Budget Terrazzo Coasters

Scouring through the internet I came across a beautiful set of coasters, only to realise It wasn't a set, more a single coaster, carrying a price tag of £8. So naturally I thought, yeah I can make them!

Quick Google of polymer clay, few clicks later I had 25 colours on their way. Now I've not made one thing with clay but I gathered a round circle couldn't be too hard right?

Okay..... things you will need

• White Polymer Clay 200g in total but 50g for each coaster.

• Assortment of coloured Polymer Clay. Depending on the design you are going for you only need approx a 50p coin size of each colour.

• Tools to cut your coloured clay

• Greaseproof Paper

• Rolling Pin

• Baking Tray

• Cup of coffee or something stronger (optional)

Pick your base colour, I did try Fimo Sahara. But in the end I wanted bright colours and felt the white complimented this better.

Weigh your base colour out to 50g, place it on a piece of greaseproof paper, add another on top and roll like crazy!

I found that needing the clay a little and shaping into a ball made it easier to work with.

For the style I opted for this was enough clay for one coaster.

I was careful to clean my area of work, wash my hands before working with the white clay but it somehow still ended up with bits in... I think the jumper I had on could have been contributing to this. But It was a cold, miserable day so just accepted the specks of fluff.

So, once you have rolled out your base it's the fun part, pick your desired colours, I just rolled a small piece from one colour and used my handy plastic cutting tool which came with the bargain eBay set.

I cut different sizes, I liked the imperfect shapes and gently pressed them in.

Don't worry if they are making the surface uneven it will all work out soon.

Add all your coloured clay pieces then once you're sure you're happy, grab that piece of greaseproof paper again and roll hard.

Take the paper off and use your cutter to make your circle.

I found that 10cm was the right size for the coasters, and could only find a cup but it worked perfectly.

With stamps I had lying around I added initials as a little memento.

Cook in the oven for 30 minutes at 130 degrees. or 1/2 Gas Mark.

Again to keep the white clay well, white I did try and bake in a ovenproof dish, it didn't warm the clay up enough, reverted back to baking the other coasters on a baking tray and it was actually perfect.

The finished product,

I think the reason two of the coasters are whiter is due to the oven temperature, it was accidentally turned up on my last batch of coasters.

I actually tried a little varnish after the had completely cooled, I think it finishes the coasters off nicely.

A last google search for rubber dots for the underneath, just to make sure they are sturdy enough, we don't want a spilt coffee!

Here's a quick time laps of the process.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/11f866_f259f1a0c8644f7fa5fe4386082a8cdc/720p/mp4/file.mp4

I don't think the limit of decoration stops with clay?

Drop a comment If you have tried any other material and any other helpful tips.

I'd love to see photos if you have tried these!

Alice

p.s Thanks for reading this far.