Cork Coasters

The idea of cork coasters came to me a few months back when I was trying to figure out another surprise end-of-semester gift for my sorority sisters. For last semester, I made cute hair bows with our Greek letters and corresponding symbol on it. This Spring semester, our recruitment theme was that we're all pieces of a larger puzzle and that with each of our pieces put together, we create the image of God's love for us. The first gift idea that I could possibly pull off were puzzle shaped cork coasters. I haven't made them yet--I know I should start planning for it since it's already almost Easter! But I also wanted to give something more to my mission trip supporters to say thanks and to remind them that Alaska and the trip needs our prayers. 

So I decided to make cork coasters with Alaska painted on it!  

They're by no means even close to being perfect, but they are definitely cute.

And they do their job.

Plus did you notice the heart I painted right on Anchorage? 

That's where our mission team will be working.

I'm so excited!

I found these SUPER adorable cards on CLEARANCE at Michael's! 

They fit perfectly with the coasters and work quite well as thank you cards.

These are all the materials you need to make a cork coaster:

-a cork roll  (they also have pre-cut cork at Hobby Lobby, but the roll is much more cost effective if you're making a lot of these)

-iron and ironing board

-ruler

-pencil

-scissors

-craft glue (decoupage worked for me)

-felt

-something flat and heavy

-paint and paintbrushes to decorate!

Making these coasters is pretty straight forward:

1. Iron the cork so that it flattens. (I separated the cork and the iron with parchment paper; you can do that as well or use an old piece of cloth if you want). This step is optional, but it does make the cork easier to work with and is the fastest way to flatten the cork. 

2. Use a pencil and ruler to draw out the size and shape of the coasters you want.

3. Cut your cork design out. Use this as a stencil to cut out the same shape in felt.

4. Paint and decorate the cork! Only work on one side so that you can glue felt onto the other.

5. Once the paint is dry, spread glue evenly onto the felt. Carefully place the backside of the cork on top of the felt.

6. Secure the felt into place by pressing down on the cork. Place your flat heavy objects on top of the coaster(s). Let the glue dry for a few hours.

7. Check that the cork and felt are glued together properly. Repeat steps 5 and 6 if not.

8. When the pieces are together and everything has dried, congrats! Your coaster is done!

:)