How to Make Colored Laser Burned Door Hangers

We thought we'd add some pizazz to our door hangers with a little color. It takes longer than a simple laser burned one, but the effect is good.

First we covered 1/8 inch bass wood with masking tape, making sure it was well secured. Following that, we burned the design through the masking tape.

The next step is to weed out the parts of the design you want to be in color. This might take some trial and error.

Next, lightly spray your wood with the desired color. You could also do a first coat of clear spray poly to help with any seepage problems. For crisp lines, make sure to do light layers of paint. To get the desired darkness, you can spray two or three times, allowing the paint to dry between coats. Again, trial and error is your friend here.

We had some paint seepage on our first tries, but we finally ended up with a product we liked. And then we experimented with different colors and designs. Comment below if you end up trying this or have any questions.

 

Make a Pumpkin Patch Sign on Your xTool Laser

We started this project in Canva, saved it as an SVG and then imported it into xTool Studio. We couldn't get our image just right, so we adjusted it in LightBurn and then imported it into xTool's software again. This worked great, even though it took a little longer than we had hoped.

Next, we put our pre-measured wood into the xTool P3 and made sure our design was the correct size.

From there, we chose our material from xTool's prepared list. We chose 1/4 inch plywood. It didn't matter too much since we were just engraving and not cutting. Remember to remove the cone from the xTool P3 laser before you engrave. You get a cleaner burn that way.

The first pass wasn't deep enough, so we did it one more time and liked it better.

We wanted to stain the sign and started by using a honey-colored stain and let it dry.

Since it wasn't exactly what we wanted, we did our second coat with a darker stain and then added some color with paint markers. You need to have a steady hand when you do this.

Here's our sign in its own little pumpkin patch. Let us know if you have any questions in the comment section. 

 

Discover Nursery Decor for 2025-2026

     Statement walls, all-encompassing room themes, and drab neutrals are out for baby rooms this year. Instead, people are choosing fun wallpaper, gentle colors, and nature/outdoor-inspired themes.

    New parents are also choosing to be more eco friendly by using sustainably-made goods and multi-function furniture that will last longer. One convertible crib on Amazon has seven variations!

The ideas we like best though, are the nature and outdoor focused ones that add just a touch of whimsy, like hot air balloons flown by woodland animals, or forest scenes with hidden fairies. Muted colors are also in vogue--think mellow yellows and desert oranges.

    

     And since matchy-matchy rooms are out, vintage and eclectic looks are in. Take your grandpa's bassinet, your aunt's rocker, and a clean thrifted rug to make your nursery match the aesthetic of your home.

One last trend we'd like to mention is curves. Rounded edges are trending in nurseries, instead of the straight lines of past years. Think shelves with scalloped edges (like the yellow one below, from Target), and maybe you could even add a hot air balloon or two.

A Scrap Wood Valentine's Day Letter

Here's our next stash-busting scrap wood project. It's an easy craft, and you don't even need a laser if you buy the hearts instead of making them.

First, we found two similar pieces of wood, and then we put two coats of white craft paint on them, back and front.

  

When the paint was totally dry, we added an X from corner to corner with a black paint pen.

Next, we spray painted a piece of 3mm scrap plywood red and cut two hearts out of it with initials burned in. You could just write the initials on if you buy the hearts at a store.

All you have to do then is glue the hearts to the center of the X and give your envelope to your favorite valentine! If you do have a laser, or nice handwriting, you can also engrave the other side of the wood with a Valentine's message, and maybe a stamp.

 Good luck making awesome things with your scraps. Post a comment and let us know what you made.

Journaling for Health, History, and Fun

 You might not think you have time to keep a journal, but a journal can take many forms. Sure you can write a traditional day by day account of your life--which is great!--but there are ways you can tailor journaling to your needs to help with your health, record your history, and make other strides in your life.

So why should you journal you ask? 

Numerous sources, including the National Health Institute and the American Psychological Association, say journaling is a good way to relieve stress and anxiety, improve productivity and creativity, and even improve your relationships. Improved memory, a greater likelihood of accomplishing goals, and increasing your motivation are also on that feel-good list.

