{create this} baby shower name gift from restaurant coasters

Helllllloooooo Friday!  Which means Fin de Friday for my marvelous readers and fantasic followers!  Each Friday, I post some sort of craft adventure, complete with a tutorial and pictures so you can DIY (do-it-yourself) and MYO (make your own)!  Now, let's get crafting...

So, I seem to have a knack for finding ways to repurpose, reuse and create something 'awesome from the average'.  Otherwise known as upcycling.  Now, I am not bragging, but apparently, it's just the way I am wired lately.  And a result, you lucky Fin de Friday readers, get the first installment of my new upcycling series: 

Upcyling:  Free to Fab!

In today's tutorial, we'll turn average into awesome using these:

No, your eyes do not deceive you.  Those are restaurant drink coasters.  And with a little creativity and some basic crafting supplies, you get this:

Turned into a baby shower gift for my best friend and soon to be here 'niece' (since my Bugs do call her Aunt Jen).  Yay for a baby girl and PINK in my future!! 
So without further ado, the HOW-TO:

My coasters are 3.5in x 3.5 in. so I cut girly (!), pink and brown scrapbook paper to fit and used my trusty corner rounder since my coasters are slightly rounded.

I inked the edges of each rounded square - optional of course, but I just love the slightly imperfect, shabby chic look.

And then had to paint the corners of my coasters since my corner rounder does not like to play nice and is a slightly different shape - grumble, grumble.  In the future, I'll probably just adhere my paper then trim the corners.

Now, use good ol' Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the coasters.  Since the coasters are essentially pressed paper, too, go easy on the Mod Podge so the coasters don't curl or bend.

Punch holes at the top and bottom of each coaster except the last one (you don't need holes on the bottom of that one).  I used my Crop-o-dile, the lovely punchy beast!

Since this wall hanging was going to be Jordyn's name - I embellished and decorated each coaster with a 2in. x 2in. square (corner rounded & inked) and a chipboard letter. 

You could also make one with family rules, your last name, "sisters", "family" or simply add pictures instead of letters/words.  These make thoughtful personalized gifts and have been a hit at office baby showers :)

Now, use a length of coordinating ribbon through the top holes of the first coaster so you can hang your coaster creation. Hook the rest of your coasters together with more ribbon (or thread or jump rings or binder rings - whatever tickles your fancy) and voila!

Here are a few more pictures with each coaster letter up close:

Something awesome from the average!  Free to fab!

Now, I realize not everyone will have the neighbor-and-wine-rep who can get loads of coasters and you can always make your own using chipboard or even sturdy cardboard.  SO, you now have my explicit permission to treat yourself to dinner in order to score a few coasters.  Really, you're spending quality time together AND stimulating the economy!!

Sooooooo, what did you think?  Want to see more upcycling projects?  I have a few more projects in store using these coasters, so make some dinner reservations and please follow my blog (new option to follow by email!) so you don't miss a thing!

And now, some fun (I promise!) blog business:

If you make an upcycled project from this series, share it with me!  If you blog about it, please send me the link!  We are one big happy blog family and I would love to do a feature entry (or two or three!)! 

If you have an upcycling project that you haven't blogged about or shared with the masses yet and would like to submit it to be a guest poster in this series in the upcoming weeks (months?!), I would love to take a look!  Send info and pictures, please :)

Email either of the above to me at shakentogetherblog {at} gmail.com.

This project was shared at all the blogs on my Link page!