Today's five minute project is all about spreading the love this Valentine's season! I made these adorable Scrabble tile inspired DIY coasters for our living room, and I think they are the perfect Valentine's gift idea or even a fantastic wedding or anniversary gift idea!
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something I recommend, you'll pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.
A few weeks ago, I picked up two sets of
unfinished wood squares at Hobby Lobby for just $2 each. They are the perfect size for coasters, and as soon as I saw them I envisioned them as Scrabble tiles.
SUPPLY LIST
As is often the case, I impulsively decided to start this project while the kids were eating breakfast, only to realize that I didn't have the color of stain I wanted to use. But then I remembered that I had several
Minwax Stain Marker on hand - that's right, the very same ones I use to
touch up wood furniture and baseboards. I grabbed out the Dark Walnut stain marker and quickly "colored" the coasters. This actually turned out to be really quick and easy {it took me just a couple of minutes to stain all four}, so it was a great solution and saved me a trip to the hardware store.
Best of all, the stain markers take no time at all to dry, so I was immediately able to give each square a really quick coat of sealer. I used the same
satin varnish sealer from Michaels that I often use on painting projects. Since I was trying to make this project as quick as possible, I just squeezed a bit of sealer directly onto the square of wood and used a small paintbrush to spread it around.
The final step is adding the letters and numbers. I wasn't about to paint them on since I wanted to get this project done while the kids were still eating breakfast. Instead, I used some
black permanent adhesive vinyl {left over from an earlier project}, and I used my
Cricut cutting machine to quickly cut the letters. This particular vinyl is permanent and outdoor rated, so I knew it could withstand any moisture on the coasters.
It only took me a minute or two to type in the four letters and four numbers on my Cricut and hit the cut button. And since the sealer I used dries very quickly, by the time the letters were cut, the coasters were dry and ready.
If you don't own a Cricut, or other electronic cutting machine, you could easily purchase black letter and number stickers at a craft store. The squares are 4.5 inches across, so I made my letters 3.5 inches tall, and my numbers 1.5 inches. If you decide to use stickers or an non-outdoor vinyl, it would probably be best to seal the coasters after adding the letters, rather than before, like I did.
I added some adhesive felt to the back of each coaster to keep them from scratching any surfaces, and that's it!
In just about five minutes {and while the kids were still eating their first bowls of cereal} I created a set of Scrabble tile inspired coasters that look so great on my coffee table that I might just leave them out year round!
Here are some other easy DIY Valentine's gift ideas that you can make in about five minutes:
Labels: crafts, Cricut, seasonal, Valentine, Valentine's Day
