How to Make Personalized Coasters from Lids

Our family has a lot of fun making seasonal and personalized coasters. We have had a great time making and decorating these coasters for holidays and as gifts. This is a fun indoors project that really gives the kids a chance to be creative.

Start by collecting plastic lids like the kind that comes on small margarine containers or cream cheese containers, or anything else around that same size. You know that you have plenty of extra lids that you can't find the containers for anyway. This is a great chance to use them up!

Make sure you wash the lids with hot soapy water to remove any oily residue, and them dry them thoroughly. Otherwise, your clay may not adhere well. Lay your lids upside down, so that the hollow part is facing upwards. Fill them with air drying clay, and then use a rolling pin or an empty glass to roll it smoothly so it fills up the area completely. If you roll all the way across the plastic edges from side to side, the clay will level itself and cut cleanly off at the edges.

Now you'll press in shapes into the circle of clay that now fills your lid. You can use cookie cutters to impress pictures into it. Press lightly, don't shove so deeply that it cuts all the way down to the plastic lid. You can use toothpicks, BBQ skewers, or chopsticks to scratch in words or names. You can use rocks or marbles pressed into the clay for decoration or to mark out words or names. You can actually leave them in the clay instead of just making the impression.

Give your coasters a chance to dry completely, and then you can paint them. Use acrylic paint so that your designs will be waterproofed. That way if a cold drink sweats onto the coaster, or if any sort of drink gets spilled on the coaster, it won't be damaged. If you decide to leave them the color of your air drying clay, you'll probably still want to paint them with clear acrylic, just to make them waterproof.

To keep your coasters from sliding around too much on the table during use, you can cut a circle of felt the same size as the bottom of your coaster and glue it to the plastic underside. Felt is inexpensive and you can buy small amounts in the craft aisle of your local discount store.

These coasters are so fast and easy to make that you can make a set for every holiday if you like. They also make wonderful gifts. If your children have helped make them they will be very much appreciated by grandparents and other relatives that don't get to see them very often. They will be able to have a little something out in use in their home all the time as a memory of the children.

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