Matchstick Placemats & Coasters

6 March 2018

This lovely homeware project takes a little patience and time to do but the end result is well worth it!

Click here for a PDF of this project


  • Educraft Coloured Matchsticks 
  • Cork Sheets 
  • Elmer’s Tacky Glue 
  • Plastic Palette Knife 
  • Scissors 
  • Ruler 
  • Crystal Clear Spray 
  • Liquitex Pouring Medium 

How to do it

  1. Take the pack of Educraft matchsticks and sort them out into piles by colour. Next, cut out the desired size of Cork sheet as your placemats and coasters. (ours were 300mm x 250mm for each placemat and 100mm x 100mm for each coaster).
  2. On a flat surface, cover a small area of the cork sheet with tacky glue (start at the corner first). This will ensure the glue doesn’t dry out. Now, carefully place the matchsticks on top of the cork sheet. They should be placed one by one and lined up to the edges of the cork sheet. Ensure that the matchsticks are tightly packed together so no gaps are exposed. Continue placing the matchsticks side by side until the glue area is covered in matchsticks. Glue another small area and continue laying the matchsticks down. Repeat until the whole area of the cork sheet is covered. Leave to dry.
  3. Once dry, spray the placemat or coaster with a few coats of Crystal Clear Spray. This will seal the matchsticks and provide a protective coating. Leave to dry between each coating.
  4. If you want to create a wipe-able surface you can dribble Liquitex Pouring Medium over the top of the glued down matchsticks. Ensure that you apply an even coating that is a few millimetres thick. You can use a palette knife to do this. (Please note the pouring medium will seep into any gaps and ridges).
  5. Keep flat and then leave to dry. This will take many hours to harden.
  6. Once dry, the coasters and placemats can be wiped clean with a damp cloth. Idea: You can create different patterns by layering the sticks at different angles and alternating the order of the colours, or even combining with plain matchsticks.