A few years ago I decided I wanted to jazz up our traditional Thanksgiving paper escort cards. You know, those little tent cards we see at conferences? Yeah, those! So I spray painted some pine cones gold and printed everyone's name on a cute little tag. Well we have used those for a few years in a row and now it's time for something new. We usually get over 30 people at our Thanksgiving table and I wasn't about to make everyone a knitted hat so here's what I did instead.

What you'll need:

• 1-2 thick branches (4"-5" diameter)
• A wood burner (check Amazon)
• A mitersaw (or ask someone to cut them for you)
• 1 can of Fast Drying Polyurethane (Clear semi gloss)
• Earplugs and safety goggles (or in my case, sunglasses)
• A handy fiance to help you
• Good tunes

Step 1: Measure out the desired coaster width. Use that 2x4 that you see in the photo above as a stopper. You can adjust it in the clamp once you reach the perfect thickness. I truthfully have no idea how to do that but Chris magically made it happen.

Step 2: Slice away! Safely. Wear your earplugs and goggles (or sunglasses).

Step 3: Plug in your wood burner. Wait until it's really hot and practice on a separate piece of wood. All I wanted to do here is write people's names in block letters and "2016" underneath. I tried to write cursive and it was so hard so block letters it is!

Step 4: Once you have a batch of wood-burned coasters ready, head over to your staining station for a nice little semi glossy coat of polyurethane. This is not eco friendly by any means and I would love to find another alternative if you have any ideas?

Step 5: Thank your team for the support and pose for silly photos!

Happy Thanksgiving!