We came across some cool looking red tiles at the Community Forklift
(which sells salvaged building materials) a few weeks ago and decided
they would make great coasters. They were made from heavy, durable
material and I loved the color. And at less than 25 cents each, they
were a steal. I was inspired to make my first set for a friend's
housewarming gift, and I thought it would be nice to personalize them by
spray-painting the first letter of their last initial on the top of
each coaster. I also found some felt with a cool print at the Hobby
Lobby, which is where I found the rest of my supplies as well. Below is
the step-by-step instruction and end result!
Supplies:
- Four 4x4 tiles
- Tacky glue
- Cork roll (very thin cork)
- Felt
- Clear acrylic spray sealer (I used a gloss finish but the sell it flat as well)
- Cardboard (if making a stencil)
- Spray Paint (again, if making a stencil)
Directions:
If
your tiles are recycled like ours were, make sure you clean them off
before starting your project. These had some old glue that was pretty
stuck to the bottom of them so I got off as much as I could and it was
barely noticeable at the end that the bottoms started out uneven.
To
make your stencil, cut a piece of cardboard to be the same size as the
tiles. Trace the letter or shape into the cardboard and cut it out.
Tape the stencil to the top of the tile and spray it evenly (outside or
away from any furniture!) I only had one stencil so I waited for each
tile to partially dry before moving it to the next one. When you've
finished all four tiles, spray them with the clear acrylic sealer, which
will waterproof the coasters and prevent your design from rubbing off.
It also dries pretty quickly so you don't have to wait long to move on
to the next step.
For
the bottom of the coasters, I chose to do a thin layer of cork followed
by a layer of thin felt. It may not be necessary to do both, but since
these tiles were somewhat uneven on the bottom I thought it would
help. Trace the tiles to cut squares of cork and felt the same size.
Use the tacky glue to dab the tile and press the cork firmly to the
bottom of the tile.
If
the edges stick out a little, just trim them up with scissors. Next do
the same thing with the felt, again using the tacky glue.
Let the coasters dry completely before using or giving as a gift. These turned out super cute, and it was surprisingly easy!
With years of wine corks saved up we finally got around to doing something with them, and it turned out great! In previous cork projects, we've made coasters and trivets, so we wanted to do something different. We decided to make a wreath and so we looked around on a couple sites to figure out the best way to approach it. Using a styrofoam wreath (purchased from Michael's) and some sturdy party toothpicks inserted into the corks seemed to be the best way. We did secure a couple corks that seemed loose with a glue gun to make sure they wouldn't fall out. While our fingers felt like they were going to fall off after sticking the toothpicks in over 200 corks, it was worth it in the end. Now... we just have to figure out how to hang it! This wreath is seasonal-friendly so we'll try to dress it up with different accessories throughout the year.
Supplies:
Styrofoam wreath (we did a 14 inch wreath, but smaller would be fine too)
Corks - we used approx 225-250
Toothpicks - sturdy and round with pointed tips
Pliers - optional, to help with inserting toothpicks
Glue Gun- optional, to secure loose toothpicks
Directions:
Begin by inserting toothpicks in the corks. Insert them into the side you do not want to show on your wreath. For the corks that came from red wine, we always put the toothpick through the top of the cork so the bottom with the reddish color would show on the wreath. Try to get at least 1/4 of the toothpick in the cork so it feels secure enough that it won't fall out.
When you start to put the toothpicks in the wreath, lay the wreath flat and do an inner and outer ring as seen in the picture. These corks won't be as visible in the final product, so use the less pretty ones first. (Of course the cats had to get involved)
Next, begin to insert the rest of the corks to fill in the wreath. Don't follow a particular pattern and insert the corks at various angles so all the gaps are covered. Leave some corks sticking out further than others. Continue this until the wreath is full of corks.
Check for any loose feeling corks that might need to be glued down. Use as a centerpiece like we did with a candle in the middle, or hang from your door with ribbon or string. I'll update this post once we have ours hanged.
