Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Felt Coasters: A Photo Tutorial

Hey Everyone! 

It's Lizzy from the Facebook Inspiration Team.  I'm here today to share how to make some no-sew felt coasters using Lawn Fawn dies.  


Here's the how-to: 

Supplies: An assortment of  felt, a circle die, smaller dies to go inside the circle,  glossy accents,
scissors, and twine and a hole punch for creating a little package. 
Start by die cutting 8 circles (4 of one color and 4 of the other).
This will serve as both the base and top layer of the coasters. 
Next, die cut the flamingo from 4 circles (2 yellow and 2 gray).
It should look like this when you're done.
You'll be using the gray flamingo to go inside the yellow circle and
vice versa-- can't waste any precious felt! 
Now you could stop here and have some nice looking coasters as is, but I wanted to complicate my life and create a little scene ;)  So here are the instructions for creating a scene that pieces everything together for a flat look: 

Next, die cut 4 green "hills" from the long banner die that coordinates with the Good Fortune stamp set.  *As a side note, I tried cutting a hill by hand, but felt doesn't seem to be as forgiving as paper, so I improvised to find the closest thing to a hill die in my stash* 

Now, line up the "hill" to where it looks good (I overlapped the flamingo's feet a bit to ground him).
Then line up the circle die with the gray felt, use some low-tack tape to adhere the circle die
to the "hill," and die cut the green felt with the circle die. 
The flamingo's feet need to be cut out of the hill, so nest the flamingo die in the center,
tape to the green felt, and die cut. 
Now the last step to creating a flat look.  Nest the banner die so that it lines up
with the hill, tape to the gray felt, and die cut. 
This is what your felt ends up looking like.
Remember to keep the tiny triangle piece that goes between the flamingo's legs,
because you'll need it once it's time to assemble.
I also wanted to die cut some little hearts to surround the flamingo,
so that's what you're seeing above. 
I then took some time to die cut 12 little hearts out of pink felt to insert in the negative space of the circles.  After everything was die cut, it was time to assemble.  I found the easiest way to properly adhere all the top pieces to the bottom of the coaster was to flip it over, glue the back, and lay the back circle on: 

Ready to adhere the back piece now. 
To package it up, I just die cut another flamingo, punched a hole to string it onto the twine, and tied it up! 



So there you have it!  An easy way to make no-sew coasters!  



This is such a fun project and perfect as a little gift for the upcoming holidays.  The different coaster possibilities are really endless-- I personally can't wait to get my little hands on Lawn Fawn's new leaf dies so I can make fall-themed coasters.  

I'd love to see what you guys create!  Leave a link to your project in the comments below so we can see what you've made! 

-Lizzy

18 comments:

  1. this is AMAZING!!!!!!!!! what a super cool photo tutorial and project!!! wow!!! hello! LOOOOOOVE that you created your own hill too - hello creativity!! wow! awesome awesome awesome!!

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  2. super LOVE this!!!!! Thanks so much for sharing, what a great giftie idea!!!

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  3. This is such a fun project! I LOVE the scene you created and the step by step tutorial. What a great fall idea! I see a trip to the fabric store in my future :)

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  4. Wow this is amazing, Lizzy! I'll definitely keep this in mind. Thanks so much for sharing :)

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  5. I love this idea. Thanks for the tutorial.

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  6. Oh this is such a fun gift idea...and no sew is exactly the kind of project I can handle! TFS!

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  7. I love this--gonna have to try it. Did you use the really thick felt off the roll or the felt rectangles in the kids' craft area?

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    1. Hi Chark! I actually used felt that I had bought from a fabric store, but it's pretty thin if that helps. My felt is a little higher quality than what I've seen at the big craft stores, but it's probably the same thickness. So I would stick with thinner felt to ensure your dies will cut through-- but you could always try thicker felt and see if it cuts. Hope that helps!

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    2. thanks, Lizzy! Fab project you made!

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  8. So cute Lizzy! That looks like an easy gift idea to make for friends! Thanks for sharing! :)

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  9. Such a clever project! Totally cool!

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  10. I think these are wonderful! You don't need leaves, flamingoes are perfect!

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  11. So cool! Love the tailored made coaster and it's a great gift too!

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  12. Wow, this is SUCH a cool idea! :) Thanks for sharing! You have an adorable blog!

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  13. This is fantastic and so unique! Great idea!

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