Hugs and kisses: XOXO DIY cork coasters (Ikea hack)

It’s always the little touches and details that turn a house in to a home.  So today I wanted to share a fun little DIY on one of these little details – coasters.  I never seem to have enough coasters so I decided to make a bunch for myself.

I used cork to make these XOXO coasters – I love that they stand for hugs and kisses and they look pretty too.  And if not for yourself, these DIY cork coasters are a fun handmade gift to give someone too.

Materials:
XO template – find a free template at the end of this post
Card paper in any colour
Cork (I used two cork mats from a set of four £3.50 Ikea cork mats to make 6 coasters)
Utility knife
Scissors
Ruler
Pencil
Acrylic paints and paint brushes
Acrylic varnish
Washi or craft masking tape

Print out the XO templates provided below and cut them out on card paper.  Place your templates on one of the cork mats and draw around them with your pencil.  Put a fresh blade in your utility knife – this is important as your cork will crumble if the blade isn’t very sharp.

To cut out the X, use a ruler to make sure your lines are straight – it’s easier to cut the X as a + and then turn it around.  The O is a bit trickier as it requires a freehand cut but try and cut it out in one smooth move of the knife – moving yourself as you go around the circle.  Then cut out the centre of the O in the same way.

If your XO shapes have any small uneven cork edges sticking out, trim with scissors.  Now your XO coasters are ready to be painted.

To start, paint all the coasters white – this gives them a good base coat for whatever colour you put on top. Now paint on your final colour.  I found three coats to be perfect but you can get away with two.

Once your coasters are dry, give them a coat of varnish.

Tip: Try not to get any paint on the back of the coasters – you can use the washi/masking tape to protect the back edges.  That way you can sometimes flip them over and use the unpainted plain cork side which look great too.

You can make these hugs and kisses XOXO DIY cork coasters for yourself or they make a cute gift too.

Here are the XOXO templates for you to print out: xo-coasters-template