Save Old Candle Lids For Useful Upcycled Coaster DIY

While people do buy candles for the amazing fragrances, their vessels can also be a major selling point, making it easy to both freshen and decorate your home with candles. They come in many scents, shapes, and sizes. Most come in typical canister containers, but others can come in vessels that are basically pieces of art. From elegantly designed glass candles to just your basic canister, the wax products can be used even long after the candle itself has been burned up. It's easy to find creative ways to recycle and repurpose these jars both in and around your home for aesthetic-looking storage, but what do you do with the lids? Instead of simply tossing them, you can upcycle and DIY them into coasters. Whether they're metal, tin, wood, or a combination of materials, old candle lids can be spared from the trash and reinvented as cute coasters to gift or use around your home.

All you'll need to complete this upcycling DIY are candle lids, Mod Podge, glue, and some printed napkins or fabric. You can also pick up a canister of shellac finish to make the coasters more durable and weatherproof. If you don't have any printed napkins on hand, you can use printed tissue paper in different colors or designs, old tablecloths, or scraps of fabric you may have lying around. You'll also need scissors and glue for assembling purposes. To make them even more upscale, you can also buy a roll of cork to add to the bottom of your candle-lid-turned-coaster for more grip and protection from condensation and heat from hot beverages.

This DIY will only work with flat candle lids; any candle lid with a little handle or decorative accent piece atop of it will not make an ideal coaster. Collect all of your candle lids and clean them off so you have a fresh, clean surface to work with. Remove any stickers, excess wax, or other labels that may be attached to the lids. Once cleaned, take your fabric, tissue paper, or printed napkin of choice and cut enough material to cover the top of the candle lid as well as the edges. Attach it onto an old candle jar lid using glue, and decoupage it by adding a few coats of Mod Podge. Let the glue and Mod Podge dry completely and finish with a coat of shellac. Let the shellac dry completely, too, before putting your DIY coasters to use both indoors and outdoors. You can also use your upcycled coasters as drink covers for outdoor gatherings to ensure critters don't fly into your refreshing beverage.

For extra durability and protection, you can add cork to fill in the space underneath the candle lid. If you bought a cork roll instead of pre-cut cork backings, you can lay the candle lid atop the cork and stencil out enough to line and fill the bottom of it. Secure it in place with some glue or alternate adhesive. Adding cork to the bottom of your coasters helps it better grip onto surfaces and can help absorb heat and moisture from anything that's placed on top of the coaster.