wood burned tabletop

I love wood burning projects and when I recently found a round piece of wood in our shed I thought it would be the perfect surface to burn and transform into a side tabletop. 

Since it was round, I thought a mandala design on top would be perfect! 

To begin, I used a compass and a ruler to map out my design. 

Using my Wood Hollow Creative Woodburner Pen I got to work burning my design.

This kind of work can be tricky. To begin, it takes a lot of time to burn into a piece of wood this big and your hands will get really sore. I like to work on something this large in stages over the course of a couple of days. 

It's also tricky because hard and cheap wood (like the piece that I used) can have a lot of grain and knots in it. The process can be challenging because the grain and the knots won't burn the evenly- there will be a lot of "interruptions" in the design. I personally don't mind. I actually love the character of wood grain and the imperfections but you could use a softer wood with less visible grain for a smooth burn.

After a lot of hours and a sore hand I finished the mandala. 

The last step was to use brackets to attach the tabletop to metal legs

Check out all of my wood burning projects below.

1. wood burned blocks 2. wood burned bangles 3. wood burned buttons 4. wood burned earrings 5. wood burned spoons 6. wood rings 7. popsicle stick bracelets 8. wood burned frame 9. wood burned boxes

popsicle stick jewelry

Something that has been on my craft project to do list for a while is bending popsicle sticks into bracelets. Since they are wood and since I am obsessed with wood burning, I thought I would put my own twist on the project. 

You have to start by bending the popsicle sticks and in order to this you have to soak them in water (over night or until they are pliable). 

Next, you have to bend them into the shape of a bracelet- the inside of a glass or jar works great.

Let the popsicle sticks dry out in the the glass- typically takes about 1 day or overnight.

At this point you can used any of your favorite mixed media techniques on the surface but I decided to wood burn designs into them.

I added beads to the back of the bracelet to help them fit better and to add a little color. 

I poked a hole in each side of the bracelet with an awl and then used stretch cord with beads threaded through the holes.

I had so much fun making the bracelets that I was inspired to make earrings!

I simply cut the popsicle sticks into different shapes and then burned designs into them.

Last, I poked a hole in the top and added ear wires.

And there you have it! Jewelry made from popsicle sticks! I just love a project made from simple materials!