Metal Washer Drink Coasters

Whether you'd love to make beautiful snowflakes coasters for Christmas, or you're just a guy with a man-cave, and you're fixing it up with man-type things, you can't go wrong when you grab a handful of metal washers from a hardware store. They're very inexpensive and can be turned into lavish coasters for a holiday, rustic coasters for a man-cave, or dainty coasters for a girl's room.

Look around at your local craft store and view their various adhesives. You'll find one suitable for metal; without this special type of adhesive your coasters won't stay together long. Since the metal adhesive dries quickly you'll find the washer coasters really easy to put together.

Cut a piece of craft foam for each coaster you want. Although you can make the coasters any size you want, a good size is 5"x5". When you use a piece of waxed paper you can make sure the design looks just how you want it to, before making it permanent. So, start with a piece of waxed paper that is slightly larger, all the way around, than the foam square.

Lay the wax paper on the foam and begin arranging the washers the way you want them. You can use washers that are all the same size, and align them in neat rows, or use various sizes of washers, and arrange them randomly. As you make the design you want - by butting all of the washers together - check to see that each washer is at least partially on the foam (even though the wax paper is between the washers and foam). It's okay if the washer design goes beyond the edges of the foam piece as long as they will be partially on it.

Use the glue to attach the washers to each other. After the glue has dried you can then pull the wax paper off. Use the same glue, though, to attach the washer arrangement to the foam square.

With some designs, like a snowflake, you really can't accurately cut the foam beforehand. Instead, make the washer arrangement on the wax paper, transfer it to a piece of foam, and cut the finished design from foam. Glue the two together.

Metal washers can be used as-is, to create a man-cave coaster, can be painted white to make a lace-like design, or painted silver, gold, or another metal color, for an elegant arrangement. You'll adore the coasters that are cheap, easy to make, and shaped like anything you want.