This post is a how to on turning popsicle sticks into bracelets using wood burning techniques.
Project No. 5. This project get’s an eh-ok rating. It was a fun afternoon, but I’m someone who likes rapid results so waiting for popsicles to soak and then dry was apparently too much for me. I kind of got bored half way through.
I got a soldering set for Christmas, or my birthday (I can’t remember?) and have been dying for a project to use it for. It’s this set
My guess was right, I learned a lot, how to hold the iron, how fast it heats up, what the difference is heat does to wood, how smooth it draws, or doesn’t. I did enjoy the wood burning part, thought it’s nothing like drawing. First off you can’t hold it like a pencil, and you have to move slowly and evenly and not push too hard. Typing that makes me realize that this might be a good exercise in control for me, because clearly I have a problem with it. I don’t think I have the patience to really get into wood burning, but it’s nice to know that I can do it.
Here is what I did:
- Draw designs on popsicle sticks
- Wood burn over the drawings
- Soak the sticks in water for about 2 days (they didn’t seem pliable enough after 24 hours)
- Carefully hand bend the sticks and place them in a cup to dry
- After the sticks are fully dry remove them from the cups
As far as soaking the wood and bending it; I learned a lot there too. I attempted to do the burning on the flat popsicle stick and then bend it, only to find out that many of the places I had burnt become breaking points for the wood. Next time I would bend them ahead of time and burn after, though it might make the burning part more difficult.
I also realized that my tiny wrists are not suited for this project because the bracelets just slip right off my wrist. I thought of doing this to them to help them stay, but honestly I’m just not that into the bracelets to keep working with them. A few of the sticks that would not bend at all I could potentially use as book marks, since I always seem to lose those.
So even if this project isn’t something I would do again that doesn’t mean that you won’t absolutely love it or come up with a better way than I did. I also learned a thing or two so it was well worth the time.