DIY: coasters

Today Clarissa and I stopped by Home Depot and picked up six glazed ceramic square tiles. The last time Nate and I were in Louisville, I saw some of his friends had handmade decoupaged coasters. I thought, I could do that, so I did. Each tile was only 16 cents and I had all the other supplies I needed at home already. I cut pictures from my Real Simple magazines and in no time had six beautiful new coasters. (How great that one issue had a word cloud of things that make people happy. I used it behind the red leaf.) I used straight-up pictures, but in the past I've decoupaged collages with various cut-out objects or strips of pictures. Get creative! This would be really fun and easy if you want to make gifts for someone.

DIY coasters. Click photo for a larger view.

Materials. 4-inch ceramic square tiles, adhesive felt pads, matte finish,
magazines, foam brush, spray gloss finish

Directions.

1. Apply adhesive felt pads to the bottom of each tile.
2. Cut 4-inch squares from pages in the magazines. You could also cut out individual words or pictures.
3. Use the foam brush to cover the top of the tile with matte finish. Lay the magazine pieces on the tile, using your fingers to carefully position the pieces and push out any air bubbles.
4. Cover the surface area with another layer of matte finish.
5. Set aside to dry.
6. Spray the surface of each coaster with spray gloss finish and set aside to dry. Without the glossy finish, water on the bottom of a glass will make the matte finish stick to your glass.

That was easy.