How to Make a Laser Cut Acrylic Coaster With a Motivational Twist

Are you ready to add a touch of motivation to your coffee breaks or workspace? In this step-by-step tutorial, I’ll guide you through the process of creating your own adorable acrylic coaster featuring a charming scalloped border and the empowering mantra ‘You Got This!’

Laser cutting technology makes it easier than ever to bring your creative visions to life, so grab your materials and let’s get started on this fun and inspiring project!”

I’m loving my xTool P2 machine and looking forward to sharing more projects like this in the future.

This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will make a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Materials

• Acrylic Sheet
• Super glue

I used two different acrylic sheets for this project. Both were 1/8″ thick material. For the base of the coaster I went with blue glitter translucent from xTool. For the top parts I used pastel spearmint green from Houston Acrylic. You can use code handmadeweekly10 for 10% off at Houston acrylic!

Here is a picture of the blue glitter acrylic.

And here is the pastel spearmint green. Note that it has a paper film over it so what you see below isn’t the actual acrylic color.

Tools

• Laser Cutter
• Weeding tool & tweezers

How to Download the Design

If you want to make this coaster you can download the SVG cut files for free. The design uses two layers so there are two separate SVG files.

To access the design, enter your name and email address in the form below and you’ll get an email with the coaster cut files. You can then upload these files into the software program that you use with your laser cutter.

Laser Cut Acrylic Coaster: Step by Step Tutorial

Step 1 – Upload the design into the software program

Once you’ve downloaded the design or created your own design, upload it into the software program that is compatible with your laser cutter. I use the xTool P2 so I work in creative space which is their free software program.

The design should upload to 4″ in width and height which is the standard size for a coaster. Be sure to check this and if you create your own design size it to 4″.

Make sure that you set the two different SVG files as separate layers.

Layer 1 shown below (red) will be the base of the coaster. Layer 2 shown below (purple) will be the top layer. You’ll cut out the words so the color of the text will actually be the bottom layer (layer 1).

Step 2 – Set the Material Settings

If you are using creative space, the material settings that I used are listed below.

For Solid colored acrylic sheet

• Material: 3mm white acrylic
• Thickness: 0.118 in
• Processing Path: by layer

For tranparent acrylic sheet

• Material: 3mm Transparent Acrylic
• Thickness: 0.118 in
• Processing Path: by layer

Step 3 – Set the Layer Settings

Both layers

• Processing type: Cut
• Power: 50
• Speed: 15 mm/s
• Pass: 1
• Tab Generation: Off

Step 4 – Process

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to cut the two layers.

Here is a picture of the base cut out of the blue glitter translucent acrylic.

Below is the other layer cut out of the pastel spearmint green acrylic. This side of the acrylic has a brown paper film on it so you can’t actually see the green acrylic in the photo below. I peeled the paper film off after the parts were cut.

Here is a picture of all of the parts after they had been cut and the paper was removed. You’ll need the base piece (blue glitter), the border piece and the center piece with the text. The pieces shown in the bottom left are not used in the design.

Step 5 – Glue the Acrylic Pieces to the Base

I used Loctite super glue to attach the top to the top pieces to the base. To avoid gluing your fingers together I would highly recommend some craft tweezers.

First, attach the outside border and do your best to align it with the base. The super glue dries almost immediately so you’ll need to work fast.

Then apply glue to the back of the center piece that has the text and drop it down onto the base with an even border around it.

The last pieces to glue are the tiny circles for the center of the two O’s. My trick for these is to add some super glue to a sheet of paper. Grab the little circle with your tweezers. Dab the bottom into the glue and then blot it on the paper to remove the excess. Then you’ll have just enough glue on the bottom to place the circle without having excess seep out.

DIY Laser Cut Acrylic Coaster Photos

Here is the finished coaster! The coloring below is much more representative of the actual acrylic color. I took the progress photos with my iPhone and the finished photos below are with my DSLR.

I love the way that the blue translucent acrylic looks when the light shines through.

You might notice below that I didn’t do a perfect job of lining up the border with the base. Did I mention that the super glue dries fast? ;)

Here is a view that shows some of the side. It’s two tone from the side when you use a different base and top color like I did.

If you’re wondering what it looks like from the back…

Of course I couldn’t post a tutorial for a coaster without at least one picture that has a drink on it. The coaster is 4″ in diameter which is a standard coaster dimension and perfectly sized for any drink.

What do you think of this project? Are you going to make your own acrylic coaster? I’d love to see it if you do. Please tag me on social @handmadeweekly or send me an email.

If you’re loving laser crafting as much as me, here are more of my tutorials.