How to turn a simple Ikea tub with a wooden lid into a personalised gift with a wood burning tool and a mandala design.

Every time to go to Ikea I seem to come back with what I went for PLUS something wooden that I think just NEEDS me to decorate with my wood burning tool!

Last time I went in for a couple of picture frames I came out with this glass bowl with a wooden lid. They have a whole range of these bowls in all different sizes and have both glass and plastic bowls that fit these wooden lids. I thought it looked perfect for some decoration.

My niece’s birthday was coming up so I broke out my pyrography tool and got to work personalising it for her.

To make something similar you will need:

• A bowl with a wooden lid

• A pyrography tool

• A pencil and ruler

• A few different sized round things to draw around

Start by marking out a band across the centre of the lid for the name. Just draw either side of your ruler with the pencil.

Next write the name across the centre. You can freestyle it if you have nice writing (practice on paper first to get the sizing right) , or use a font from your computer that you can then transfer to the wooden lid using the method I used for the Brides Dress Hanger.

Mark out some circles on the lid by drawing round a few different sized round things. I used glasses. Don’t try and do this by eye - you will be way off and draw uneven ovals, at least you will if you are anything like me!

Build up a mandala design using the circles and these photos as a guide. KEEP IT REALLY SIMPLE! Drawing with a pencil is much easier than drawing with a pyrography tool so don’t over complicate it.

When you are happy with your design just heat up the pyrography tool and then using a fine nib go over all your pencil lines.

I should learn, because this is not the first time this has happened. A lot of these ‘wooden’ things from Ikea are actually bamboo which means it’s lined. I find the pyrography tool catches on the lines just a little bit, you can see in the photo above, it’s just a little bit dotty. This might also be because I’m a wood burning novice really! It doesn’t matter too much for a project like this, but just something to bear in mind.

When it’s finished use a soft eraser to rub out any remaining pencil lines and give the whole lid a wipe with a soft cloth to remove any bits of eraser or little ashy bits of wood.

Fill with whatever you like. I filled this pot for Isabelle with stationery but you could fill it with sweets, hair accessories, sewing accessories, stickers etc; whatever you think the recipient would like. Of course you could make one for yourself and fill it will things you like!

Julie

I’ll be sharing this idea at these link ups

Do check out these simple ideas to use your wood burning tool: