circles, sawdust, and a slightly ambitious Christmas gift

There’s always that moment before Christmas where you think “I could buy something… or I could make something.” This year, I chose chaos.

the brief (self-imposed, obviously)

My brother has a new couch. Which, in adult terms, means: no drinks on the armrest,no balancing mugs on questionable surfaces, and … coasters are now required. So instead of buying a perfectly reasonable set, I decided to design and laser-cut a custom coaster set.

Because why make life easy.

Each piece has its own variation of the Tree of Life motif, which felt fitting (and slightly poetic, if we’re being generous). Also, let’s be honest—they just look good.

from flat pieces to actual structure

This is where things got interesting.

Rather than just making coasters, I added a holder. A proper, slot-together, “this might actually work” holder.

Watching it come together was one of those quietly satisfying moments where everything lines up and you start to feel like you might know what you’re doing.

And yes, it even has engraving. Because if you’re going to go to this much effort, you might as well personalise it.

 materials (and mystery plywood)

This project used basswood (reliable, easy to cut, behaves nicely) and something called “technological plywood”. I still don’t fully know what makes it “technological,” but it cuts beautifully and has a really nice finish. So we’re not asking too many questions.

Everything was sealed with Mod Podge to give it a bit of protection (and to survive actual use, not just admiration).

The end result? A fully functional, slightly over-engineered, but very satisfying set of coasters—custom-made for a new lounge room.

Also, I now cannot give normal gifts ever again.