The last few months have been really busy and I haven’t got down to any DIY. I was recently going through this blog and realised that my last DIY post, the pretty shibori throw, was written 6 months ago! I was really looking forward to get my hands dirty again, and these decoupage table coasters are the result.

Last week, I got some new wooden coasters for our home… the large ones that you use under serve ware. I was looking for wooden ones and found them. And if you look at them you’ll see they are pretty good as is. But decided I didn’t want to stick with the plain ole wooden look… or maybe I just hadn’t DIY’ed for too long! So here’s what I did.

DIY Decoupage Table Coasters:

These weren’t supposed to be decoupage table coasters at all. I’ve had these wooden printing blocks for a while and I thought I’d try them on the coasters. But when you haven’t done any DIY for a long time, I guess you get a little rusty and lose some common sense.

But that is skipping steps, so let me start at the beginning…

Here is What I Used:

1. One Step Crackle Medium
2. Wooden Block
3. Chalk Paint – I’ve used Misty Fog by Little Birdie
4. Wooden Mats
5. Decoupage Paper
6. Mod Podge
7. Brushes
8. Varnish

(1) First The Crackle Medium:

A white crackled finish was always part of the plan, so I started off with an even coat of crackle medium on the entire surface of the coasters.

Once you’re done spreading it, you have to wait about 15 minutes till it’s half dry.

(2) A Coat of Chalk Paint:

Once the crackle medium is a little sticky, you can layer on the paint. I find if you use long strokes of paint, the brush tends to pull off the wet crackle medium. Instead I apply the chalk paint in little dabs along the surface.

You can see the cracks appearing as you paint, and once fully done, the coasters looked a beautiful vintage white.

I then also painted around the edge to make the coasters all white.

(3) Oops!

Here’s where common sense deserted me for a while. I happily picked up one of my wooden stamps, applied a coat of paint on it, and stamped the crackled surface. The result, a random smudge of dots. Because how can you get a stamp to stamp an uneven surface properly?? (Duh!)

So if you’re following these steps for your decoupage table coasters, please skip number 3!

(4) Making My Own Decoupage Paper:

If you do have your own decoupage paper, then you can skip this step too. But I didn’t. What I did have, were my stamps, which I still wanted to use. So I decided to make my own decoupage paper with them. I took regular party tissue from the kitchen and separated the 2 layers. Then I dabbed another tissue with just a touch of gold paint. I gently wiped it across the surface of the party tissue. This highlighted the texture of the tissue and gave my ‘decoupage paper’ a bit of a background.

Then I picked up a stamp and layered it with a coat of paint…

… and firmly stamped it on to the tissue paper.

In this way I made a few ‘decoupage papers’ of my own in different patterns.

(5) Tear Out The Design:

If you cut out your design with a scissor it usually makes an edge which shows clearly when you decoupage it on to your surface. An easier way to get a softer cut is to first dip a paintbrush in water and outline the design where you want to cut it.

The tissue becomes really soft along the water-mark. You just have to gently pull it apart to tear it along this line.

And your design is ready for application.

(6) Decoupage The Paper On To The Mat:

Apply a generous layer of Mod Podge on the coaster and gently place the decoupage paper on it. Dab it into place with your fingers. I used a different pattern on each of the coasters.

(7) Dress It Up:

You can stop right there if you like, but I decided to further dress up the coasters. (That’s what happens when you haven’t DIY’ed in a long time… you don’t feel like stopping!)

I first painted some patterns in gold on all those blank areas.

And then used a permanent marker to lightly outline the whole design to emphasise it.

(8) A Coat Of Varnish:

Don’t forget a coat of varnish to complete your decoupage table coasters, else they will spoil the very first time you use them. I didn’t want to wait for the varnish to dry before I took the pics, so I have clicked the photographs before applying the varnish. But I did finish off the coasters with varnish after that and left them to dry overnight.

And here are the final pics…

As I write this, the varnish is drying off, and I can’t wait to use these decoupage table coasters.

Until tomorrow, I’m going to enjoy these pics!

I really enjoyed working with my hands after so many months. I hope you’ve enjoyed this post too!

And I really hope it isn’t this long before I work on a DIY again.

Until then,

.

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