Wood slab Preservative

Let them dry first, and then sand to desired finish. And then polyurethane

And maybe keep them weighted down, so they don't curl up.

The husband cut wood slices about 1"-2" thick for the centerpieces. I don't think he's planning to do anything to them, just leave them "raw," for lack of a better word.

He also made the cake stand from some of those slices, sanded the tops, and is coating the that with poly. Nothing special. All this just a month away, so no real drying time.

I think we will just be cutting and drying ours. The ones we use for our cake stand will probably be lightly sanded and coated in polyurethane.

You can also use Pentacryl to stabilize the wood and prevent cracks. I used a dish pan and soaked each piece for a 1-2 days and the it dry for a 1-2. I found it on amazon and then googled youtube videos on how to: https://www.amazon.com/Preservation-Solutions-H-Pentacryl-Gallon/dp/B003ELH66S/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1506353089&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=pentocryl+wood+stabizer

Dry them (I heard you can use the oven, but please double check, I had time to naturally dry mine), Sand them (I used a power sander and it saved me so much time), and use polyurethane.

BTW, please use protective gear (gloves, face mask and safety glasses) when sanding and coating.