Welcome to Handmade with Me Karen: Creating Custom Summertime Coasters

Hello everybody, welcome back to my channel! Today, I'm excited to share with you one of my favorite projects - making custom summertime coasters. This is a great way to add a personal touch to your home decor and make it easy to transition between seasons. In this article, we'll go through the step-by-step process of creating these beautiful coasters.

Starting with the Materials

To begin, I'm using a sheet of cork that I had left over from a previous project. I love using leftover materials whenever possible, as it reduces waste and saves me money. The cork is easy to work with and can be cut into various shapes and sizes. If you prefer to buy coasters made from cork, they're also available in circles. However, since I already had the sheet of cork, that's what I started with.

Cutting Out the Coasters

Once I had my sheet of cork, I began cutting out the coasters using a craft knife. This was a straightforward process, and I was able to get the coasters cut out quickly and easily. The cork is quite forgiving, so even if you don't cut it perfectly straight, it will still look great.

Smoothing Out the Edges

After cutting out the coasters, I used a little bit of sandpaper to smooth out all of the edges. This helps create a clean finish on your coaster and gives it a professional look.

Painting the Coasters

Next, I gave my coasters a coat of white paint. The purpose of this is to help our colored paint pop and make the design stand out more. Since I'm using pre-made patterns, I'll get to that in a moment. For now, let's just say that painting the coasters adds an extra layer of protection and makes them look even more beautiful.

Transferring Patterns

Now it's time to talk about one of my favorite ways to transfer patterns onto your coaster. This is where things can get really creative! To start, I take a pencil and color on the entire back of the pattern wherever there is a line that's going to be transferred. Then, I flip the pattern over and place it onto my coaster. Finally, I use my pencil to trace along all of the lines, creating an image that will soon become a beautiful design.

Painting with Patterns

With our designs in place, we can now begin painting! This is where the magic happens, as you get to bring your design to life using colored paint and a brush. Since we're following a pre-made pattern, it's like doing a paint-by-numbers project. If needed, I'll do two coats of paint to make sure every little detail is covered. Remember, letting each coat dry completely before moving on to the next step is crucial.

Finishing Touches

Once all of the paint is dry, we're ready for the final touch - applying a clear sealant! This will protect our design and ensure it lasts for years to come. It's also a great way to make our coasters more durable and resistant to water damage.

Final Thoughts

I hope you've enjoyed this article on creating custom summertime coasters with me, Karen. If you have any questions or would like to share your own ideas for designs, please do so in the comments below! Remember to give this video a like and subscribe for more handmade tutorials and projects. Don't forget to join me in my next adventure - until then, happy crafting!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi everybody welcome back to handmade with me karen today i'm going to be showing you how to make custom summertime coasters this is one of my favorite projects to do because it is so easy and changing up your coasters is one of the easiest ways to transition your decor between seasons i made some of these over the summer last year like just for myself and they've held up so well so let me show you exactly how to do it so i'm using this sheet of cork which i had left over from a previous project i'm going to start by cutting out the coasters from the pattern and then tracing them onto the cork and then cork is really easy to cut you can just cut it out with a craft knife you can definitely buy cork coasters already cut into circles but i already had this sheet of cork so that's what i started with once they're cut out just use a little bit of sandpaper to smooth out all of the edges so i think those are looking great all we're going to do now is give them a coat of white paint and this is just to help our colored paint pop so that we won't have to do quite as many layers of the colored paint later on so you can paint all four of them making sure to paint the sides as well you can do two coats of paint to make sure that you get into every single little nook and cranny and then let it dry completely all right so i think these are looking great they're just such a beautiful blank canvas that we can paint anything we want onto but today i'm going to go with the patterns that i made which you can download here is my favorite way to transfer a pattern onto the thing that we're painting all you're going to do is use a pencil to color on the entire back of the pattern wherever there is a line that's going to be transferred then flip it over place it onto your coaster and use your pencil to trace along all of the lines then when you pick it up you can see that our design has been transferred onto the coaster super easy and you don't need any fancy equipment to do it so now is the really fun part it is time to paint them at this point it basically just becomes a paint by numbers following along with the color version of the pattern again you can do two coats if any of the paint looks a little streaky and again just make sure that you let it dry completely all right so we're done painting and you can see that i painted the sides and the back the same background color just to make them look a little more professional and finished so once all of the paint is completely dry there's only one step left and that is to grab our clear sealant and to bring these outside and give them a nice spray that's just going to protect the paint and protect all of the hard work that we did painting these designs so let's head out and do that so what do you think how cute are these i'm so happy with how they turned out so i'd love to know in a comment which design was your favorite or do you have any other ideas of designs that you would put on yours make sure that you give this video a like and subscribe and i will see you all in the next onehi everybody welcome back to handmade with me karen today i'm going to be showing you how to make custom summertime coasters this is one of my favorite projects to do because it is so easy and changing up your coasters is one of the easiest ways to transition your decor between seasons i made some of these over the summer last year like just for myself and they've held up so well so let me show you exactly how to do it so i'm using this sheet of cork which i had left over from a previous project i'm going to start by cutting out the coasters from the pattern and then tracing them onto the cork and then cork is really easy to cut you can just cut it out with a craft knife you can definitely buy cork coasters already cut into circles but i already had this sheet of cork so that's what i started with once they're cut out just use a little bit of sandpaper to smooth out all of the edges so i think those are looking great all we're going to do now is give them a coat of white paint and this is just to help our colored paint pop so that we won't have to do quite as many layers of the colored paint later on so you can paint all four of them making sure to paint the sides as well you can do two coats of paint to make sure that you get into every single little nook and cranny and then let it dry completely all right so i think these are looking great they're just such a beautiful blank canvas that we can paint anything we want onto but today i'm going to go with the patterns that i made which you can download here is my favorite way to transfer a pattern onto the thing that we're painting all you're going to do is use a pencil to color on the entire back of the pattern wherever there is a line that's going to be transferred then flip it over place it onto your coaster and use your pencil to trace along all of the lines then when you pick it up you can see that our design has been transferred onto the coaster super easy and you don't need any fancy equipment to do it so now is the really fun part it is time to paint them at this point it basically just becomes a paint by numbers following along with the color version of the pattern again you can do two coats if any of the paint looks a little streaky and again just make sure that you let it dry completely all right so we're done painting and you can see that i painted the sides and the back the same background color just to make them look a little more professional and finished so once all of the paint is completely dry there's only one step left and that is to grab our clear sealant and to bring these outside and give them a nice spray that's just going to protect the paint and protect all of the hard work that we did painting these designs so let's head out and do that so what do you think how cute are these i'm so happy with how they turned out so i'd love to know in a comment which design was your favorite or do you have any other ideas of designs that you would put on yours make sure that you give this video a like and subscribe and i will see you all in the next one\n"