Playing with fire – well actually pyrography

I know it’s April, but this one actually started back at Christmas. (Of course it did!)

While wandering around various Christmas markets last year (mostly for the food, let’s be honest), I kept spotting these beautifully crafted wooden pieces with etched engravings – delicate lettering, little illustrations, personalised gifts and I started thinking "could I make it?"

I enjoy incorporating wood into my hannahmade festive decorations so I started to imagine adding a few etched pieces into this year's collection.

I saw a pyrography kit in the hobbycraft half price sale and fast forward a few months, I've finally gotten round to trying it!

But before I set anything (accidentally) on fire, I did a tiny bit of Googling. Pyrography literally means writing with fire, which feels both poetic and mildly concerning. It's actually been around for centuries, used by ancient cultures to decorate wood and leather, and then became a bit of a Victorian hobby apparently.

The kit I purchased came with interchangeable tips, some wooden pieces and big 'this gets very hot' energy.

My initial thoughts were it's:

• surprisingly easy to set up and the polar opposite to etch perfectly neat writing

• slightly intimidating once it started heating up

• smells… exactly how you’d expect burning wood to smell

There’s something very satisfying about seeing the design appear as you go, even if it’s not exactly symmetrical! It's a bit like drawing, but slower and with much higher stakes.

I definitely had rollercoaster moments of 'this is going quite well actually!” followed by “Oh no. Oooppps.” But once I stopped trying to be perfect, it became a lot more relaxing.

The little log discs turned out to be my favourite. I think the natural wood grain showing through the design looks nice and it makes even slightly wonky lines look a bit more intentional (we love that!).

I'll be adding a few etched tags and decorations to my hannahmade christmas stock this year. And I also like the idea of using the tool to personalise leather notebooks for presents. It feels thoughtful, is handmade and slightly more impressive than it actually is once you get the hang of it.

It’s not the easiest craft to pick up, but it’s definitely one of the most satisfying I've tried so far, once I stopped expecting perfection. It forced me to slow down, accept the wonkiness and just go with it.