Well, it was bound to happen at LEAST once :D Here’s your Friday edition of

…on Saturday :D

Today we’re making a corkboard and scrapbook paper coffee coaster, along with a super simple sock cup cozy!

Corkboard Coffee Coaster

Age Range: 3-4 and up

Time Required: 10-15 minutes (plus drying time)

Skills: Adult present to cut (or pre-cut) the cork board as well as trace the scrapbook paper

Supplies:

sheet of corkboard (dollar store!)
scrapbook paper (or fabric)
modge podge, weld bond, ecoglue (steer clear of the goop and highly toxic stuff, unless this is an adult only project!)
clear acrylic (gloss or matte) sealant spray (CAUTION: ADULTS ONLY! This part is toxic)
paint brush
xacto knife (for the cork – NOT a paper cutter)

Step 1

Using your xacto knife, cut the cork board the size you want your coasters to be.

Our dollar store has them in packs of 2 – for a “standard size” coaster, we got 9 out of each sheet!

Step 2

Trace cork board outline on the back side of the scrapbook paper or fabric you chose to use.

Cut out INSIDE the line (you want your paper/fabric to be a slight bit smaller than the cork, so it doesn’t hang over the edge and catch).

Step 3

I tried a number of adhesive solutions to see which would work the best for this project. Because cork is porous, I was afraid it would just absorb the glue and not adhere anything. So I tried goop glue, weld bond, white glue, spray adhesive and modge podge. And while the goop was a good adherant, it is a kids project and I didn’t want anything toxic. The results were no different between modge podge, weld bond and goop, so we went with the easy modge podge for the group, and I used weld bond at home.

Modge podge/glue the paper and fabric onto the cork board. Let dry a minute or two, then modge podge over top.

Step 4

Once completely dry, spray or spread your acrylic sealer over top. This is the toxic part, there really isn’t any way around this. Just modge podge gets sticky when it gets hot, so you need something to seal everything over top. Just make sure you do this in a well ventilated space with no kids around!

You can also do this project with tiles from the hardware store – paint them or modge podge fabric, photos, etc. over top, then seal. Make sure you put felt on the bottom so it doesn’t scratch your coffee table!

Sock Coffee Cozy

Age Range: 4 and up

Time Required: 10-20 minutes

Skills Required: cut, sew a button, hot glue gun chaperoning

Supplies:

low heat hot glue gun
leg warmer, tube sock, knit sock
buttons, embroidery thread, needle
any other embellishments (fabric/felt rosettes, bows, pom poms, etc).
take out paper cup, or mug with no handle

I originally saw this idea in a few forms on pinterest, and thought it would be a fantastic idea to use for our co-op kids!

We didn’t end up doing it as we had too many other projects to work on, but I did do it at home, and it turned out super cute!

A few notes on this project:

Don’t use the dollar store socks. The weave and elastic in the sock is too stretchy, so you can see the stitching when you pull it over the cup.

Also, you may or may not need to serge or do a z-stitch across each edge of the sock (especially the cut edge) to prevent the sock from pulling apart (but again, mostly with the dollar store socks this is the problem)

Let’s get started! Because it’s soooooooo complicated :D

Step 1

Select your sock, cut to the length you want for your cup.

Step 2

Embellish with buttons, felt shapes, fabric or felt flowers, pom poms, etc.

The possibilities are really quite endless! (If you put fabric around one edge, make sure you measure it with the cup stretched out, or it won’t fit over the cup!)

Step 3

Deliver with a cute mug included! Just make sure you get the ceramic mugs with the rubber slips on the outside, or your sock cozy will slip right off the mug!