Do you feel that taking up a craft hobby would improve the quality of your leisure time, but worry about biting off more than you can chew?

Consider wood blanks. Their beauty is in their versatility. They come in a wide range of shapes. They also lend themselves with equal grace to the simplest and to more demanding crafts projects.

If you want a purely decorative end result, opt for shapes and cut-outs that represent letters, words, butterflies, flowers, birds, lizards, trees, lighthouses… the possibilities are endless!

More practical hobbyists will probably choose wood blanks that can serve some utilitarian purpose.  The choice here is also extensive. You can go for unfinished wood boxes, caddies, waste paper bins, picture frames, coasters, serviette rings, trays, pencil holders, clocks, baskets, and more.

So, now that you have acquired the wood blanks that suit your needs, what do you do with them?

Let’s start with the easiest way for you to finish off a craft project. Paint your wood blanks! Acrylic paints are the best choice. Your finished project can be as simple as painting a few frames and a few shapes in one colour and arranging them on a wall to form a stunning composition. Or you can paint images of intricate detail!

Applying mosaic to a wood blank requires more expertise, but if you like the look of the finished artefacts, the effort is worth it.

To decoupage a wood blank, use images cut out from magazines, photographs, or ready-made decoupage paper. This method is for the very patient, because it involves painting the board with the background colour, sticking (very carefully!) the images, and applying about a dozen coats of varnish, with sanding in between. And yes, you do have to wait for varnish to dry completely before sanding lightly and applying the next coat. The result, however, looks amazing.

You can stain the wood blank instead of painting it; you can use seashells and beads for decorating; or you can mix different methods. You are limited only by your imagination.

Get going now, these lovely wood blank designs are waiting for you to create unique craft projects that you will enjoy using or just looking at. They also make a great personalised gift!