Personalized Wood Slice Coasters

Today I have the ever fabulous and always vivacious Corey on stage. She will be sharing how to make these Personalized Wood Slice Coasters.

Corey is the rockstar designer behind Sawdust 2 Stitches. As if you had any doubt, this girl is multi-talented with her building and sewing skills! You’ll definitely want to check out her amazing gallery of tutorials.

Hey, I think I hear a chainsaw? Take it from here Corey!

Hey all, this is Corey from Sawdust 2 Stitches. I am one of THOSE people, that when I get an idea, I run with it… and I run fast. One day I decided that I didn’t like the tree in our front yard. Long story short, I had a small supply of wood logs at my disposal.

As the Holiday Season is quickly approaching, I decided to slice up the stump and use them in a plethora of festive decor. One such idea was Personalized Wood Slice Coasters. These are great for anyone attending and/or hosting a holiday dinner! This little tutorial will have you prepared to make the atmosphere absolute perfection. Or if you are attending an event these would make thoughtful hosts gifts.

Materials:

• Log or Wood Slices
• Pencil
• Fine Tip Sharpie
• Poly Acrylic
• Foam Brushes

Instructions:

As I stated earlier, I had wood logs at my disposal and I chose to slice them about 1/4″ thick on my compound saw. One thing to consider, if you are using fresh wood they will be undergoing a drying process for a few weeks, and they can crack! I had some of mine do this, but truth be told, I kind of liked it. It added a little character. However, if you would prefer them not crack-less variety there are ways to lessen the possibility. I have been told that if you store the wood slices in in a double bagged brown paper sacks, it will prevent them from drying to quickly. Simply open the bag every day to let in fresh air, and then reseal it.

HOWEVER if you don’t have time for that, many craft stores have wood slices available and ready to use.

Once the slices are ready to use, I began by drawing on my design with a pencil first. ( If you hate your handwriting you can always use a stencil or transfer paper. )

Once you have a design laid out you are ready to make it permanent! I tried several different methods, and ironically I liked how the “easy way” turned out! I ATTEMPTED using a wood burner (and I think I have a steady hand), but with the small details, it always looked a little “choppy”. I then tried a fine tip sharpie and it looked perfect! So, for the sake of our sanity, we will be using the “smarter not harder” method.

Simply trace your pencil lines with the sharpie. After completing, wait a few minutes for it to fully dry and then use the eraser to erase all traces of pencil.

Now, I know some of the wood slices available in craft stores sometimes come with topcoat treatment. In this case a top coat is not entirely necessary.

By nature coasters are suppose to be mildly water resistant. If you want to preserve these from water rings I would suggest using a polyurethane top coat. On mine I used a poly-acrylic with a satin finish.

Make sure to apply the poly to both sides, and all the edges evenly. (If you don’t it can cause the discs to bow) Now just wait for it to dry!

I am not suggesting that you submerge these in water or stick them in the dishwasher. BUT you can use a damp rag to clean them off.

Seriously, wouldn’t these be adorable host, wedding, or housewarming gifts ?

… Or they can be simple favors for any number of events, the possibilities are endless!

Thanks so much for stopping in!

Take Luck,
Corey
from Sawdust 2 Stitches

What a fabulous performance and what a great gift idea for the holidays! Be sure to enjoy more Rockstar DIY performances.

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