A Sea of Color | DIY KALEIDOSCOPE COASTERS

DIY Kaleidoscope Coasters | Motte's Blog

I'm sure we all remember chasing rainbows when we were young(er).

My siblings and I would be delighted to find one hanging over the distant trees and would set out on a quest to find its very end. Double rainbows were the best; twice as much gold to go around!

It's funny though, however hard we'd run, the rainbow never seemed to come any closer.

(Which usually meant we'd give up within only a few short minutes. But hey, at least we tried!)

Rainbows are magical like that; a dreamy spectacle shimmering in the sky, from red to violet, hard to locate, but held on to tightly in tales of treasures and little people.

I wonder if a leprechaun would be hard to overpower. I'm just saying cause surely he wouldn't just give away his valuables willingly?!

Would a four leaf clover do the trick, do you think? I've heard they love those...

It's funny though, even as adults we still search for that magical play of light and rain the sky. It takes just one person to lift a finger, and everyone turns to look; and their faces light up like the clouds were raining pay checks.

Which would be awesome.

It is definitely rainbow weather here in Berlin. The last rays of the summer sun, and the first rain of the fall season finally meet for a little tête-à-tête.

Rainbows always remind me of looking down a kaleidoscope. The light hits those little gems ever so slightly and the result is a magical sea of shapes and colors that seems to have no end.

So I thought to myself the other day - admiring that tiny, pale rainbow in the distance, thinking of gems spinning round and round -, what to do with this image in my head?

- Make coasters of course!

The triangles mimic the shapes of a kaleidoscope while the iridescent craft paper captures all the colors of a rainbow. Depending on the angle in which the light hits the coasters, they light up in greens, blues, yellows or pinks, and I am loving it! Situated in a less illuminated room, it almost looks as though the coasters were merely gold and silver, thereby giving them a more sophisticated look. But then the sun comes out and the illusion bursts, and the coasters show their true colors.

Ha, get it?

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
Cork coasters, round
Compass
Ruler
Pencil
Exacto knife
Acrylic paint, white
Paint brush
Self-adhesive craft paper, gold, silver, iridescent
Scissors
Mod Podge (optional)

Step 1: Draw a perfect hexagon with six equal sides onto your cork coaster using a compass: Widen the compass to match the radius of the circular coaster (mine has a diameter of 9cm, therefore a radius of 4,5cm). Place the point of the compass to the edge of the cork circle, and spin the compass towards the top maintaining the angle you've just set for the compass. There, make a small mark on the edge of the circle. Now move the compass point to the mark you just made and spin the compass once more, thus creating another mark on the edge of the compass. Continue to move around the circle. You should end up back at the mark where you originally started. (If not, the angle of the compass probably changed while you worked, in which case you'll have to readjust the width of the compass and start over.) Ultimately, you should be left with six marks in total.

Draw a straight line that connects the adjacent dots using a ruler and pencil, and you are left with a perfect hexagon.

Step 2: Following the six lines you just created, cut your cork into a hexagon shape with the help of an exacto knife.

Step 3: Using a paint brush and white acrylic paint, paint the top and sides of the coaster and let dry. Optionally, paint the bottom of the coaster as well.

Step 4: While the paint is drying, cut the self-adhesive craft paper into triangles of various sizes. Make sure to have a good sized selection of larger and smaller triangles.

Step 5: Starting at the edges of the coaster, place the larger triangles onto the coaster working your way towards the middle. While doing so, remove the protective sheet from the back of the triangles to reveal the adhesive so that the triangles stick into place. Don't worry about overlapping the triangles.

Step 6: Once you have a first layer of triangles done, place smaller triangles on top. This way you can also fill any gaps previously created. I then found a central point from where I had most of the smaller triangles come together.

Step 7: Optionally, you can finish off with a layer of Mod Podge for extra security. I opted against it for now as I feared it might dull the sparkle somewhat, but might go back to it at some point, depending on how durable the coasters turn out to be.