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DIY Wooden Coasters With FREE Print Files

DIY Wooden Coasters With FREE Print Files

01/20/2018 by Marlene Wetch 17 Comments

Winter time got you down? Feelin the “stuck inside because the weather outside may give me frostbite” blues? Me too. Except we have wind and rain here in the PNW. That means that the trees are falling, the ponds are turning to lakes and the mud is sliding. It’s a lovely time. Today’s craft utilizes some of Mother natures lovely gifts bestowed upon my family. Wooden logs that have fallen turned into beautiful wooden coasters!

These DIY wooden coasters look great with or without the bark!

I know what you may be thinking, ” I do not own one of those fancy cutting machines” like a Cricut Explore Air™ 2 machine or a Silhouette Cameo. Well, me neither my friend. What I do have is a printer and a love for design. Today you get to take advantage of that and download my print files for free! I have two different sets you can choose from (or take both!) depending on your mood! You can print out these 8 quotes and sayings about Beer or these ones about Coffee to create some of the coolest wooden coasters!

wooden coaster tutorial on shesahotmess.com
all designed by me!

~disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links. that means that if you purchase something through a link I share I may make a small commission. To learn more about that, please see my blog disclosures and such. Also, you may need to use power tools ( a saw) for this project. If you do now know how to operate one, please do not do so. Either order some from Amazon or ask for help, please. Operating such tools may result in injury or worse. Thank you~

In order to make your own wooden coasters, you will need:

Print Beer quotes or Coffee Quotes on plain white paperMake super cute wooden coasters with my free coffee print files!

Tree cut into 1/4 inch slice rounds, or you can get them on Amazon. These ones look to do the job, but I would check outside before you order.

Sand Paper

Mod Podge ( For this project I am using matte finish. I did not want a glossy finish)

*PRO TIP: 

Normally I will refer you to Amazon for your craft needs, as that is where 90% of my products come from. But for mod podge, I only shop Wal*Mart (unless marked down somewhere else. As of 1-17-2018 Wal*Mart price for an 8 oz container is $4.44)

Make super cute wooden coasters with my free coffee print files!
Heres a sample of the coffee themed quotes for your wooden coasters

Begining Your Coaster Project

Before you begin, you need to make sure your rounds are dry. The paper and mod podge will be wasted if the tree just fell and has not had time to dry. I suggest that after your tree is cut, bringing the slices of wood indoors for at least 24 hours to remove moisture that may not be present right after cutting. Also, if you plan to remove the bark, now is the time to do that. The wood should be soft and easy to peel. This step is completely optional and changes the look entirely. I have done it both ways to show you how they look.

If you used a chainsaw to cut up the tree, take sandpaper and soften up the rough cut. I prefer the look that using a chainsaw produces, so it is my preferred method of slice cutting. Remember to thoroughly dust off any of the wood dust from sanding.

 

The Fun Part

Now its time to pick your designs and get printing. I recommend printing on plain white printer paper. When I tested this out, to decide if this was a project worthy of sharing with you, I used 24lb antique finish parchment paper. They worked, but it was so hard to remove the paper in a later step, that I do not recommend any heavyweight paper.

This is when the magic happens! Wooden coasters
Firmly place the reversed image ink side down on the already mod podged wooden coaster
Beer print files for wooden coasters
Free Beer print files for your wooden coaster project! (download contains no watermarks)

*PRINTING PRO TIP

My first run was a disaster. I have done this project 3 times and finally have it down. In order for your wooden coasters to be legible, you need to reverse print the file. I saved you the time if you use my files, and if you don’t, there is a great tutorial over at Time Atlas

If you are not using my print files, make sure that your image is smaller than the wooden coaster. These files are roughly 4 inches by 4 inches. Print as many as you can to a regular sheet of white paper, remembering to reverse or flip the image. Cut out the printed images, removing as much of the white paper from around the image as possible.

Mod Podge Is Your Friend

Before applying your reversed image to your wooden coaster, apply a thin layer of mod podge to the face of each slice. Let dry 30 min. This layer is to give your paper and ink something to hold on to when you apply the image.

Repeat after me: “Mod Podge Is My Friend.” Good. Now slap a nice layer of mod podge on the face of the wooden coaster then center the image and smooth from the middle of the image to the edges, pressing firmly. Are you patient? I’m not. Wait 24 hours for the mod podge to dry.

Wash Rinse and Dry Those Wooden Coasters

Finally, its time to see what all that waiting was about. Using warm water, gently rub the paper off under water. Don’t use too much pressure, as you will take the ink off as well. After you have removed all the paper, you need to let it dry once more.

Wooden coasters need lots of dry time from start to finish!
Waiting for anything is not my specialty. Lucky for me, they are looking great so I don’t mind so much! As you can see in this picture, there is still bits of paper to remove. Just repeat the steps for removing the paper, but use less force than before when rubbing the paper off of the wood.