Adapt your journaling to your life.

Not everyone likes to write. Lean into your skills to decide on how you are going to keep your journal. Here are a few different ways you can try.

1. Indulge your wanderlust and keep a travel journal. You can write about places you want to go and sights you want to see or places you've already been. Include photos, postcards, mementos, tickets, anything you want, really. Or keep a video journal of the same things. 

2. Have an attitude of gratitude when you keep a gratitude journal. This can be as simple as a daily list, or you can go into more detail if you want. Gratitude journals can increase our joy in life.

3. Junk journaling is a good way to collect random thoughts, feelings, and items in one place. Junk journals can be as messy or as organized as you want to make them.

4. Scrapbooks are great for people who love to design. They take a lot of work, but it can be enjoyable. There are so many scrapbooking sites out there to help with either paper or electronic scrapbooking.

5. Food journals are a good way to keep track of your day. We all eat, right! You can record what you ate, write restaurant reviews, keep menus. The possibilities are all delicious. This type of journaling can encourage healthy eating too.

6. Do you like to read? Keep notes on the books you read in a book journal. If you like to read scriptures, keep a scripture journal. Just record your thoughts about what you are reading and how it affects you.

If these ideas don't work for you, find one that will. You could use an app on your phone, an old notebook, or a planner that you already use daily. Record your runs, your goals, your dreams, your frustrations, whatever you want. The health benefits are undeniable, so journal away!

Scrap Wood Sign Project

We've been working on busting our wood stash. Here's this week's project from the scrap pile.

We started with some lath scraps and an old art project. The paint couldn't be sanded off easily, so we created a new surface for a sign by wood gluing the lath to the painted side of the wood. We weighted the glued parts down well for a few hours to make sure they stuck.

We ended up with this nice, rustic blank to work with. 

After sanding and measuring the board, we put a light coat of white spray paint on it  and let it dry before designing our sign in LightBurn.

It only took about an hour to burn it in our X-Tool laser. The effect was interesting since the lath boards weren't exactly the same height, but we liked the look of it.

After that, we used a band saw to cut off any extra lath edges that were hanging over and sanded the sign.

And voila! More scrap wood projects will be coming up! Leave a comment if you have a question or email us at bisonandbobcat.gmail.com.

4 Ways to Discover Your Roots

No, we're not talking about those gray hairs. Or those weeds that keep popping up in your lawn. We're talking about your family!

Next Monday is National Roots Day. A day to look back on your ancestors, to share stories with family, and just gather to discover your family history. The holidays are a great opportunity to do this. We've compiled a a few ideas on how you can find and share your roots. Family trees and histories make great gifts.

1. Family Search

There are few apps you can use to record your family history. The most user friendly one we've found is FamilySearch or familysearch.org. Not only can you search for ancestors and keep track of them, you can also share what you find with others, make keepsakes, and store photos and stories all in one place. And the best part? It's free! Also try the sister app, FamilySearch Memories where you can do more creative projects to preserve your family history. These make great gifts.

Ancestry.com is another good site, but it's not 100% free.

2. All About Me

Have each family member fill out an "All About Me" sheet before a family gathering. You can compile them into a book or digital file as a gift to your family. Use the free download below as a starting point. You'll have so much to talk about when you get together.

3. Make a Time Capsule

Find a container that will last for a while and put items or letters in it that you can look at in 5 to 10 years. You don't need to bury it in the back yard, but put it somewhere out of the way, maybe with your Christmas decorations. When you open it, it will be a great present from the past.

Some good items to include are: a letter to your future self, photos, a printout of the day's big news stories, predictions for your future, a recording of your favorite song, and a selfie.

4. A Real Photo Album

Take the time to print out some of those digital photos and create an album or book that you can share with family members this Christmas. It doesn't have to be fancy or cost a lot. The point is to get people talking about experiences and memories. Services like Snapfish, make this super easy.

Good luck finding your roots and then sharing them with your family!