Project #6: Wood burned House number DIY

Pyrography literally means "writing with fire"? Anyway, as I already mentioned in my previous post, it almost exclusively applies to writing on wood.

In this post I talk about making a a house number plank. However, in this example, I scribe the name of a house (yes, they name houses) instead of the house address / number. 

Just an FYI: "Shriyam" in Sanskrit means house of the goddess of wealth. 

Materials: 

Wooden plank: You can use any scrap plank you have. I've got a 10' plank from Home Depot cut it into pieces and used them (costs much less). In this example, I use a fancy one from Hobby Lobby ( for $8) with rounded edges and all. 

Wood burning pen: I got the cheapest one on Amazon.com (around $15).

Stencil / tracing paper (whichever works for you). 

Some color pencils. 

Varnish / protective coat spray. 

Method: 

I printed out the design in paper and traced the outline onto the plank. 

I filled the outline of the text by burning within the lines. As an amateur, I am not good with shading yet, or even getting good straight lines (it might also be because of my crappy burning pen - but it does its job). In order to get a neat finish I made small strokes in the same direction. 

As for the image / peacock feather I went with dots. I I applied more pressure for darker dots and less pressure for lighter ones.

I shaded around the burnt feather with color pencils to add a pop of color. In the end, I sprayed the entire piece with a protective coat (in matte finish). Let it dry overnight and voila! 

It was a gift to my sister's in-laws. They loved it. It makes a for a great house warming gift. I will be making one for myself soon.