow it offStand it up against the backsplash by the stove. Between parties, it is the decoration.

The trunk is cut through, so you can carry it to the table with one hand.

what Arlis sees every December

The store board, and his

The holiday board from the store

Arlis’s Christmas tree board

A coating that flakesLacquer sprayed on so it looks good in the photo. The knife cuts through it in a week, and then it lifts, right where the food goes.

Food-safe mineral oil, nothing elseNothing sitting on top of the wood, so there is nothing to peel. When it looks dry, you rub in a little oil.

Cut green, rushed through a kilnLooks perfect in the box, then rocks on the counter by February.

Two years drying in the barnEvery trunk air-dries for two years before the band saw touches it. One board in five still gets thrown out.

Printed melamine or plasticA picture of wood on a tray, or a plastic board that sheds particles under the knife.

Real acacia, both sidesTurn it over. The grain on the back is the same wood as the front.

Christmas, 1988

A present cut from the burn pile

In the winter of 1986, Arlis and his father pushed three hundred acres of huisache into burn piles on the family place along the San Antonio River. He pulled one trunk off the pile and let it dry in the barn for two years.

Christmas 1988 came in the middle of the oil bust, on a shop teacher’s paycheck. He and Darlene agreed: no presents. Two days before Christmas he cut her a tree out of that trunk on the band saw at school. She put the tamales on it that night, and it has been in the middle of their table every Christmas Eve since.

“I didn’t set out to make anything. I just didn’t want to watch that wood burn.”Arlis Henke · Goliad, Texas

Christmas Eve · D. Henke

Tamales go on the tree at six.

Cut the sausage on the BACK side, not on my good side.

Arlis, oil it before Thanksgiving.

— Darlene

under the tree

A present that doesn’t end up in a drawer

Most Christmas presents get opened, admired and put away. This one goes on the table the same evening, and comes back out every December after that.

Arrives oiled and wrapped, ready to go straight under the tree
A note from Arlis in the box, about where the wood came from
Ships within 1–2 business days, free U.S. shipping
Not the right fit? 90 days to send it back, even after Christmas

For the one who hosts Christmas Eve, and for the one who has everything.

what arrives

One tree, ready to wrap

IThe Tree BoardCut by hand, every edge and tip rounded, trunk cut through.

IIAlready OiledFood-safe mineral oil. Ready to use, or to put under the tree.

IIIA Note From ArlisHow to care for it, and where the wood came from.

IVNinety DaysNot right? Send it back for a full refund.

“I’ll be straight with you. It’s a board shaped like a tree. Whether it ends up being the thing your family argues over in thirty years is up to your family, not me.”

Arlis Henke · cutting tree boards since 1988

who it’s for

For the one who hosts Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve hosts Cheese and charcuterie Cookies for Santa Mothers and grandmothers A hostess gift that gets used Done with plastic boards Not another candle

90Days

Ninety days, no questions

Put it under the tree, set it in the middle of the table on Christmas Eve, slice on it. If it isn’t right, for any reason or no reason at all, send it back for a full refund.

Size	11 × 13.8 in (28 × 35 cm), trunk included
Thickness	Approx. 0.6 in (1.5 cm)
Weight	Approx. 1.5 lbs (0.7 kg)
Wood	Solid acacia: South Texas huisache. No plastic, no melamine, no veneer.
Wood source	Huisache cleared from South Texas ranch land. No tree is planted, grown or cut down for a board.
Drying	Air-dried for two years in the barn before cutting
Shape	Christmas tree, three tiers with rounded tips, trunk cut through as a carrying handle
Finish	Food-safe mineral oil, satin. No lacquer, no stain, no sealant. Arrives oiled.
Grain and color	Honey to chestnut with darker streaks and sometimes a pale band. Every board is different, not selectable.
Care	Hand wash, dry standing up. Never in the dishwasher, never soaked. A little mineral oil when it looks dry.
Cut and shaped by	Arlis Henke, Goliad, Texas
Shipping	Ships within 1–2 business days, free U.S. shipping