Deb and I have never had coasters for our furniture. I know you probably think that sounds bizarre. ???? We have ONLY antique furniture and never used anything but a napkin or tissue… for the last 20 years. Deb made the comment a few weeks back that she wants to get some. Since moving here to the rental, we both have different, smaller side tables where we set our drinks while relaxing. The one is more raw wood so we are worried our drinks will leave a mark.
As we were strolling through Target last week, we found live edge wood coasters and thought they were SO COOL. The price was fantastic. We walked around with them in our hands for awhile and we finally realize that we have an entire woods full of trees. And thought how cool it would be to make our own out of one of the trees from that.
We were down the road from our new property making our jewelry cabinet a few weeks back. And decided to stop and get a log in the diameter we wanted for our new coasters.
TIP: Make sure the log is dry (or cured) otherwise the bark will fall off while cutting. You will be able to tell the log is dry by the weight and the color.
We picked a log from an old woodpile that was about 4″ in diameter and made sure it was relatively straight. Deb used her miter saw to cut each piece about one inch thick. Even though it was a cured log, the pieces were still wet from just being outside. Once home, we didn’t want them to dry out and warp. So, we sandwiched them between a layer of paper towels to get them acclimated to the temperature and the dryness of the house. We placed a big wooden box on top of them with two paint cans holding them down so that they wouldn’t warp and didn’t touch them for about a week. You could obviously use a stack of books, bricks, etc.
Deb sanded each side of the coasters two times with her DeWalt sander using 120 grit sand paper. She sanded them one final time with 220 grit to get them smoother. After wiping off each coaster, she then sprayed each side with three coats of Krylon Low Odor Clear Finish Spray in Matte, letting them completely dry between coats. You can really use any type of spray finish. We used this water based so it doesn’t yellow over time like regular polyeurethane finishes do.
I think they turned out so stinking cute. I love the fact that the wood is from our property. Every time I look at them, I will think of this little project and how we got it from our own land. My wheels are turning now. I want to make some risers, trays, etc, out of the bigger logs…. We need to get Deb’s workshop done STAT! ????
What do you think of our second little DIY of the year 2020? If you missed the first one, it was the jewelry cabinet I mentioned earlier. Let me know in the comments what other ideas you would want to see as far as DIYs go. We have a bigger one coming SOON. I’m so excited about it. I’m pretty sure you will be, too.
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Beautiful are you going to sell some!? I would love to buy some????????If that price is right????????????????????
We used to do a Christmas plat with a candle, grenery and Christmas decoration with a plat like that
When your story began, I’m like, ugh…Deb should make them{{hence the title, huh?!}}???????? Love them
I just love this story!! Love that you used your own resources for the coasters and love how they turned out! And PS…they are SO much nicer than the ones at Target by a long shot! Well done, as always ladies!! ????????
Love them! You gals are so creative.
These are beautiful, and so much nicer to have the story behind them when you use them! At my nephews wedding the mountain venue had cupcakes on different levels of these “tree cookies” about the size of dinner plates, so pretty!
Those are awesome! Our family farm has wood down so I’m going to do some this summer. I don’t have a miter saw but I do have a Dremel ultra saw. Would that work??
Great job!! I really like these!
Love these! And I love having tutorials on making things. Never done any woodwork to speak of, but you two have got me wanting to! I even asked for a nail gun and miter saw for Christmas! Apparently, Santa didn’t think I was serious! Lol. That’s ok….my car knows the way to Lowes!
Please remind me how she finished the coasters. Did she Sand, stain and then poly them? What products? Thank you so much!
We didn’t stain them at all. All we did was sand and then used that spray to seal them.
[…] cute wood coasters. We decided to make our own from a tree from our own land. It was such a fun little DIY that probably doesn’t even count as one because it’s so simple. But I LOVE them. […]
I just made some last weekend!! I always try to find a quick project to do while working on bigger furniture pieces so that I can have some instant gratification!????
hahaha OMG same. I can’t do the same project over and over. I need to do one that gets done quick and I can go back to the monotony of the bigger one.