DIY: Coasters

So my friends from high school, Carrie & Eddie, moved in to a new house a few months back and I decided to make them a little house warming gift to cozy up their new place. This project is super easy. I also made some for Chris & Patrice when they moved in to their new house.

Step 1: Gather you materials.

- tissue paper

- mod podge in matte

- tiles (can be any kind. I used stone tiles purchased from Lowe's for about $4 for a pack of 9.)

- cork

- E6000 glue

- Clear acrylic spray paint

- photos

Step 2: Select your pictures.

I took these pictures straight from Carrie's facebook & blog. They don't need to be super high quality but the more contrast in the picture, the better. I laid them out in Publisher but you could use whatever program you want. I sized mine to 3.75" x 3.75" since my tiles were 4" x 4". I printed them out to make sure that they would all print appropriately on the page.

Step 3: Using the tissue paper.

Cut a piece of tissue paper to the size of your printer paper. Attach the tissue paper to a plain piece of printer paper by taping it down all the way around. Make sure there is enough of a margin that the pictures won't print on to the tape.

Step 4: Print the pictures.

Load your tissue/printer paper into your printer accordingly and print it out. Cut out the pictures. Be careful not to rip your pictures since the tissue paper is very thin. I also rounded my corners since the tile corners were round.

Step 5: Glue your pictures down.

Using the mod podge, place a layer of glue directly on to the tile. Place one of the pictures on the tile. Let the glue dry COMPLETELY.

After the initial coat of glue is completely dry, put another coat of mod podge directly on top of the picture. If you don't wait until the glue is dry, there is a good chance that you will cause the tissue paper to rip since it is so thin. Repeat a couple layers of the mod podge on top of the picture, being sure to wait for the glue to dry between each coat. Mod podge goes on like white Elmer's glue but it dries clear.



Step 6: Seal the coaster.

After all layers of mod podge have completely dried, seal the coaster with an acrylic paint.  I used Krylon UV protection clear sealer in glossy. I took the coasters out in the garage and sprayed them down. I let them dry over night and then gave them another coat the next morning.

Step 7: Apply cork board.

Because you are using tile, you want to apply something to the back of the coasters to keep them from scratching up the tables. I used cork but you can also use felt or those little rubber feet things. {I may try those next time}. Cut your cork to a square slightly smaller than the tile.

Then using your E6000 glue, glue down the cork to the tile. Try to let it the glue and the spray paint dry completely before stacking them. Lesson learned. I stacked mine right away because I was a few hours away from seeing Carrie and when I gave them to her, some of the cork ripped off the back when she pulled them apart. Not exactly the delivery presentation I was going for...

Step 8: Wrap it up!

Wrap up these bad boys and give them away! Every mommy loves pictures of her family!

Let me know if you try them out and share pictures with me!!

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