Hey, hey friends! Welcome! Summer is in full swing which means it’s time to break out your beachy decor. I’m in the midst of getting everything out and making more summer decor. I made a DIY rope tray last summer, but when I got it out, I decided I wanted something “more” this year. About two weeks ago I found a beautiful coastal shell fabric at Walmart. They sell two yards from Better Homes and Gardens in a pack, so I picked one up for $10.88 (by the way I found out I can reupholster my headboard with one of those packs, yay!). I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do with them until I got those rope trays and coasters out. Today I’m going to show you how to combine the two into a beautiful coastal rope tray and coaster set.
Coastal Rope Tray Supplies:
- 3-4 packs of sisal rope (Dollar Tree has packs of 6.4ft long) + 1-2 packs for coasters
- white cotton rope to trim the coasters with (DT as well)
- hot glue gun & glue
- coastal themed or blue fabric
- scissors
- Mod Podge (optional)
Make the Rope Tray & Coasters
I used the same rope tray that I made last year for this project. You can get the full tutorial here. Basically, you put hot glue on the edge of the rope and start rolling it in on itself. Keep adding hot glue and rolling rope until you have the base as wide as you want it. Mine is the size as a normal charger for a tablescape.
When you have it as wide as you’d like, start hot gluing layers of rope on top of the outside rope. I made my tray 5 rounds of rope high. Cut and place tape on the rope to keep it from fraying. Cut two pieces about 10 to 12 inches long. Place hot glue on the end of one of the pieces and glue it on the inside of the tray. Glue the other end about 5″ from the first side. Repeat on the opposite side creating two handles.
You’ll make the coasters just like you did with the tray, but only about 4″ wide. Here’s a full tutorial if you need it.
Add Fabric Inside the Coastal Rope Tray
Place your completed tray on top of the fabric with the fabric facedown. Use a pencil to draw around the tray.
Cut the fabric along the pencil line. I cut outside of the circle a little, but that was a mistake. Just cut along the line.
I can’t sew, but if you can, you could cut the circle a little bit outside the pencil line and hem the edge. If you’re like me and don’t sew, you can fold the fabric a little on the edge and glue it down. That helps keep the fabric from fraying. You can see what I mean in this fabric Christmas tree tutorial. You don’t have to cut wider when gluing the edges in because the fabric already has about an inch of space all the way around due to the extra rope on the outsdie.
Once your fabric is hemmed (or not, up to you), place it inside the DIY rope tray. I went around the edges of the fabric and hot glued it down. When you do, make sure you pull it tight, and you won’t have any wrinkles. I took the picture below before I glued the sides down.
Add Bows to the Handles
Make a simple two loop bow with a ribbon matching your fabric. I used a robin’s egg blue color held together with twine in the middle. Place hot glue on the back of the ribbon and glue it to the center of the tray’s handles.
This completes the DIY rope tray portion of your set!
Make & Embellish the Coasters
If you haven’t already made your rope coasters, go ahead and do it now. Once they’re made, add fabric to them. Repeat the same process as you did with cutting the fabric for the tray. Cut the fabric a little wider than the coaster so that you can glue it on.
Place the fabric on the coaster and glue the edges onto the back of the coaster. You could also put Mod Podge on the top of the coaster then place the fabric on. I couldn’t do that because I was super, super low on Mod Podge.
I added a coat of Mod Podge on top of the fabric, but apparently, I forgot to take a picture of that! Sorry!
To give the coasters a completed look, add white cotton rope (or sisal) around the outside of the coaster. Once you get back to where you started gluing the rope on, place a piece of tape around the rope and cut off the extra. Hot glue the end in place.
Repeat the process with as many coasters as you want. I made four, but you can make as many as you need.
Your coastal rope tray set with coaster is complete!
Easy DIY rope tray, right?! I love how this project turned out. It fits in with my coastal summer decor perfectly. Here’s a peek of where the set is right now:
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Very cute!!