Meet the Artisans Behind the Products: The Spoon Makers of Peten

Meet the artisan group that makes your favorite cooking utensil!

​Spread across northernmost department of Guatemala are the artisans of the Spoon Makers of Peten.  These artisans live and work in remote communities. By day, they are trained health promoters, providing basic care in villages where the nearest clinic is hours away. By night, the artisans are spoon makers, carving unique wooden products by hand. The artisans volunteer as health promoters, and the spoons provide an income.  In addition to providing fair wages for the artisans, the group donates 25% of their sales back to their medical project to purchase medicine and supplies. 

A map of Guatemala indicating the department of Peten

​These unique products are made entirely by hand without the use of power tools. ​First, the artisan traces out the design on a piece of wood. The wood is purchased as cast-offs from local carpenters so that no trees are cut down. 

An artisan shows the patterns used for the spoons

An spoon maker demonstrates how a product would come out of a piece of wood

​After the outline is traced, the artisan scoops out the bowl before using a machete to get it down to the rough outline.

An artisan starts carving out the bowl of the spoon after tracing the outline

A spoon maker uses a machete to get the spoon down to the rough outline

​Then, it gets carved by hand. The spoon is sanded three times with different grades of sandpaper. Finally, it receives a beeswax finish, making it food safe.  

An artisan continues to work on the spoon, carving it down without power tools

A spoon maker completes the spoons with a beeswax finish

A master spoon maker shows off a finished product

These unique products can be purchased in our two brick and mortar retail locations, online and wholesale to other retailers. 
​
Interested in learning more about wholesale pricing? Email us at director@sharingthedream.org

Finished products available for purchase