If your home has a rustic look you’ll adore leather coasters you can make for any room. Many people think that working with leather is too challenging but, when you make leather coasters, you’ll find them very easy to create. You can craft simplistic versions, or more elaborate coasters, and either way you go, you’ll love the new accent pieces for your home. Find the leather at an upholstery shop, at a craft store, or order it online.
Decide on something to use as the pattern for the coaster. It can be an upside-down drinking glass, a square box, or another object. Set the item on the leather and draw around it. Draw as many coasters as you want. After cutting them all out you can further decide how you want the coasters to look.
Lots of people who do leather work use a wood burner to finish a piece or to design images. When you simply cut leather you end up with an unfinished look on the cut edges. You can run a wood burner around the cut edges and give the leather a much more finished appearance. Don’t have a wood burner? Use a paint marker. Simply color the cut edges with a color that closely matches the leather.
If you do have a wood burner you can transfer a pattern to each coaster and burn the design into the leather. Trace an image with carbon paper, onto the leather, or even use a stencil. Draw the desired design and use the wood burner to burn the image onto the coaster.
With no wood burner you can still make assorted images. Draw with a paint marker to create permanent images. Draw a pattern on the coaster, using carbon paper and an image, then color over the outline with a paint marker. Or, as stated above, use a stencil.
If you’re going to make coasters you can create other, matching accents, too. Cut a much larger circle of leather to start with, then use the finished coaster under a planter, a vase, or a table centerpiece.
With choices for shapes and sizes for the coasters, and any number of images you could do, plus the variation in looks of burned or painted designs, there are just no limits to the coasters you can make.
To clean the leather coasters, whether they be burned or painted, just use a barely-damp cloth. When you do, you’ll notice a slight discoloration in the leather until the water dries. Don’t worry, though. The leather can be washed, over and over, without ruining the image. You’ll treasure these rustic but beautiful coasters for many years.