I was looking through a box of junk in the closet this morning and I came across several disks of a cedar branch that had somehow found their way into my possession – probably for some art project that was never finished (or started for that matter since I still had the wood disks).

I though to myself “what in the world can I do with these?” Coincidentally this evening I was searching through eBay’s World of Good for gift ideas and I came across a Fair Trade company from the West Bank making and selling unfinished wood coasters – bingo! I had my earth friendly gift idea and a fun DIY project all rolled into one.

Here’s what you’ll need for your wood coasters project:

• A dry tree limb – the best wood for making wood coasters is up for debate, but if you use a wood with a nice grain you can’t go wrong. I like Olive or Cedar myself because you can use them unfinished and they have a great smell.

• Miter saw (a hand saw will work but you’ll need to do more sanding – or just claim the unique shape of each coaster was intentional)

• Sandpaper or sander

• A natural stain (you could also carve into the wood or use a wood burning tool if you wanted to get real creative)

• Sealer or finish

• Felt or cork for the bottom if desired

• Glue (not to glue your fingernail back on but to hold the felt in place)

• Nice fancy ribbon to tie them all together (or just toss ‘em on the table and throw a beer on top depending on your level of refinement and class – there’s nothing wrong with the beer method, it’s just that you have to use all that ribbon that’s taking up room in your closet anyway)

So on to the fun part: slice up 5 or 6 pieces of the tree limb about 3/8″ thick (I suppose I should add carefully in there, and use safety goggles because you look cool in them trust me)

Sand one side until it’s nice and smooth, slap on some natural stain or carve a nice picture or practice wood burning ancient hieroglyphics – polyurethane that baby so she’s nice and waterproof, glue on the felt and you are ready to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

If you aren’t the Do It Yourself type (why are you searching for How to Make Coasters from Wood?) then you can always turn to the fine folks at eBay – and the Fair Trade artisans below.