If you’ve been following me recently, you’ll know I posted my diy coasters craft a couple of weeks ago. I was feeling quite good about it, but then stumbled upon some cool photograph coasters while I was doing some Christmas shopping online.
They looked so cute! All you have to do is upload whatever vacation snaps you have of you and your family or friends and the company sends you the coasters in the mail. But that’s when It occurred to me, I bet I can save some money and make these myself! So with a bit of experimentation, I managed to make these homemade coasters that look just as good as the ones I saw online!
You can use pretty much any photos you like for these homemade coasters. You could also make use of some nice drawings as well if you’re the artistic type. These make such great novelty gifts and will save you a fair bit of cash at the same time! You can even make these with your kids, as they aren’t that hard to do! They also make such wonderful, personalized gifts!
What You’ll Need
So let’s take a look at the different things we’ll need for making coasters that are both stunning and personalized! If you’ve already had a look at my previous DIY coasters craft, you’ll probably recognize a lot of these supplies.
- Photograph or picture of your choice
- Wooden Coaster Squares
- Mod Podge
- Acrylic varnish spray
- Felt
- Foam Paintbrush (preferably foam)
Notes on supplies
We’re not recycling old DVDs and CDs this time, so you’ll need to get your hands on the pre-cut wooden coaster squares. They’re basically just blank pieces of wood and you can purchase them quite cheaply on Amazon. But they don’t have to be square, any shape you like the look of will be perfectly fine.
For the felt, you can purchase the ordinary stuff from a fabric retailer. You could also use any scraps you have lying around if you have enough of it. The best felt for making coasters is the sticky backed adhesive felt. It’s much easier to work with, but it’s not necessary. You could also use the little sticky felt circles/dots if you like, but I would recommend giving the underside a spray of the acrylic varnish so the wood isn’t spoilt in the event of a spillage.
You can totally use any paint brush you can get your hands on, but I find a foam brush is much better for this craft. I’ve tried using an ordinary one, but I found the brush strokes were much more pronounced which can spoil the even surface of your coasters. Get the foam ones, they really aren’t that expensive.
Method
Step 1: Use your wooden coaster square as a template to cut out your photograph, here I’m using a cool photo of my daughter and grandson at the park. You can use a pen to draw around it first, this should make it easier to cut out. You’ll want to do this with your felt as well.
Step 2: Using your mod podge, stick your photograph to the wooden coaster square. Leave to dry for 15-20 minutes. If necessary, trim to edges to fit the coaster.
Step 3: Apply a coat of mod podge over the photograph. Make sure you cover the entire surface and do your best to make your strokes in the same direction. I find it easier to use a foam paintbrush, as this minimizes the appearance of brush strokes.
Leave to dry for a further 20 minutes, then apply another coat. This should be enough, but you can apply one more final coat if you wish. Wait a further 20 minutes before continuing.
Step 4: Once completely dry, we will need to give it a spray with the acrylic varnish spray. I like to give it a couple of coats, leaving about 4 hours between them. This will make sure your coasters are nice and waterproof, but also protect it from the heat of a coffee mug or teacup.
Step 5: Now it’s time to stick our felt to the back of our coasters with the mod podge. You can use any of the felt variations we’ve discussed above, but remember to apply the varnish spray if you’re using the dots. Don’t forget to trim any edges for a nice, smooth finish.
Now I’d just leave your coasters overnight, just to make sure everything is dry and ready to go. After that, you’re ready to pop these in your family room or gift them to friends and loved ones.
Final Thoughts
I’m so thrilled with how these homemade coasters turned out! They look so much better than I could have imagined and I never thought making coasters would be so fun! In fact, I actually think they look a lot better than my last coaster craft. But if I couldn’t get any better, I actually found them much easier to make! While working with old discs is cute because we’re recycling, these wooden coaster squares produce a much better product in my opinion.
While this is probably a bit of a novelty gift, I do still quite like them. You probably wouldn’t add them to a fancy coffee table set up, or a gorgeous mantle display, but they are absolutely great as part of a more relaxed TV room aesthetic, or in your office or kitchen. Because we’ve used an actual photograph, I should probably warn you that these coasters are not going to last forever. But hey, what lasts forever?
What I think the biggest draw to these homemade coasters are just how personal they are. Photos of your loved ones scattered across your coffee table are like little windows into times gone by. Of memories that you never, ever want to forget. You really can’t put a price on good memories, so these little reminders of all the good times you had, the family you’ve grown or the friends you made are just priceless!
So that’s all I have for you today. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading all about my new homemade coasters craft, and that you’re inspired to give these a try yourself! If you want to give your friends or family ideas of what to make you for your birthday, maybe share these on social media so they can see! While you’re there, we’d love it if you could like our facebook page as well! Feel free to drop any comments and questions you may have below, I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can!
