On this special day, we just wanted to take a moment to extend our truest gratitude, not only for the wonderful country that we live in and those that have sacrificed to make it great, but to our dear customers.

We are an American Made company and try with every product to exemplify that but we would literally be nothing without you. Your support is why we get up every morning and create the products that we do.

We hold ourselves to a higher standard because of you and we hope to keep doing so for years and years to come.

We truly hope that your holiday is full of food, friends and laughter.

HOW: We, my husband Bill and I, made our first cutting boards for our wedding. We wanted a personalized and sentimental way to display cheese, and came up with state-shaped cutting boards for each of our home states (Michigan and  Connecticut), with hearts on our hometowns. People really liked them and the seed of American Heirloom was planted. Through a ton of late nights and hard work, we have grown it into the bustling business that it is today, offering a range of tabletop pieces.  Each of these pieces are tested in our home and we design with that in mind.

WHY: Both Bill and I wanted to create housewares infused with sentiment. Ideally, these pieces will become your family heirlooms and be passed down through generations. That is why design and quality are so important to us.

We found that our customers are proud of where they are from and enjoy showing it off. They are also great gifts for those who have moved from their home state, they can take a bit of home with them.  Everyone is so mobile these days, they make great going away gifts, housewarming and wedding gifts.  We can further personalize the orders with our two trusty laser etchers that we run in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

There is no easy answer to that one. It is great and tough all at the same time. Of course it is wonderful to be able to make and sell a product that I have designed and produced myself. There is no greater joy than seeing someone enjoy the product that I have poured my heart and soul into for that past few years. And the flexibility that owning my own business affords me is helpful for someone with two kids like myself.

At the same time, it is very hard. There is always something new to learn and apply. The long hours and stress can be oppressive sometimes. It's important to surround yourself with the right people, whether in the office or remotely.  I am learning more and more that a great team can make or break the progress of your work. Running your own business is not for the faint of heart, it takes a lot of sustained passion and serious persistence.  The nature of an online business changes so quickly year to year, it's a challenge to keep up with changing social media, new sales platforms, etc.

While I am the driving force behind all of the creative parts of the business, it truly does take a village and I couldn't put it all together without these folks: Our photography is done by several photographers over the years, Whitney Ott, Alyssa Kirsten Photography, Matt Novak our long time neighbor Layo Manoli. All graphic design work is done by Avis Wampler of Avie Designs and Ben Wagner.  They keep the visions coherent and fresh.  We would be lost without them all!

Our products are lovingly made and personalized by our team in our Brooklyn studio so our turn around time is usually 2 weeks. But it does depend on which item you order.

There is no simple answer to this one. Usually, you guys keeps us so busy that we cannot but please contact us if you need your item quickly because we may be able to accommodate you.  A great deal of the hardwood boards are ready to ship next day, so those are an easy option for those with a tight deadline.

Yes! We love to make larger sets of our boards. We work with lots of companies to create bulk orders for them and we would love to make them for you as well. Please contact us for pricing.  We are often doing laser engraving of logos for corporate gifting each month.  We like to book these spots as it gets pretty busy quickly!

Of Course! We do ship overseas and our shipping rate is calculated based on item size and weight. The starting price to the UK is $30.00 USPS priority mail. Delivery time also depends on the final destination.

Yes! We are happy to create custom shapes and custom laser engraving on our boards.  If you can dream it up, we can probably make it for you. Please contact us and we will get started on your very own custom board.

We are always coming up with new ideas, products and patterns. There are lots of new products in the works so stay tuned, we'll let you know when they're ready.

We’re excited to have this new place to share with our community, and want to make it a forum for both news and inspiration as we keep you up to date on how we work creatively, and as a business, as well as all the day to day, season to season excitement around our studio.

By way of introduction, as is only polite, let us tell you a little about who we are and how we got started. AHeirloom is a family run business based in Brooklyn, New York. We are Amy Stringer Mowat and Bill Mowat—with occasional help from young Henry Winslow. We met while each completing our architecture degrees at Columbia University, and our first real project together as AHeirloom were two state-shaped cheese boards—one for Connecticut, and one for Michigan—our two native homes, which we wanted to honor as we gathered our families to celebrate our biggest collaboration, marriage.

To be honest, we never set out to be a state-shaped cutting board business. It totally happened organically. In 2010, after Bill and I had just gotten married, I was out of work and looking for a job in architecture. The economy was terrible. I had made those two boards of our hometown states for the cheese spread at our wedding reception, and I decided to put them up on Etsy in May, along with some of our wedding decorations, just to see what would happen. A few weeks later, people were contacting us to make different states and the journey has continued. I do think this kind of start helps us to feel forever optimistic about what might be around the corner next.

Nowadays, Bill and I actually run two different companies. Bill has been a partner in a Brooklyn based digital fabrication company for almost 10 years, focused on larger scale architectural projects, so he has his own creative life along with being essential to bringing AHeirloom concepts to fruition through his skill and organization. It does make for a more inspirational and less frustrating relationship. I’m in our office in the Brooklyn Navy Yard most of the time without him, so we’re not on top of each other 24/7, which helps us stay inspired. The weekends are as much about working together as playing together, though, and we’re always happy to have Henry’s input—he’ll be four in September—on our new visions.

Our home life is very much an inspiration for what we decide to add to our collections. We are the type of people who tend to make things for ourselves around the house, rather than buy them. I think my strength lies in looking at too many food blogs! I really think of our work as and creating tools for the multitudes of food cultures. There are celebrations centered around these items. We want to help people find the easy ways to display and concentrate on having a good time. Thank you for joining us on this journey!