Woodburning {Handicrafts}

This term we are working on wood burning! It's totally different than our last handicraft (embroidery) but the girls have enjoyed it so far. This could come in handy for so many different gift ideas or artwork - just look at these examples:

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Aren't these cool?

So, we got our supplies ready and this first time around, I really just encouraged the kids to practice on the scrap wood and get a feel for what it was like, as well as what the different tips do.

We have this wood burning tool set from Amazon but I have also seen them at Michael's and Hobby Lobby.

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They come with a good variety of tips and I like that it has a temperature dial but honestly, we had them up to their highest because I find it works best with high heat.
The only other tools you need are pliers, for removing and replacing the tips when they are hot, and sandpaper for smoothing your wood down. You want to sand your wood with a fine grit before you start burning.

{Optional tools would be heat-proof gloves and goggles for eye protection. }

And this is a pretty great tutorial if the whole idea is a little intimidating, but really, it's very easy and fun to do!

We mainly used scrap wood but I did find some little house shaped pieces of wood and there were some random shapes donated by a friend of a friend so we had a good selection to start with.

This is Kailyn's finished product from the afternoon:

And this is my little creation when I had a few minutes to spare today.

I made it to look somewhat like Virginia Lee Burton's Little House (which my younger three LOVE). We will add it to their collection of blocks to play with.

At our next meeting, I will be encouraging the girls to bring an idea and a piece of wood and we can be more focused in what we create but for now, it was a good start!