DIY Orange Slice Coasters

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!

Imagine how cute a set with lemons, oranges, and limes would be.  But I want to make a set of dragon fruit coasters next.  These birch slice projects are addictive, I cannot stop myself.

Wintry Tablescape + DIY Dyed Doily

Although I love my framed Hungarian embroidery, I can't say I'm a huge doily fan.  I never thought they'd pique my interest until one day my Mom mused, "I wonder how easily we could dye doilies..."  Excuse me, did someone say teal?  I'd never thought about dyeing doilies!!  Lucky for me, my Mummu had a stash of about 100 - every size and shade you could imagine - so I tried a little doily dyeing experiment.

I earmarked five doilies for dyeing and dyed them along with some napkins in my washing machine.  It was so easy!



Supplies:

• White or cream doilies (thrift stores, yard sales, etsy, Amazon)
• Rit Dye (Teal)
• 1 cup of table salt
• Washing machine
• Bleach (for cleaning the machine)  

Choosing Doilies to Dye in the Machine:

If you're machine dyeing, as opposed to hand dyeing, there's a risk that the doilies could become a bit stretched or mangled in the machine.  My machine is fairly gentle, but I've used washers that really whip the clothes around - even on a gentle cycle.  Choose doilies with a more dense, less frilly pattern, because they will hold up to washing better.  If you have a sentimental doily, use a hand dyeing method, just in case.  Cotton will take the dye better than synthetic doilies.

How to Machine Wash Doilies:
  
Set the machine to a small load and fill with hot water.  Add the cup of salt and dissolve.  While the machine is filling, soak the doilies in hot water and set aside.  When the washing machine is full, add 1 bottle of Rit Dye, close the lid, and let it agitate for a minute.  Then toss in the wet doilies, making sure they aren't folded or bunched - I also added some napkins.  In total, the weight of my fabric was a pound, so a half bottle of dye would be sufficient, but for bright/dark colours, doubling the dye is recommended.

I let the machine agitate for seven minutes, then removed a doily, rinsed it with cold water until the water ran clear, and then hung it up to dry.  I re-set the machine and again, after seven minutes, removed another doily and repeated the rinsing process.  I wanted subtle colour differences, but you could leave them all in there for the duration of the dye bath.  I kept re-setting the machine so the dye bath was always agitating and in total, it took about  30-45 minutes.  I then let the machine finish the cycle and hung up the doilies and napkins to dry.  Then I ran an empty load through the machine with bleach to clean it out.

After dyeing, the doilies felt a bitter stiffer but I was surprised how well they held up in the machine!  Either the agitation or the very hot water caused some to pucker ever so slightly, but that was easily remedied by misting the doilies with water and then steaming them flat with my iron.  No dye was released during this process and by coaxing them back into shape, they once again returned to their normal, flat selves - and they softened too.  Here's a look at the same doily pictured on the left, above, once it was ironed:

I layered the teal doilies on my teak dining table, along with a collection of white ones - I chose patterns that reminded me of snowflakes.  If you're really committed to a doily runner, you could easily stitch them together, or sew them on to a contrasting table cloth.  I just laid them down on top of each other - so simple!

I added some vintage plates, my matching napkins, a part of my Iittala Festivo candle holder collection, Iittala Kastehelmi mulled wine cups, my glittering Christmas balls, and - to warm up this wintry palette - my vintage bronze flatware.  Now I'm totally smitten with doilies and want to try dyeing a batch a brighter aqua or maybe mint or coral...

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