If you can't play with your food...

...play with the table decor!

I've often found myself at someone's table, usually after the meal, contemplating the various arrangements that might be made with the decorative items on the table, like napkins, napkin rings, place mats, candle holders, and the like. Depending on how comfortable I feel with my hosts, I might even start playing around with these things.

This propensity in myself, and my inclination to create interactive art, as well as my semi-obsession with reusing leftover materials, led to the development of paper mosaic coasters.

Like much of my work, it started with experimenting on a set that I felt good enough to give as a gift to a very supportive friend. I started with 4-inch squares and created a design that allowed for various permutations. It went well, so I made another square set in a slightly different palette, sent as a gift to another friend.

Never to stick to one thing for too long, I started work on a hexagon shape. At the time, I didn't realize how many different arrangements could be created with one very simple three-section design. Now it's one I will return to over and over in different color combinations.

I recently completed a new set in a dark red and gray combination (I wanted to use up some of my many red scraps!). This time around I took process photos.

First, I cut out my backing paper and taped them together on the back. I traced the curving line lightly in pencil, and filled it in with white fragments.

I knew I wanted to use red, but I wasn't completely sold on the second color. I laid out some grays, but didn't like it, so I took a look at my stock of tans and beiges.

Still not convinced, I went ahead and laid down the red. These scraps had been sorted out from my stash as ones falling into the "darker" category, though there is still lots of variety.

After I finished the red, I took a second look at gray. I realized that the first scraps I had tried leaned more toward the blue/purple side of gray, and perhaps that's why I didn't like it. When I pulled out some warmer gray scraps, I started to see it come together.

Because I like the edges of each coaster to fit together like a puzzle, I overlap the scraps when laying them down, and cut them apart afterward.

My first layer of backing material is very rigid cardboard salvaged from three-ring binders whose plastic coverings have worn out or are otherwise no longer usable as binders.

My third layer is thin cork. The coasters are then sealed with several layers of clear acrylic medium (aka Mod Podge, though not that brand). When I first started making the coasters, I tried three different acrylic media and this one seemed the most resistant to moisture. Recipients of previous sets report that they are very useable with both hot and cold beverage containers.

I am so very taken with this design that I made a video showing the different ways they can be arranged.

If you too want to play with your tableware, contact me about making a set in the shape and color combination of your choice!