As a mom and teacher, I will always have a soft spot for those imperfectly perfect hand-crafted Christmas presents our kiddos get so excited about wrapping up and gifting to their loved ones on Christmas. This trivet or coaster craft is an inexpensive and easy way for your students or kids to show off their artistic skills and make a memorable and useful gift for someone special!
Below are the step by step directions and affiliate links to all of the supplies I use to make the trivets (or coasters) come to life!
The supplies:
- A hot glue gun, and this cordless one has been a game-changer for me
- Felt craft squares
- 3×3 or 6×6 Blank tiles – note, you can also get these pretty cheap at Home Depot or sometimes they will even donate them to your classroom (which is AMAZING!). Also, I usually give each student four (4) 3×3 tiles to make coasters or two (2) 6×6 tiles to make trivets
- GLITTER!!!
- Sharpie markers
- Here’s 3 different sized packs of Christmas Stencils
- And the star of the show (besides the kids, of course): Dishwasher Safe Mod Podge!
Now let’s get crafting!
Step 1: Grab your plain white tiles and stencils (or let you kids free hand!). As I mentioned above, for coasters, I give each student four (4) 3×3 tiles, and for trivets, I give each student two (2) 6×6 tiles.
Step 2: (Pro-tip) If using stencils, tape them down to the tile so they don’t slide
Step 3: Get decorating! Grab your favorite Sharpie colors and start coloring in the stencils and/or drawing on the tiles
Step 4: Cut 5 smaller felt squares for each tile (or buy precut ones) and hot glue them to the back of each tile in a quincunx pattern (like on dice)
Step 5: After 5 minutes of dry time, add a thin layer of the dishwasher safe mod podge. If you want to add glitter, this is the time to do it! Sprinkle the glitter over the tile right after you add the mod podge, then mod podge one more layer over top of the glitter.
Step 6: Let them dry, wrap them up, and gift them to a loved one!
See the step by step directions in action here!
I love including this craft as one of the activities for the Holiday stations I do the last day of school before break. I create station cards for each activity and set them up around the room for groups of students to circulate through. I found by doing it this way instead of all at once, it required less supplies and was WAY less chaotic – which is what we all need the last day before break.
Here are my two other favorite stations to do this day:
Make your own gingerbread [play] dough
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of flour
- 1 cup salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp allspice
- 1 cup warm water
Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients together
Step 2: Stir in the water
Step 3: Knead the dough on a flat surface
Step 4: Divide it up and store in an airtight container or baggie
Make a graham cracker gingerbread house
This is always a hit and I am shocked how many of my kiddos have never made a Gingerbread House before this! It pairs perfectly since we usually have had a Gingerbread week the week before!
Sign up for my email list below to get a freebie including these three (3) crafts and blank copies of my station cards to create your own activities!
And don't forget to pin the below image so you remember these crafts and stations each year!
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