Mid-Century Modern Coasters

Admittedly, DIY coasters are a long-time favorite kind of project for me. They’re small, easy to work on, and make great gifts if you don’t keep them yourself. And since I didn’t have a set of mid-century modern coasters for our new home, I figured it was high time I make some.

Especially when I spotted this set of four wooden coasters at a thrift. They were nice enough on their own but could also be embellished.

Would I have preferred six instead of four? Sure…but thrifters can’t be choosers- that’s part of the charm, after all.

Anyway, I’d already thrifted the mid century glassware that would serve as my inspiration. And with the wooden coasters in hand, I was ready to get to work!

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Making the Mid-Century Modern Coasters

First things first, these coasters would be spending a lot of time in our eclectic, mid-century modern living room. So, I wanted them to have the right “look”. But when I placed them on our vintage coffee table, I realized how pale they were in comparison.

Which meant that before I did anything else, I needed to add depth and warmth with some wood stain. Thankfully, I had a couple of walnut stain options in the garage to play around with. After all, the 1960s-era Bassett coffee table was walnut.

After testing both shades on the underside of one coaster, I selected the dark walnut stain for this project. It wasn’t going to be a perfect match, but it would definitely help! 

So, I brushed stain on each wood coaster, let it sit for a few moments, and then wiped off the excess. Because these coasters were so smooth, I knew the stain would need some time to penetrate the closed grain.

And again, I knew I wasn’t going to achieve a perfect match to our coffee table, but this was a lot closer than they’d been originally!

Next, I let the coasters cure overnight and then wiped on some furniture salve. You may recall me using this stuff before on this project?

Adding an Atomic Starburst

Now it was time to embellish the coasters with a mid-century modern design that would coordinate with the drinking glasses! I decided to use this stencil and four different colors of craft paint. 

Unfortunately, this line of midmod stencils is no longer available. But there are similar ones on Etsy, such as this set.

Then, I simply did my stenciling thing- selecting the starbursts, arranging them on a coaster, and stippling/swirling my stencil brush over the design.

Interestingly enough, I found that swirling worked best for the darker colors (the blues), and stippling worked better for the lighter colors (white and gold).

Isn’t that curious? I’m not entirely sure why…but just ran with it for the cleanest effect. Either way, before long, I’d stenciled the atomic starburst design on each coaster in a different color.

Next, I sealed my mid-century modern coasters with clear furniture wax and allowed them to fully cure overnight.

And that was it- I now had a set of coasters that was the perfect addition to our mid-century modern living room!

Mid-Century Modern Coasters

Even though this was a fairly simple, straight forward project, I wanted to share it with you on my blog. Because I just love how they turned out!

And just as I’d hoped, the mid-century modern glassware that I’d thrifted coordinated swimmingly with my upcycled coasters!

I’ve cobbled together seven of those highball glasses now! Three from a thrift, and a set of four I found at a vintage shop. Ironically, this thrifted trio are in far better condition- even though I paid next to nothing for them!

Thank you for coming along with me on another mid century-inspired upcycling makeover. And isn’t that wooden flower arrangement fantastic? I’ll tell you more about it soon, I promise!

If you enjoyed this upcycling idea for mid-century modern coasters, then you may also enjoy how I pieced together this upcycled set of retro canisters, as well!

Craft on!

S

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