Around the globe, we have had to adapt to a new way of living due to the global pandemic, which has forced most of us to spend more time at home.

While boredom may have kicked in for some, for others it has been an opportunity to kickstart a new hobby, to start a small business, or to spend quality time with loved ones.

If you’re on the search for a new hobby to keep you occupied during the downtime from working at your home office, we’ve got just the thing for you!

Pyrography, if you didn’t already know, is the craft of carving artistic, freehanded designs into wood, and then using a heated wood-burning tool to show the design. Wood-burning as it is also known can be ideal for creating intricate, decorative designs for display in the home, as gifts, or simply just for a fun activity to do with the kids!

Here are some of our top tips for starting pyrography as a beginner:

Choose the best wood

While almost any type of wood can be used for wood-burning art, we recommend using lighter colored woods as they will help to show your designs up better and make them pop.

Pine, basswood, oak, and walnut are just some of the high-quality woods that can help you to achieve this with your design. While ebony and purpleheart are examples of woods that may be too dark to show your design.

Wood slices and cookies are great canvases for starting your first pyrography project, which you can usually find in craft shops or online. Alternatively, if you’re feeling confident, any type of blank wooden canvas will work- for example, a wooden box or tray.

Get creative with your design

There are plenty of easy designs for wood burning to try as a beginner, and the great thing about wood burning art is that you can get as creative as you want with it!

If you’re a beginner, we recommend starting with a stencil to help you to get familiar with the tools you are using to craft a design. Vinyl stencils provide you with easy designs for wood burning, as they can be stuck onto the wood before the design is carefully engraved and then lifted off to reveal your work of art!
Feeling creative? Why not sketch out your own design on paper before replicating it on your wooden canvas? Going freehand allows you to work as many patterns and lines into your design as you like and to make it customized to you.

Use the best tools

Investing in the best wood burning tools for your craftwork is a sure way of achieving a great end result!
Scorch Markers are safe and easy to use markers that help you to create your design on wood before heating up the wood to reveal your final design. They are one of the best wood burning tools for crafts of this kind!
Simply apply your design with your Scorch Marker’s bullet tip or foam brush, heat your design, and watch it show!