When I shared my citrus and turquoise tablescape, I left out one detail: my DIY orange slice coasters.
You can spot a sliver of them in the photos:
Keeping with my orange and aqua theme, I made a dried orange slice garland for the window, made use of my vintage orange pitcher, decorated with mandarin oranges – and made these DIY orange slice coasters from birch slices!
They DIY orange slice coasters were SO easy to make and now I’m dreaming up some other slice fruit variations – I’m planning pink dragon fruit slices next.
If you saw the etched birch slice ornaments I made with a friend, my “dipped” painted birch slice coaster, or my Komondor stamped birch slice coasters, you might have gleaned that I have a thing for birch slice crafts. It’s such a rustic anomaly for me, but we have so many wood piles around the property for our wood burning fireplace, sauna, and fire pit, that I think birch slice crafts sort of seeped into my subconscious. I’ve actually been wanting to slice a big birch log for a charger or serving platter, but our chop saw can’t handle the diameter and we don’t own a chainsaw. So I have this huge birch stump in the garage, tempting me, until I can figure out a way to slice it.
Birch slice coasters are way easier!
Supplies:
- Unfinished birch slices
- Sandpaper
- Acrylic paint or paint pen (cadmium orange and white)
- Super tiny paintbrush
- Felt (optional)
- Craft glue (optional)
How to Make DIY Orange Slice Coasters:
If you missed my other tutorials, the steps are simple! Either purchase pre-cut birch slices or grab a branch or log and chop it into even slices, preferable with a chop saw for a nice smooth cut. Peel off any loose birch bark and give the top and bottom surfaces a light sand.
For this citrus slice, I first painted the entire surface white. Once the paint was dry, I used an orange acrylic paint to paint the “rind” – birch slices are perfect for this, because I just followed the bark line. Then I hand-painted the orange segments and let the paint dry before going back in an adding a dab of white paint here and there. Sketching the shape lightly with a pencil (or using a paint pen like this one) might help create a more symmetrical orange segment design but I was overconfident and just started painting. Then I realized it’s been ages since I even held a paintbrush!
If you prefer, you can cut out a circle of felt and affix it to the bottom with craft glue to provide a smooth, soft surface between your drink and table. But that’s it! It just takes a few minutes to make these adorable DIY orange slice coasters.
Cute! When you make your other citrus, you should include a pink-toned grapefruit one. I pinned a cute felt, citrus coaster tutorial (about 100 yrs ago- still haven't gotten to it) that included grapefruit coloured ones, the combo of orange, green yellow and pink is really cute.
Ooooo, I love that idea – I totally forgot about grapefruit. You're right that would be such a pretty addition. I think I have the same project pinned – that sounds familiar…
I love this idea! So fun and colorful, and my favorite part is that you can do them like an orange, lemon, lime, or grapefruit! So creative. 🙂
Thanks Kelli, so happy you like it!
I love orange as much as you love turquoise. I'm glad you're incorporating it in the lakehouse. Great coasters!
It's sneaking its way in, lol! I love the way you pair orange/mustard hues with teals – there was on inspiration board you made or pinned, I can't remember, and it's seared into my brain!