PRO TIP:

Print file for wooden coastersIf, after your wooden coasters are dry, you notice some paper that you didn’t manage to get, you can take a coarse wire brush and under running water brush the paper in upward motions with the cut. Your ink may get scratched up, but that will give you more of a rustic look. Or repeat the steps above.

Once your DIY wooden coasters are dry and you are satisfied with the paper removal, take your sandpaper and lightly sand the entire surface. This will make the second layer of mod podge something better to grip to. Sand both sides of your coaster. Apply a generous coat of mod podge and let fully dry. Repeat on the back of the coaster. Don’t forget to seal with mod podge the edges of the round, with or without bark, they also need a coat of sealant.

Enjoy and Give

These coasters make a great gift, and are also totally ready for you to use yourself! If they happen to get splashed with coffee or wine, just wipe with a damp cloth.

Make these wooden coasters as gifts for friends
Slap a bow on these wooden coasters and give them as a super cute gift!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you decided to use one of my print files, I would love to hear from you! Which did you choose? Did you keep your wooden coasters or did you gift them?

Wooden coaster tutorial on the blog today
PIN ME FOR LATER

Marlene

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Your Friends Are Gonna Love This!

Filed Under: DIY-Solutions, Guy Stuff Tagged With: crafts, DIY, free, garden, gifts, outdoors, tips

Comments

  1. EscapeWriters says

    01/27/2018 at 9:47 AM

    Wooden coasters are amazing…love the way you give a Pro-Tip to everything!!!

    Reply
  2. Elise Ho says

    01/29/2018 at 1:16 PM

    This is such a great idea and would make a fabulous homemade gift for someone. I am totally thinking housewarming gift.

    Reply
  3. Sudipta says

    02/10/2018 at 8:36 PM

    Lovely product – so natural and aesthetic. It is also a great for gifting. Happy to know you are making these unique coasters.

    Reply
  4. Tatjana says

    02/11/2018 at 6:09 PM

    I nearly stopped reading when you said bring your saw and cut up a tree. 🙂 That part I will gladly skip. This looks really fun and doable. May start now to get some right in time for Christmas.

    Reply
    • Marlene Wetch says

      02/11/2018 at 6:25 PM

      Lol Tatjana, that is what is fantastic! No trees need to be harmed to do this. You can purchase your own wooden slices and there is no need to handle any saw! In fact, if you don’t have to that’s great because that likely means you did not have one fall near you!

      Reply
  5. Dee Jackson says

    02/11/2018 at 11:47 PM

    These DIY coasters are so cute. I’d love to try this out myself.

    Reply
    • Marlene Wetch says

      02/12/2018 at 11:30 AM

      You should really give it a go! It is so fun and they really look great! Thanks for stopping by Dee!

      Reply
  6. emmanuel damian says

    02/12/2018 at 1:22 AM

    I fell in love instantly with these coasters. It’s really nice as a gift to your friends. 🙂

    Reply
  7. CurlyWhippedTee says

    02/12/2018 at 7:29 AM

    This would be such a great and unique gift to give someone. I love it!

    Reply
  8. dogmomseanna says

    02/12/2018 at 7:53 AM

    these look really cool! thank you so much for the tutorial

    Reply
  9. Marriah Tarango says

    02/12/2018 at 9:23 AM

    Such a great project idea! It’s important to note that Mod Podge isn’t extremely waterproof, so using multiple coats as well as finishing with some kind of Acrylic or Enamel spray will definitely ensure it’s drink proof!

    Marriah Tarango
    TarangoVisualStudio.com

    Reply
    • Marlene Wetch says

      02/12/2018 at 11:28 AM

      Yes, Marriah! Thank you for that little reminder!

      Reply
  10. Lauren Atkins says

    02/13/2018 at 3:48 AM

    I bought some wooden coasters for a friend last Christmas and loved them, I love the personalized ones even more. What a great idea!

    Reply
  11. Rosey says

    02/13/2018 at 3:51 AM

    How fun to make them yourself. Coasters never go out of style either!

    Reply
  12. David Elliott says

    02/13/2018 at 6:45 AM

    That’s a cool way to make a coaster for the house. I am impressed by what you did here. I am always nervous around that kind of equipment, but you do such an amazing job with it. I think I might try out this project with my daughter.

    Reply
  13. Nicole Caudle says

    02/14/2018 at 4:25 PM

    This is an awesome project. Making coasters is a very weird hobby of mine…lol (I get bored easily). This is really cool!

    Reply
  14. Lisa says

    02/15/2018 at 1:50 PM

    These look like a great little DIY project to do at home. I am going bookmark it and try it in the summer with the kiddos.

    Reply

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I’m Marlene, the writer and mess maker here at She’s a hot mess. I want to inspire you in any way that I can thru my stories, tutorials, fun craft projects and fun party ideas!


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