DIY Wooden Napkin Rings
Craft your own gorgeous DIY wooden napkin rings – made from wood slice coasters! If you enjoyed this but prefer a different medium, try these resin napkin rings instead. This post contains affiliate links. Disclaimer: this post has some safety hazards involved. When doing this, make sure to wear protective gear, only adults should try it, and you are assuming responsibility for the risks involved.
You may have noticed… I’m obsessed with napkin rings. They are like jewelry for the table and there is just so much you can do with it from a crafting perspective.
I wanted a set of rustic modern wood napkin rings, with clean lines but an organic feel.
So obviously, I had to make them!
The challenge: Can I turn wood slice coasters into DIY wooden napkin rings?
Of course, the answer is a resounding… yes!
Tips for making DIY wooden napkin rings
My main strategy for making these was going to be to simply carve at them using a rotary tool.
I pulled out my MakerX rotary and got to carving. But it wasn’t that simple. I mean, it was AND it wasn’t…
I always try to be honest with you with the scope of a project. This one is a pretty big one. It’s not physically taxing, but it’s not just a quick make – you need some patience and you need to be able to handle a LOT of dust.
Safety first
Yes, there is a LOT of dust. I recommend having a vacuum handy to keep it under control as you go along.
You absolutely need a good respirator mask for this – or you’ll be inhaling the dust. And you’ll want goggles too – even if you wear glasses.
If this is too much of an ask for you, go ahead and try these copper wire DIY napkin rings instead – they’re much easier.
Choosing your coasters
First of all, most wood slice coasters, including the ones that I got, are cheap little things.
And yes, you should keep this project cheap.
I aimed for 3 inch coasters to try and start off closer to my final size. The problem is you need AT LEAST the 3 inches – if the size varies too much it’ll be a problem – not all will work. The standard coaster is 4 inches, and you’ll find much more in that size. You’ll probably even get better quality for a better price, due to there just being more options – and therefore an ounce of competition.
In fact, I went ahead after making this project and made more of them so I can serve up to 12, and used thicker, larger coasters. It’s much harder (more sanding, etc) but the grain was much prettier and I got the size I wanted more consistently.
The original ones I got had a foamy fake-feeling bark on it, which is fine – I was taking it off anyway, and it came off quite easily. But on some the bark was too thick, and the nicest napkin rings were the ones that had a bit more rim on them. So some just came out too thin.
Another thing is that we’re relying on the “spread” of the coaster to give the final napkin ring some style, and not the thickness. If you do find thicker wood slices (1 inch thick) then go ahead, get them. But it’ll be much harder to make the hole – unless you have more advanced power tools (more on that later).
So get 4 inch coasters, and look for quality if you can find it. And be prepared to sand. And if you can use power tools, do it.
The biggest challenge: making the hole
The absolute biggest challenge was starting the hole on these.
I knew this would be a challenge, but I was up for it.
I generally played with the drill bit on my rotary tool and my craft knife to nudge out the middle as messy as I can and it worked great – it just took some time,.
Eventually my husband suggested that I laser cut it out. Because, you know, I own a laser cutter. Haha. I forgot to mention that. Don’t run away!
I tested the process without a laser cutter on enough to know that it’ll work – it just takes a bit more time and patience. And after a few I was ready for a bit of a shortcut – mainly because I needed to get this post ready. But it’s totally doable with just the rotary.
The ideal way to make the hole would actually be using a 3/4-1 inch hole saw drill bit – it’s a bit of a small, delicate piece to work on, but that’s a cheap attachment to get!
So if you’re willing to go beyond the rotary, I totally recommend getting that. And if you do own a laser cutter, it’ll just zap that hole out.
You want everything on these DIY wooden napkin rings to feel organic and hand-carved anyway, so you really just need the starting hole to make it work.
And one final point: if you ARE using larger (3.5-4 inch) coasters, you might also want to expedite the edge removal a bit using either a laser if you have one, wood carving tools, or more efficient tools than just sanding as it’ll create a lot of dust.
Finishing it off
After you finished hand-carving your DIY wooden napkin rings, you’re going to want to finish it off somehow. My goal here was to get it as organic looking as possible – really, just a classy, beautiful, clean napkin ring.
But leaving it unfinished wasn’t an option – especially when placing it on the table with food.
I played with the following options:
- Gilding wax.This did retain the natural texture of the wood and added a bit of glam. I’d totally make a set like this if I find my courage to craft another!! But it wasn’t quite what I was looking for.
- White paint wash. I wanted a modern, light wood look and this wasn’t quite where I wanted it. Again, it’s an option for another set, and doable, but meh.
- Butcher block oil. I really really wanted to avoid spending more on this craft, but this was definitely the perfect choice and what I used in the final, staged images in this post.
In an nutshell: these DIY wooden napkin rings don’t require special skills to make. They don’t require advanced DIY tools but those would help. They do require decent crafting tools including a rotary and protective equipment. And they do require some patience and dedication to the cause (which I frankly had plenty of).
