Personalized Coasters

If you are either my parents or my in-laws…cease reading immediately unless you desire your Christmas gifts to be ruined.  This is fair warning.  If you like your surprises to be ruined…then read on!
This Christmas has been all about handmade gifts.  The budget was one reason, but I really wanted to get back to what the season is all about, you know, time with family and friends, and gifts from the heart.  I complained a few times to Heather that it would truly be SO much easier to just go online shopping for gifts, but I think that is the point.  These are a labor of love and not just something that a retailer thought would be good for my loved ones.
Anyhoo…So the gift that I decided would be fun for the grandparents is a personalized set of coasters.  What?  You don’t think that’s sentimental?  Oh contraire…BEHOLD!

Keep beholding…behold a little longer…and that’s good.  How cute are these??  Thank you Pinterest for all the amazing ideas.  I knew that I wanted to do pictures on them, and that I wanted to use tiles. So here’s how it all went down!  First you need to print your pictures on white tissue paper.  The best way to do this is to tape the tissue paper to a regular old piece of printer paper.  I even have a laser printer and I was surprised at how well this worked!

I also picked up a pack of tiles at The Home Depot for $3.97.  I liked the way the honed looked, and I chose a light color since I was doing the pictures in black and white.  If I had done a darker tile, the contrast of the white would not be as sharp, and I think the pics would be a bit muddled.

Cut your pictures to fit the tile.  Swipe a light coat of Mod Podge onto the tile, then lay the tissue paper picture gently on, being careful not to rip the tissue.  If you have a few wrinkles, it’s ok, just smooth them down as gently as possible.

Sorry my white balance is so wonky.  Then sun kept going in and out and blah blah blah excuses excuses!  Haha.  See how I have a few wrinkles above?  I think they are kind of nice, and certainly don’t disrupt the effect.  Because it’s more of a rustic tile, it works.  Let the tissue dry a little, then swipe more Mod Podge on the top.  If you do it when it’s too wet, it will rip the tissue.  Trust me.  Then when that coat is dry, finish it off with a bit of clear acrylic spray.  Make sure you get the sides of the tile, too. if you have any slight overhang.


The acrylic spray gives it a nice finish and seals it all in.  I did 2 coats just to be sure.  Then the last step is to back the tile with some felt.  Just cut the felt to size and glue on. 

ALL DONE!!!! Just finish it off with a ribbon of your choice and send it off!  I can’t wait for the ‘rents to see them!  I’m seriously proud of myself, and I love love love the end result!  Hope they like it as much as I do!  Or at least lie and say they do!

Merry Merry All!