Pinterest Idea - Coasters

In an effort to jump start my so-called blog, I decided to document my Friday night Pinterest project.  And, may I just say, this is the easiest project ever!  Here is the pin I used as inspiration -

Make Your Own Coasters

I put my own little spin on it, but, that is the point of Pinterest isn't it?  I already had the ever lovely Mod Podge in my craft repertoire, so I made a quick stop in Hobby Lobby and purchased Clear Acrylic High Gloss Coating (with my 40% off coupon of course).  I also purchased the cork at HL.  They sell rolls of cork, however, this being my first attempt at this project, I decided to only buy what I needed to make one set of coasters.  If it goes well, and it has, I'll go back for more.  I also chose to purchase the pre-cut 4x4 square coasters because I'm a lazy, corner cutting crafter who didn't want to have to deal with cutting a huge piece of cork into 4x4 squares when I could just buy it that way.

The tiles themselves were purchased at Home Depot, but you could find them at Lowes or any other home improvement type store.  They were very inexpensive and found in the bathroom/kitchen area with all the other tiles.  I used the smooth ceramic style.

The first step is to decide on what you are going to use on your coaster.  Some choices - stamps, scrapbook paper, pictures, paper napkins, etc..  I'm sure there are other things I just haven't thought of yet.  I decided to use some of my extra photos that I always have leftover from scrapbooks.  So, my set ended up being an Alamo theme.

I trimmed my photos down to 4x4 which was super easy since they were printed as 4x6.  I used my paper trimmer to crop the photos (again borrowing from my scrapping supplies!).

Now comes the fun part.  Apply the Mod Podge generously and evenly over the tile.  Then, place your photo (or whatever you are using) on the tile.  Then, apply another layer of Mod Podge over top of the picture.  

Once you have applied the coat of Mod Podge over your picture, set aside and allow it to dry for about 15 minutes.  Then, apply several more coats allowing them to dry for 15-20 minutes between each.  The directions on the Mod Podge say 5 coats, so when in doubt, just follow the directions!  =)

Next, I hot glued the cork squares to the bottom of the tiles.  Then, the final step is to spray Clear Acrylic High Gloss Coating over your coasters.  This not only gives them a beautiful glossy finish, it give your coasters a nice water-resistent finish.

And, voila!  Personalized coasters!  They make a great gift too.  Just tie a pretty ribbon around them and you've got a great gift for newlyweds, new home owners, grandparents, new parents, etc.  Imagine giving your parents coasters with pictures of your family on them!  Happiness!