How to make DIY Wooden napkin rings from wood slice coasters
Watch the video tutorial
Watch the full-length video on YouTube if you prefer to learn that way! Or scroll down for written instructions with photos.
Supplies needed
- Wood slices – Smaller ones will be much easier to work with, especially without advanced tools, but you’ll be limited in edge space. Quality tends to be poorer. Larger ones had a nicer grain in my experience, are a bit thicker, and will be harder to remove the outer edge without better tools.
- Rotary tool – I used the Worx MakerX. You’ll want angle grinder (the rotary bits, not the tool), sanding drum, and drill attachments. I got these drill bits to complement what the rotary came with. A cutting bit might help, especially if using a larger coaster.
- Craft/utility knife
- Optional: starting your project will be easier with a drill hole saw (not featured in this tutorial)
- Respirator mask and goggles
- Recommending: cut-resistant glove
- Butcher block oil and rag
Process
1. Start by making the hole in the center. You want it to be large enough to comfortably slide a napkin through, so keep one handy for reference. It might get dusty so use a junky one.
If you have a hole saw drill bit, use that, your life will be much easier. If you’re working with the rotary-only, start by drilling holes around the perimeter of your circle.
2. Use a craft knife to help you break through them. In hindsight, I wished I HAD tried a cutting bit for the rotary so if you have one, definitely try that!
3. Poke out the hole. This is just a starting hole – you’ll be carving it from here!
4. Next step is to remove the worst of the bark. You can use the craft knife for the flakey bits, but I found that the angle grinder attachment got it off in seconds.
5. It’s time to start carving! I found that the coarse sanding drum was just perfect for this. It got the job done meticulously, taking off plenty of wood when needed, especially when on a higher setting, and giving me more detailed work when I slowed it down.
Start by cleaning up your hole. Make it the size you want at this stage.
6. Next, shape the perimeter. Go for that “live-edge” look that has a slightly organic, uneven shape.
7. And as a final step, you’ll want to round off all your edges as well.
And that includes the inside edges. For this step, I recommend putting your rotary on a lower setting so you don’t take off too much wood.
Refine until you are happy with the shape, the smoothness, etc.
You can smooth things out further with a finer grit sandpaper too.
8. When you’re happy, clean it off and finish it off with butcher block oil according to package directions.
Your DIY wooden napkin rings are finished and fabulous! What kind of napkin ring tutorial do you want to see next? Comment below!
DIY Wooden Napkin Rings
Craft your own gorgeous DIY wooden napkin rings - made from wood slice coasters!
Materials
- Wood slice coasters - the kind with a bark edge
- Craft/utility knife
- Respirator mask and goggles
- Recommending: cut-resistant glove
- Butcher block oil and rag
Tools
- Rotary tool - I used the Worx MakerX. You'll want angle grinder (the rotary bits, not the tool), sanding drum, and drill attachments. I got these drill bits to complement what the rotary came with.
- Optional: starting your project will be easier with a drill hole saw (not featured in this tutorial)
Instructions
1. Start by makin the hole in the center. You want it to be large enough to comfortably slide a napkin through, so keep one handy for reference. It might get dusty so use a junky one.
If you have a hole saw drill bit, use that, your life will be much easier. If you're working with the rotary-only, start by drilling holes around the perimeter of your circle.
2. Use a craft knife to help you break through them.
3. Poke out the hole. This is just a starting hole - you'll be carving it from here!
4. Next step is to remove the worst of the bark. You can use the craft knife for the flakey bits, but I found that the angle grinder attachment got it off in seconds.
5. It's time to start carving! I found that the coarse sanding drum was just perfect for this. It got the job done meticulously, taking off plenty of wood when needed, especially when on a higher setting, and giving me more detailed work when I slowed it down.
Start by cleaning up your hole. Make it the size you want at this stage.
6. Next, shape the perimeter. Go for that "live-edge" look that has a slightly organic, uneven shape.
7. And as a final step, you'll want to round off all your edges as well.
And that includes the inside edges. For this step, I recommend putting your rotary on a lower setting so you don't take off too much wood.
Refine until you are happy with the shape, the smoothness, etc.
You can smooth things out further with a finer grit sandpaper too.
8. When you're happy, clean it off and finish it off with butcher block oil according to package directions.
Your DIY wooden napkin rings are finished and fabulous! What kind of napkin ring tutorial do you want to see next? Comment below!
Notes
Ideas for Finishing off your Wooden Napkin Rings:
Gilding wax: This did retain the natural texture of the wood and added a bit of glam. I'd totally make a set like this if I find my courage to craft another!! But it wasn't quite what I was looking for.
White paint wash: I wanted a modern, light wood look and this wasn't quite where I wanted it. Again, it's an option for another set, and doable, but meh.
Butcher block oil: I really really wanted to avoid spending more on this craft, but this was definitely the perfect choice and what I used in the final, staged images in this post.
