D.I.Y. Geometric coasters

Step one
Coat the coasters in a wood sealing product. I used a matt varnish just because that’s what I had but a wood sealer would do the best job. This step is important. It might not look like much but If you don’t seal the coasters properly you will regret it later. I used a matt varnish because I wanted the lines between the triangles to contrast with the super glossy triangles.

Step two
Apply strips of sticky tape to the coaster. I didn’t have a nice thin tape so I cut regular sticky tape into smaller strips. This works a treat but it is NOT easy to cut sticky tape in straight lines. Just keep that in mind. If you are struggling with it, it’s not just you. 😉

Step three
Start painting. Paint some of the triangles white. Keep in mind which ones you want to be coloured and which you want just varnished.

Step four
Keep painting. Paint the sections you want to be coloured. Read tip two for more on this step.

Step five
Paint over the whole coaster with a high gloss varnish. Do as many coats at you like! The more coats you do the glossier they will be. Well that is the case with most varnishes anyway. Check the directions of the product you are using.
Once the varnish is dry carefully remove the sticky tape.

FINISHED! 😀

I will tell you now I went through more than 5 coasters to get this set right… I want you to learn from my mistakes… Here are some tips I have for you that I had to learn the hard way…

TIP one 
Once you have the tape on the coaster do a little sketch of the pattern on a piece of paper. This will help you to plan out where you want each of the colours to go before you add the paint. Super helpful if you are like me and fuss over silly things like that. 😉

TIP two
Always paint the white sections first. This way if you paint a section then realise you actually wanted it to be coloured its an easy fix. Much easier to paint a bold colour over white than white over a bold colour… You might even find you get the best result with your paints if you paint all of the sections white then paint a colour over the top of some of them. (not the ones you want to stay the natural wood colour though obviously…) This will be the case with paints of a lower quality or high transparency.

TIP three
When you have finished painting your coasters, if you can try to scratch any paint off the sticky tape. This will prevent it coming loose in the varnishing process and messing up your hard work. If you can’t scratch it off that’s fine. It probably also means that it is not likely to come off when you but the varnish on either so don’t worry. 🙂 It just means your paint has a stronger binder than the ones I used.

Show me your projects! Please if I have inspired you in any way to get creative please send me some pice. I love it when you guys show me stuff you have made! 🙂 Email, facey, twitter, instagram, what ever tickles your fancey. Makes me super happy. 🙂