Apple Print Coasters

I love apples! I have very fond memories of traipsing through the apple orchard in my hometown on brisk, fall mornings, my boots damp with dew as I munched on a cold apple I'd snagged from a low hanging branch. I tell you, nothing tastes as good as an apple picked right from the tree- heavenly! 

Well, the other day I spotted some apple prints online and wanted desperately to incorporate something similar into my life! And that's how I came up with these Apple Print Coasters.

1. I started with the usual cast of characters: acrylic paint, fabric with coordinating thread, iron-able batting, and an apple (please ignore that bias tape - it didn't end up being used in my project!).
2. Using a rotary blade since I'm not the straightest cutter when using scissors, I sliced my fabric into 4 inch squares. Once the fabric was prepared, I sliced an apple and prepped my paint.
3. And then it was time to print! My apple was especially juicy, so before I lathering paint on the apple using a foam brush, I wiped it with a paper towel to remove the excess apple juice.
4. Next up: stamping! I didn't want my prints to be completely perfect, so I only reapplied paint between every 2 stamps. I was also careful to also paint the stem of my apple, which I think makes the prints even easier to distinguish. After I had finished stamping, I left my prints to dry for a couple of hours.

5. Once the prints were dry, it was time to assemble! I ironed the batting between two pieces of 4 inch fabric (one of which had been printed upon), and kept things together with a couple of straight pins.
6. Once everything was ironed, I turned to my trusty sewing machine.
7. I ran a simple stitch around the perimeter of the coaster and I ended up using a contrasting thread to make things really "pop."
8. Then I quickly cut the edges off each of the coasters, leaving a but of fabric around my sewn edges... and I was finished!

As I found out, 4 inches seemed to be the perfect size for most of my glasses/mugs as well as the perfect size for my stamping apple!

 Of course, I couldn't stamp in a single color, so I added a few red and green apples to my coaster stash.

These little coaster were SO easy to whip up, I made some extras that I packaged up with a little baker's twine. I think a stack of coasters, along with a box of tea or a pretty new mug, will make great "get well soon" gifts this winter when my friends and family get a cold!

APPLE PRINT COASTERS SUPPLY LIST
Cotton fabric
Iron-able batting
Thread
Scissors
Paint 
Foam paint brush
Apple, cut in half
Iron
Sewing machine

Felt-bottomed Leaf Coasters

I absolutely loved the the felt I used to make my Autumn Felt Garland, and since I had some felt left over after that little project I decided to whip up some Felt-bottomed Leaf Coasters.

I started with the usual suspects: some cork coasters, felt, coordinating acrylic paints, and paper leaves (you might recognize those from my Thanksgiving Pumpkin).

I began the project by tracing the leaves onto the coasters. Then I painted the leaf shapes using acrylic paint and outlined the leaf shape with a contrasting paint color.

Once the paint was dry, it was time to apply the felt bottoms.

I cut circles out of the felt (I made the circles slightly smaller than the cork coasters), and glued them to the bottoms of the painted coasters using Tacky Glue.

And in no time at all, I had glued felt to the bottoms of all my coasters.

And once the glue dried, my coasters were finished. Cute, right? And more importantly, simple!

And when the coasters are all wrapped up with ribbon and accompanied by a bottle of sparkling wine, they make a great hostess gift!

FELT-BOTTOMED LEAF COASTERS SUPPLY LIST
Cork coasters (I got mine at Muji)
Felt
Acrylic paint (I used Americana)
Paint brush
Scissors
Tacky Glue
Leaf templates (optional)