I keep seeing small wooden boxes everywhere I go. The craft store, the dollar store and I even saw a stack of them the other day at the thrift store. I got to thinking about how they might make a nice little keepsake gift or as a  box to put another gift in and then I remembered this project that I posted on Consumer Craft’s blog Crafts Unleashed a while back.

What a lovely way to wrap up a Mother’s Day gift! A smaller box would hold a gift card and then she can keep the box for lots of different uses. PLUS if you use the box as the gift wrap there is no paper that will head to the local dump so it’s a great “green” project as well.

Anyway, on to the project!

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:

• Woodburning Tool
• Wood  Box
• Sandpaper block
• Wood Stain of your Choice
• Gloves
• Paper Towels or a Shop Rag
• Small Screwdriver

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.

Don’t forget to sign your box on the bottom!

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