Did you see the AMAZING etched wooden gifts Amy Christie from This Heart of Mine shared on Design Mom? I was so inspired! Amy has such a truly creative brain!
I actually had an etcher sitting unused among my craft supplies for years, not knowing it’s super fun potential until Amy shared her projects! I decided to dust it off and try my hand at decorating some spoons and some wooden rolling pins to give as gifts.
It was a little harder than I expected but totally a blast to do.
Then, I decided that this would be a great gift for kids to help make!
I bought a bunch of wooden spoons (they are about $1 for a pack of four at WalMart) and let them go to town decorating them with pencil.
Even my one year old was able to get in on the action.
Following the lines they provided, I simply etched over them. I then erased away any stray marks with a gum eraser.
Oh, and I added their name and the year on the side.
Simple as that!
A bit of warning. I highly recommend not letting your child use the etcher until they are tween/teen age. The etcher gets scary hot. I would say much hotter than a hot glue gun.
It’s amazing how a little bit of etching makes these boring spoons into pieces of useful and memorable art.
And it’s such an affordable gift. The most expensive part is the etcher, but even that is only about $15 (I got mine at Michael’s a few years ago but I believe the price is still about the same); and you can use it again and again.
I had a little bit too much fun playing around with it. 
I honestly, can’t wait for another occasion to make more! 🙂
What an awesome idea! My husband has an old etcher from when he was a kid. I need to whip it out and give this a try!
You will never look at anything wooden the same again! 😉 After one spoon I wanted to etch all the things!
Love that idea. Thanks!
Thanks Annika!
WOW!!!! What amazing work! I love the spoons you did, I love how you involved your children and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the rolling pins! Seriously! Wow! Thank you for the mention. This post is gorgeous!
YOUR post is gorgeous Amy! Seriously stunning. 🙂
oh my! another fabulous idea!! so so fun!! the rolling pin is awesome!
Thanks Jane!
I just got an etching tool too!!
I started with bamboo spoons, but it was too bumpy. I am thinking wooden unfinished would be bettter!
Did you seal them with anything?
Awesome.
~Michelle
I didn’t, but I never seal my cooking spoons. I agree that the bamboo is harder to etch. I found that holding down my etching tool a little bit longer helped. That limited my design options a little bit though.
These are beautiful! I have a wood burning tool, but I have yet to actually use it on wood. So far I’ve burned leather and cut ribbons with it. It seals the ribbon edges as you cut… and it works for synthetic fabrics too! Check out this post from Grosgrain: http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2013/11/cutting-and-sealing-fabric-with.html
Definitely need to use my tool on wood too though. =D
That is brilliant! Thanks for sharing the idea and the link. I’ll have to try it on my fabrics. We’ll swap mediums. 😉
Ha! This is so great! You could etch wooden blocks as a baby gift.
so smart!
This is too cute! I just got into wood burning and it’s so much fun!
Thanks! Isn’t it fun?
what is and etcher ? I went to micheals websit and search brings up nothing. What dept will I find it?
Good question. So sorry about the confusion. Look for a “wood burn tool. ” This tool looks very similar to my tool in function and the attachments that came with it. If you use a 50% off coupon, it comes to about $15! I hope that helps?
http://www.michaels.com/walnut-hollow-creative-versa-tool/10327706.html#q=wood+burn+tool&start=1