When I shared my citrus and turquoise tablescape, I left out one detail: my DIY citrus 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 coasters from birch slices!
They were SO easy to make and now I'm dreaming up some other slice fruit variations - I'm making pink dragon fruit slices next. I love dragon fruit.
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 I have a thing for birch slice crafts. It's such a rustic anomaly for me. 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 Birch 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!
