Discover wood burning projects for beginners and the more advanced burner. The world is your oyster when looking for your next project.
The versatility of pyrography allows for a huge variety of wood burning craft ideas and beautiful designs to be created. These can be burned on wood, leather, bone, paper, and gourds – all by burning away the top surface of the medium.
Wood burning requires the use of specialized tools in order to create your “fire” art. There is a large choice of tools on the market that will cater to a variety of budgets, skill levels, and techniques.
As well as tools, wood burning art ideas for beginners upwards to all skill levels are easily accessible online and in some beautifully illustrated books.
Beautiful Wood Burning Projects For Beginners
The choice of pyrography projects and crafted wooden products that are available in craft stores will keep you burning forever!
Project And Craft Ideas for Gifts
These natural wood products will inspire you to think about all kinds of wood burning project ideas.
Decide on special gifts for loved ones, useful and decorative home projects, or get inspiration for a piece of art to jazz up that special room.
Accessories For Your DIY Wood Burning Projects For Beginners
Pyrography patterns for beginners as well as experienced burners are in plentiful supply and cover an unlimited array of subjects; you will never be lacking in artwork ideas or inspiration.
Patterns for burning are plentiful, as are a variety of pyrography stencil with all sorts of words, sayings, and designs. Some simple to execute wood burning design ideas for beginners can be found in some amazing wood burning pattern books on the internet.
And don’t be afraid to tap into your own talent and imagination.
Pyrography blanks are available in a selection of small to large wooden boxes, wooden spoons, serviette rings, wood plaques, and a host of other burning craft supplies.
And, of course, there is nothing stopping you from developing all those wonderful wood burning art ideas you have and selling your artwork at local craft shows and craft or gift shops.
Pyrography Projects Available on Amazon
Look for your pyrography crafts inspiration in informative books found online and get burning!
There is an amazing selection of books full of easy wood burning projects for beginners as well as advanced craft ideas for the more adept pyrographer. You will find plenty of wood burning projects that sell and appeal to people of all ages.
You will not know which wood burning project to choose as there are so many gorgeous ideas.
What Materials Can You Burn On?
Pyrography on Wood
The most common base that most pyrographic artists use for wood burn projects – is wood.
You need to be aware of which wood you are using and the source for any burning wood craft. Importantly, has any treatment been applied to the wood?
The wood needs to be virgin or untreated both for burning quality and for non-toxic fumes and smoke by-products.
Some woods can be naturally toxic when burnt, with smoke from certain woods being an irritant to some individuals.
One of the best woods for wood burning projects for beginners to burn into is basswood. It has a soft texture and very little grain, making it easy to apply your wood burning designs.
Other nice woods are sycamore, beech, birch & italian poplar plywood as their grain is not over-powering in the finished wood burning art.
Pine and oak woods are also an option as they are light in color. Italian poplar plywood, birch plywood, and maple are popular too for wood burnt art.
Please use caution when burning onto any plywood. Burning into the glue layer can be toxic.
Leather Pyrography
Pyrography on leather is hugely popular with an infinite variety of wood burn projects to plan and ideas to work on.
Leather is just as suitable for newbie pyrographers with plenty of wood burning designs for beginners able to be translated from wood to leather applications.
The pyrography pen is extremely effective when used on light-colored leather. Leather for pyrography should be vegetable tanned leather, which is a natural tanning process rather than a chemical one.
Additionally, pyrography leather should not have any finishes applied. These are usually chemical-based and will ultimately affect the application of heat to the product and release toxic fumes.
Be warned, the smell is terrible.
Leather is a natural product with fats, and when heat is applied it creates an acrid odor.
To counteract this, it is advisable to get a fan and work in a well-ventilated area. Either get an extractor fan near to where you work to extract the odor or a normal fan to blow the smell away from you!
Pyrography on Canvas
Doing pyrography on canvas is a bit of a tricky business and should only be attempted after some experience of burning onto other bases. It is not a good medium for wood burning projects for beginners to attempt.
It is best to look for untreated 100% cotton canvas.
Iron the fabric before attempting to do any burning – this will pre-shrink the cotton and also give you a perfectly smooth canvas to work on.
It is advisable to place a piece of wood (plywood is good) underneath the area you are working on. This gives you a solid, immovable base to press on and you will be able to judge your nib pressure to avoid burning through to the other side.
The methodology is to burn gently with the wood burner pen, and in layers, to achieve the depth of color you aspire to. You then (hopefully) avoid burning a hole through the fabric.
This is a delicate procedure and is not to be rushed!
Pyrography on Gourds
Pyrography on gourds is much the same as burning on wood – except the surface is smoother, harder, and curvier!
You will be surprised how many pyrography craft ideas you will find once you start looking.
This makes holding the gourd in place whilst burning a little challenging sometimes. So be careful not to scald yourself with your pyrography tool.
That would be very painful!
As with leather, keep in mind that wood burning on gourds or carving gourds can also cause respiratory problems. It is advisable to invest in a respirator with the correct filter when pyro-engraving as well as work in a well-ventilated area.
Wood Burning Patterns for Gourds
Finding patterns for gourds is dependent on what design you are looking at doing.
If you are doing a geometric design that has to meet seamlessly – you are going to have to be very precise with your design layout.
Careful measurements of the circumference of the gourd are essential before laying out your design to ensure perfect meshing when transferring the design.
For general designs and decorative layouts – the same principles apply when laying out your project on wood or any other medium.
Don’t be afraid to give it a try – keep it simple the first time around and if you are happy with the results – progress to more intricate ideas.
Project Ideas For Wood Burning
Just like any art medium – pyrography art has an unlimited scope in which to create your own niche. There are lots of wood burning ideas to sell at fairs and gift shops in your community.
Wood burning projects are limited only by your imagination and skill set to apply wood burned designs.
Books are a wonderful source of pyrography ideas and the more you create the better and more adept you will become with your wood burning tool. Books are the perfect go-to for beginner wood burning ideas for all sorts of crafts.
The sky is the limit, so get burning today!!