Moisture can cause some coasters to eventually lose their color, shape or look, and you end up having to throw them away. Coasters arent usually expensive, but even still, you hate to throw them away. There are some coasters that you make yourself and its not a big deal to toss em. Thats because they cost little to make, are so much fun to create, and serve their purpose so well.
Got any string around the house? Then youre on your way to making fabulous coasters. Actually, yarn and narrow roping work great, too. Its important that you choose the right type of roping. Thin things, like yarn, are fine but when it comes to thicker items, such as rope, youll need to keep it small in diameter. Look at the welt on an upholstered chair. The welt, or fabric-covered rope, is a good size for coasters. Although the design of some furniture offers the huge welt, the normal size welt seen on many pieces is a good diameter. Although rope makes the nicest of these types of coasters they can still be made of other items, like ribbon, lace, white string, and similar things.
Have you ever sat and twirled a piece of string, or something similar, around and around on a hard surface? The string wraps around itself, again and again, to form a circular arrangement of the thread. Youll want to create something similar for your coaster design. Place the end of the string on a table that is smooth. Wrap the string around and around, placing each new circle close to the previous one. Each band of the circle should be flat on the table and butted against the circle before it. Continue wrapping the thread or string, around and around, as you watch the circle get larger and larger. Stop when you think you have a large enough circle to make your coaster. Cut the thread and use a dot of glue, if necessary, to hold the end where it belongs. Although these string coasters work alright by themselves, if the thread isnt too thin, but theyre even nicer when you add a rubberized bottom. Purchase rubberized shelf liner, or something similar, to become the bottom of the coaster. Cut a circle out of the liner and glue it to the bottom of the string coaster. Allow to dry. Trim if necessary. These coasters are non-skid and can hold quite a lot of moisture. An alternative to the rubberized bottom for the coaster is a piece of cork. Or, if you really want to make them cheap and disposable, use a piece of thick cardboard. There are lots of different ways to make the coasters more interesting. If youre using cardboard you can always hide it by gluing ruffled lace around the edges. Of course, you can do that with most any of your homemade coasters. And its not mandatory that the coasters be round. Cut them in any shape you wish including animal shapes or flowers. With yarn coasters you can even change the color of yarn a couple - or many - times during the creation. Although youll find everything you need to make the coasters at any craft store you can also find some items at a sewing store. Piping, made for dressmaking, makes great coasters. They also carry something similar to chair welt, but made for clothing. Any of these make fabulous coasters. Besides using piping and similar items you can take advantage of other things sold at a sewing retailer. Pearl-look dressmaker pins look great when theyre stuck into the sides of the thick cardboard-type coasters. Remove the pins before disposing of old coasters, and save them for future designs. Its important to get the rope very tight, while rolling it into a flat circle. If there are spaces between each ring of the circle the coasters might not work as well as they could. Get the kids at the table, join them, and make some fabulous coasters right away. You probably have everything in your house to get started creating!
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