The Ramseys Finally Have Coasters

We finally have coasters! Whoo hoo! As I mentioned in the Linky Love post last Saturday, we have been needing some drinking coasters for a while now. I have been perusing the internet for a DIY coaster tutorial that was easy with a beautiful result. Well, I found out that there are a lot. But I really wanted to take a stab at the ceramic tile coasters. Ooh, violent. I know this ceramic tile coaster tutorial has been done many times, but c'mon people! We needed coasters really badly. I'll share with you what I did as well as the link to the tutorial I followed by Prudent Baby.

 

Fortunately enough, I already had almost all of the supplies on hand! How's that for easy?

 Le Supplies (No, I don't speak French.):

• Scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, pretty napkins, any paper product of that nature. Prudent Baby says not to use anything printed off because the ink will smear.
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Felt or cork board (felt is a whole lot cheaper)
• Mod Podge (I've had this for a while now, so I don't remember how much a container of it is... maybe around $5? But it lasts!)
• Water-resistant, Clear Acrylic spray or Polyurethane spray (this costs around $5, but yet again - it lasts). 
• Foam/sponge brush
• Ceramic Tiles (these are super cheap! I got mine for free from a friend, but they are around 16 cents a piece, depending on what kind of tile you get. 

First, trace the tile onto your paper and cut it out. You can choose to leave room on the sides for a border, but I like the paper to cover the entire surface. I did, however, have a border on my yellow coasters because I used small cards for the paper, and I didn't want to have a crease in the middle of my coaster. Yes, you can also use cards for this project! There are so many fabulous cards out there with gorgeous designs. You can also get creative and cut out patterns and paste them onto your coasters to create your own picture (like the bottom cut out in the picture above).

It was my intention to pick one theme or the other (yellow or the blues and purples), but I loved them both so I chose to do four in the yellow and four in the blue/purple/flower theme.

Next, take your Mod Podge and podge up that tile. I used glossy, but you can certainly choose to do matte if you like. Carefully place your paper onto the podged (what a fun word) tile. You have a couple of precious seconds to play around with your paper to get it straightened out on the tile, but once those seconds are up, don't move it! Or you'll end up with a goopy, podgey mess. Wait a couple of minutes for the paper to stick to the tile and then podge the top of the paper. "Podge" may be my new favorite verb.

Let the tiles dry for 15-20 minutes, then apply another coat on top. Repeat this process a few more times.

Isn't our baby beautiful? I have to brag on her. She's a 50 pound puppy who is crazy and always wants to play (as all puppies are), but she just sat there like a well-behaved lady while I sat on the floor and crafted at her eye and tail level. I am such a proud mommy. :) I usually do projects on my craft table a.k.a. our dining room table, but the coffee table was closer to the big windows and provided more ventilation. I was so afraid our puppy would try to lick the mod podge, but she didn't even bother me at all. She just sat there watching me. Maybe she was watching my methods so that she could go and make her own doggie coasters. Or maybe I've gone insane.

The next step is to make felt circles for the bottom of your coasters. You can do this in between coats of mod podge while you're waiting for them to dry. Another option is to cut the felt into squares to cover the entire bottoms of the tiles. You can also choose to use cork board which looks fancier and more professional. I went with felt circles. Cause that's how I roll. And because I had limited felt in my supply of craft scraps.

Glue them on! Be sure to use a waterproof glue like the amazing E-6000 or any other glue of that nature. The husby was helping me take pictures (another one of his ways to "craft" with me. Ha! He's adorable.) I was trying to get him to take pictures of me gluing the felt on, but I ended up with two or three pictures of the coaster and a million ugly pictures of me! Maybe next time I'll let him glue and I'll take the pictures.

The final step is to spray your coasters with the clear acrylic (or polyurethane) spray. I chose the glossy coating, but the matte look would work well too. Apply according to the directions given on the can. I did a couple of coats for extra waterproofiness. 

 Here is the yellow set.

And here is the other set. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep both sets (because we definitely could use all 8) or give one set to someone for a present (another great reason to make these).


And that's all! They're so beautiful! They add so much to the space even though that's not their main purpose. I love them.They are so bright and cheery and have such a cool texture from the mod podge and the brush strokes. Also, they were less than $5! Well, not counting the mod podge (which I already had) and the clear acrylic spray, but those will be used for many more projects in the future, so I only count a percentage of their cost. Only $5?? Whaat? Subliminal message: Must make coasters now.

So long, nasty water rings! Good riddance.