At one time I thought I would make gifts for Christmas. I thought, "Oh! Coasters would be great!" Then my husband politely confirmed my wonder if people even used coasters anymore - nope. Shoot. I guess I'll have to shelf that idea for a bit. Then at a crafting night at Tara's, Brittny's project was making custom coasters. Hot damn! Game back on!
I never really needed coasters of my own UNTIL I got new end tables! Back during the makeover that was one of my buys. And I do NOT want these puppies getting scratched up or water marked. No ma'am. Bring on the Pinterest...
Supplies: mod podge ($4.99), tile ($3.97 for an 8-pack), scrapbooking paper ($.16/sheet - I got 2), foam adhesive dots ($2.99 for the mega variety pack), pencil, scissors, paint brush, straightedge (in my case, an outlet cover that was in the 'junk' drawer).
As it turned out, I didn't even need the straightedge because I needed rounded corners to match my tile. I could have gotten less expensive tile but I didn't like the sides of the ceramic/porcelain tiles. These tumbled ones that I got had a better profile. I ended up tracing the tile and then free-hand trimming it down because it needed to be smaller than the face of the tile. Otherwise, there was overhang. I should note right about now that I didn't actually READ how to do this...I winged it based on what I heard at the end of the table where Brittny was sitting while she did hers. I realize now it probably wasn't the best plan. Ok...I got the paper cut out.
Next comes the 'feet' of the coasters. Like I said before, I didn't want my tables to be scratched. I got the foam dots because I couldn't find what I was really after so I used something I thought would work well. I now have extra crap if my son ever wants to make 3D art. These actually worked really well!
Step whatever I'm on - Mod Podge (MP). I put a coat down on the tile first. I let it dry just a little - enough to get tacky - and placed the paper down one tile at a time. After all the paper was on, I went back for the next layer of MP. I noticed that the edges were sort of coming up a little (because I hadn't made my layer on the tile far enough to the edges) and bubble in the center, so I had the bright idea to roll it with a rolling pin. All this did was pull the pattern off a spot on one tile and make another one dirty looking. UHG! Tiles: 2, Chantel 2. If you aren't following, that meant I had two I needed to redo. Luckily I had extra tiles! I ended up doing three top coats of MP - I hope that is enough!
All in all, they didn't turn out terrible. Being the project perfectionist I am, I'll probably try it again. There was some bubbling in the paper but it isn't horrible. I need to be more patient between coats of MP. Testimony: Crafting is not my strong suit when it comes to waiting for things to dry! Just go ahead and fast forward me the end of the 15-20 minutes I need to wait!
C.
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