Wood Burned Keepsake Box

My wood burning tool is one of those I don’t get out very often but when I heard we were featuring “Basic Crafts” this month I knew I needed to get it out and make something! There is something meditative and instantly gratifying about wood burning as a way to embellish crafts.

I found myself thinking about summer, gardening and dandelions and I remembered when I was a child we would make a wish before blowing the dandelion seeds off the stem.

I put dandelions and wood burning together and this is what I came up with!

I created this WISH box with the dandelion seed head as a wood burning refresher. It’s an easy pattern as it’s a bunch of straight and slightly curving lines. If you can make a * then you can make this box! Honest!

Supplies:

• Ultimate Woodburning Crafting Tool
• Wood Rectangle Box
• Sandpaper
• Wood Stain of your Choice
• Gloves
• Paper Towels or a Shop Rag
• Small Screwdriver such as the one in the Multi Purpose Crafters Tool Box

 Directions:The first thing you’ll want to do is remove the hardware. Be sure to put the hardware in a small container (baby food jars are PERFECT for this sort of thing) so the tiny screws don’t get lost.

Sand the box all over & wipe away the dust with a cloth.

Next, brush on a stain of your choice, I used Early American. Brush it on and wipe it off right away.

Let dry and then lightly sand again.

Wipe off the dust from sanding with a cloth.I made my first dandelion seed head using the small pointed tip, included with the tool, on the bottom of the box just to get a feel for the tool, wood and the shape of the individual seed heads. To Make the whole dandelion I simply drew straight lines from the center out like the spokes of a wheel. Don’t make them perfectly spaced and make some longer and shorter. I started with 5 spokes and then filled in later.

Tips:

• The wood burning tool gets VERY hot so use extreme caution
• Pull the tool across the wood as opposed to pushing it
• Turn the box not the tool or your hand
• It’s easier to work on with the lid and box separated
• To make the individual “puffs” start from the stem and draw a line outward to create an image that looks like a sparkler or fireworks

Burn a couple of extra “puffs” so that they look like they’ve blown off the main seed head.

If you feel that you want to practice your wood burning before working on a box I would recommend these Wood Circle Cutouts.

The very last thing I did was wipe the box down with a dry cloth and then spray it with a sealer.

This would be a great box to store small items like stones or twigs that you and your children pick up on nature walks.

Or write down on paper some of your wishes for the future and keep them safe.

Vicki

I also blog at vickiodell.com, a daily creative lifestyle blog where I share craft and home decor projects as well as recipes, inspiration and my own brand of Creative Goddess wisdom.
I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter. Be careful… I’ll talk your eyeballs off if you let me. 🙂