Using tree scraps to make these DIY wood beverage coasters. A great item to use or to give as a gift.
Quite a while ago, I had a “starter” blog and met a really awesome person, Kirstin. Her blog, TroyersLovingLife, continued while I took a break.
Kirstin and I have only met in person a couple of times, but I feel like we’ve been friends forever (although it has been over 10 years now). She has a big heart, loves her family, loves God, and loves to cook.
Recently she let us feature this project…DIY Wood Beverage Coasters.
Kirstin: A little while back I saw some coasters on Pinterest that were made with round pieces of a tree limb. I remember thinking, “what a great idea”. A few weeks later a huge branch fell onto the driveway of the lady I work for. As I stood out there cutting it up (with a hand saw), I decided to save one of the thicker branches that seemed about the right size for a coaster.
This really is a great project to use a tree or branch so let’s upcycle.
COASTER SUPPLIES
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- Tree branch, if you don’t have a branch you can get wood slices here
- Hand saw
- Fine-grit sandpaper, a sanding sponge would be great for this
- Self-sticking stencils, and these…beautiful words, or letters (for a monogram),
- Sponge brush, roller, or round sponge
- Paint
- Old paintbrush for varnish
- Varnish
Kirstin: My hubby was nice enough to cut it with one of his saws (probably because it sat on our porch for so long since I hadn’t gotten around to cutting it myself) and brought me in a stack of 22 wood rounds. Now, I did mess up on one thing, in that I left them stacked in the house for several days, not thinking that maybe they were damp and might need to dry out. It was several days before I realized this, and I think they started to get spotty, but I decided to use them anyways. It took several days for them to dry out once I had laid them out over my heating vents.
I decided it would be kind of neat to stencil them as well as stain them. We had stencils, we had the paints and brushes, so all I needed to buy was a small can of clear varnish, which cost about $7.00 and sandpaper, which was another $7.00 but will last awhile.
WOOD COASTER INSTRUCTIONS
- Once I felt like they had dried out, I sanded them a bit with a coarse paper, then again with a fine-grit paper. DO NOT sand the sides. Mine had moss on them and I left it there for character.
- Place stencil in the center of wood being sure it is well adhered to.
- Using either a sponge brush, roller, or regular artist paintbrush lightly brush on your paint.
- Allow to set for a few minutes before removing the stencil. I may not have let mine sit long enough because my edges of the words weren’t very “sharp”.
- Once the stencils were done and dried, I applied the varnish.
- Using a sponge brush or a regular paintbrush, apply one coat at a time, letting it dry completely in between. I let them dry a day in between each one.
- Mine took 3-4 coats of varnish.
TIPS & NOTES:
- The stencils I had were self-sticking ones which were great since this kept the stencil from moving.
- I wish the rings would have stood out more like the ones in the website picture.
- I would have let the stencils sit a bit longer before removing them in hopes that the lines would have been cleaner.
|DID YOU SEE HOW TO USE A TREE BRANCH FOR GARDEN MARKERS?|
Kirstin- I’ll keep some for us and give some as gifts to others. What a fun way to recycle especially from nature. To me, homemade gifts are some of the best I can receive, and if they’re made using items from around the home or found at garage sales, even better.
Awww thank you for your sweet, sweet words. I’m getting ready to ship a box of four coasters to some friends who just moved to Lake Tahoe.
Kirstin recently posted…Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Wood Beverage Coasters
Anytime my friend! Maybe you have found a side business ☺
I love these!!!
Jen, They are pretty fantastico!
Well these are novel. I love them and have tons of branches laying about in my yard..Think I will be trying these out. Have you thought about using felt on the bottoms to prevent scratching?
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Cathy, My friend did so awesome. Hope you’ll get to try this.
You did a great job, i have tried cutting logs but i cant keep them all the same thickness. Pinned
Thank you Anita. It can be tricky that’s for sure.