DIY COASTERS A Gift From Mother Nature

by / Friday, 09 December 2011 / Published in DIY TIPS, INSPIRATION STATION

Lately I have this fondness or “thing” for all things natural.  I love the rustic designs that are trending right now in the design world and  I especially like the mix of rustic touches with a little glamour or bling mixed in as seen here.  Dont These candelabras add a bit of zing and elegance to this rustic table?  

The Atlanta Market Spring 2011

I find myself inspired just taking a walk in the park and wondering how I can craft something from fallen leaves, tree branches, or sticks.

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Recently I was running errands and happened upon a few fallen tree branches just lying on the side of the road.  I felt an urge to stop to check them out, so I ended up  making a U turn see them up close.  Omg it turns out that they were exactly what I was looking for, for a project.  Take a look at the project below.

Coasters made from reclaimed wood.  A gift from mother nature.

Here’s how they started out

And here are the steps I took to make them

First I had to scrub them clean

 

As you can see here they were pretty nasty looking 🙁

 

 

I used a potting tool to scrape the dirt, debris and bark from the tree.

I then left them to air dry

 

I’m a little intimidated by a saw so I had Joe cut 3/4″ pieces for me with his miter saw. Aren’t they beautiful and clean! (yall met Joe on Monday if you read the post.  He’s also “spotlighted on our “In the spotlight” page.

I then took my orbital sander to smooth the surface and edges and to prepare for the next step.

Here’s Brian spraying the sanded pieces with polyurethane. (about $6-$7) We applied 2 coats of Minwax satin finish.   I didn’t go for super glossy because I wanted to maintain a more natural finish.

Next we cut felt to apply to the underside of the coasters as a means to protect the furniture.  This was then glued to the bottom with a hot glue gun.

Here’s how it turned out

Since the holidays are among us, I wanted to make gifts this year. Its so much more personal when you can say I made this especially for you.

Have you made personal gifts for family and friends?  What’s your favorite gift to give or receive?

Inspiring Creativity,

Ricci

 

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One Response to “DIY COASTERS A Gift From Mother Nature”

  1. How-To make a lantern tree from fallen branches | Your Design Partner- Blog says :
    July 3, 2013 at 2:03 AM

    […] love repurposing branches, remember the coasters from this post?  And the sticks used from this […]

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