The art of wood-burning —also known as pyrography —has become more popular, but it is still not very well-known. The craft consists of taking a hot object, such as a soldering iron, also known as a wood-burning tool, to gently carve designs into any wooden object. As you will see demonstrated in this list, wood burning can add touches of character to many everyday wooden objects that would otherwise seem bland.
Wood burning is the type of craft that can appear to be impressive without much-required skill. They make great gifts or conversation pieces. Here are 24 wood burning craft ideas to get you started!
Wood burning projects you can start with:
Wood Burned Spoon
When you think of the most common wooden utensils that can be found around the house, what do you think of first? Why, the wooden spoon, of course. Why not turn an everyday item into a piece of art by following this DIY tutorial from Easy Peasy Creative.
Growth Chart
If you have young children in the home, you will want to pay attention to this one. One of the greatest joys of raising children is tracking their physical, mental, and emotional growth. You can spare your walls by indicating their height on this wood burned growth chart, as seen as Our Home Made Easy.
Bookmark
This adorable wood burned bookmark makes the perfect gift for the bookworm in your life. Once you get the hang of wood burning on a small surface, you can practice a variety of designs, from geometric to animal patterns.
Magnets
Magnets are an often-forgotten yet versatile way to decorate your kitchen! You can easily make wood burned magnets yourself by following this tutorial from Laura Radniecki, which will show you how to make a magnet with a leaf motif.
Coffee Table
While it is easy to think about decorating small items and decorations around the house, don’t forget that you can always choose to personalize the furniture in your house, as well. This is a gorgeous example of what wood burning can do to a coffee table.
Keyholder
We all need a place to keep our house keys and car keys at the end of a long work day — after all, there is nothing wrong about losing track of them and being late to an occasion as a result. See how to make a wood burned keyholder over at Tombow USA.
Sandwich Serving Board
Those who love to entertain are sure to start many conversation topics with these rustic sandwich serving boards. Pop on over to Walnut Hollow Crafts to see how you can create a beautiful design on a sandwich serving board through wood burning.
Hammers
This one is bit more unconventional —but it’s a great gift idea for the handyman or woman in your life! A wooden hammer is actually the perfect candidate for wood burning, and we love the way that it allows you to personalize an item that isn’t often personalized.
Earrings 2
Here is another pair of earrings that are made with wood burning, to suit another kind of tastes!
The mountain scenery in these earrings are sure to appeal to the nature lover in your life (and yes it counts if that person is you!)
Cheese Board
Here is another wood burning craft idea for anyone who loves entertaining — a wood burned cheese board! This example shows an example of a traditional motif that goes with wine — grapes and wine.
Serving Tray
Okay, while we’re at it, let’s show another example of a serving tray for entertaining that has been made beautiful through wood burning. To add to the festive mood, this tutorial from Amber Oliver can show you how to make a tray with the words “cheers” engraved.
Blocks
Here’s one for the kids! As the world looks for ways to lessen its reliance on plastic, wooden toys are becoming more and more popular. You can personalize your kid’s regular building blocks through wood burning by following this tutorial from the Cottage Market. You could include animals, numbers, letters —the possibilities are endless.
Guitar
If you’re a musician, then chances are that you have a special guitar that you reach for every single time you play. But what if you want to play a guitar that is unique among all other instruments in the world? You could do exactly that if you use wood burning on your instrument, as seen here.
Birds on a Wire
Sometimes the best part about making a craft is not to use it for a practical purpose —it’s to make something that is valuable just in its beauty alone. This Birds on a Wire wood burning plaque was designed for use at a wedding, but it could look lovely in a home’s foyer as well.
Light Switch Cover
Let’s not forget about the underrepresented parts of our homes that don’t often show up in crafting tutorials! We love this unique Harry Potter-themed lightswitch cover idea that is ideal for a kid or teenager’s room.
Bracelets
We talked about earrings, so let’s talk about other kinds of jewelry that can be decorated with wood burning, too! These popsicle stick bracelets may not be haute couture, but they are undeniably beautiful, and can be designed to suit your tastes.
Garland
Here is a beautiful decorative garland that is great for the holiday season, and for year-round use as well! You could easily adapt it for all-year use by swapping out the Christmas trees for other decorations. See the tutorial over at My Creative Days.
Tree Stump
If you can get your hands on a tree stump, this is a great craft idea — just don’t go cutting down any trees just to have a canvas! If you have a home with a rustic decor, this wood burned tree stump will fit right in.
Keychain
Keychains are one of the best items to practice your wood burning skills — not only are they inexpensive, but they’re also low-stake as they’re not as permanent as a craft on a wall or on a piece of furniture. This keychain example shows engraved words, but you can certainly choose to decorate it with any design or pattern that you choose.
Kitchen Sign
We have talked earlier about how some of the best wood burning crafts are not practical items, but are instead just decorative in nature. While most rooms of the house, from our bedrooms to our offices to even our bathrooms, others get a lot of attention in the interior design world, our kitchens are sometimes left behind. Show your kitchen a bit of attention by making it a beautiful wood burned sign.
Candle Holders
Candles are one of the quickest ways to add a touch of ambience to even the dingiest of rooms! You can make your own unique candle holders through wood burning by following the example that can be seen here.
Coasters
Coasters are important to have around your house, as they protect your furniture from inevitable stains. This tutorial from Sum of Their Stories can show you how to use pyrography to make beautiful geometric coasters that are inspired by quilts.
Heart Mandala
You may have colored mandalas, and even drawn them, but there is nothing quite like drawing a mandala through pyrography! This is a complicated project that is sure to keep you busy for a number of days. See an example here.
Ornaments
You can decorate your own ornament with pyrography to make your holiday season extra special! This tutorial, as seen at Adventures of a DIY Mom, can show you how to make ornaments so beautiful that you could use them as holiday gifts, and the recipients would never believe that they were homemade.
Pyrography can be intimidating at first, but once you have one craft under your belt, you won’t be able to stop thinking of new ideas! Just be sure that you are always using extreme care when undertaking any wood burning craft —most craft ideas do not carry this kind of fire hazard.