Wood Cutouts

What would I use to paint/color simple wooden cutouts for Halloween/Thanksgiving etc.?

I have latex craft paint, but marking pens would be more precise. Is there a particular type of pens to use on these cute wooden shapes? If I use the wrong type of pens, they will run, since the wood is so porous. Actually, something that would let the lines on the cutouts show through would be great. Thanks!

I used permanent marking pens which don’t run to do the veining on my wooden leaves and in the crevaces on the pumpkin shapes. The watercolor pens are great for the leaves because they do bleed which gives the leaves a multi-color, turning from one color to the next, more natural look. I used the fine line Sharpies for the permanent markers and the set of 10 colors was $2.99. I used Aileen’s acyrlic paint and the watercolor markers with a brush tip from Michael’s craft store. I also sealed mine with polyurethane, the non-yellowing, UBV/UVA protected varathane, mainly because they will be used around food and to make them easier to clean.

APOLLO WORKTOPS – WOOD CUT OUTS