Ceramic Tile Coasters

When I saw this project on line, I knew I had to try it. Super easy and inexpensive and they end up looking like classy expensive coasters. So I went through the stack of scrap book paper that I had acquired. I chose a muted swirly design that I thought would work well with lots of different décor and whacked it to pieces with my trusty long arm paper cutter. (What, you don't have a paper cutter? Well you must not be a crafty teacher then. :) It is a worthwhile investment if you do projects with paper regularly, but I'm sure a ruler and a scissors or a rotary cutter would work just fine.)

You'll need the following:

4- 4 1/4" ceramic tiles (They usually sell for about 15 cents a piece at the hardware store)

1- 12" piece of scrapbook paper of your choosing

Mod Podge and a foam brush for application

Squares of craft felt or fleece remnants (or you could uses stick on felt circles)

Fabric glue (or a glue gun with glue)

Supplies for cutting paper and fabric (I used a paper cutter and a rotary cutter)

My total cost for a set of 4 coasters (minus glue) was around $1. I never buy anything full price though, so $2 may be a more realistic total.

I cut my squares 4 1/8" by 4 1/8" so there would be a tiny little border around the edge of the tile. The tiles angle just slightly at the edge, so having a little border makes it easier to get the edges to lay down flat--but your tiles might be slightly different.

Next, apply the Mod Podge to the top surface of the tiles with a foam brush. Apply any excess glue from the brush or tile onto the back of your paper before you lay it down, especially along the edges. If you want a little more wiggle room once you've laid the paper down, put on a little more glue--it will allow you to slide the paper around more (but it can make the paper wrinkle if you use too much, so don't go too crazy on the glue).

After the glue has dried, use the foam brush again to apply a thin layer of Mod Podge over the paper to seal it. I allowed that coat to dry and put on a second coat. If you're worried about drippy drinks, you may want to coat the coaster with some acrylic sealer once you're finished, but the Mod Podge finish should be fine for light use.

Once your coasters are dry, you can then finish off the rough underside of the tile with a piece of felt or fleece. I had some felt squares lying around (you can pick them up for pretty cheap at Wal-mart or Michael's), so I used the tile itself as a template to cut the felt with a rotary cutter and a cutting board. In order to keep the felt from being larger than the tile, I slid the bottom and right edge of the tile just slightly over the edge of the felt and then used a the rotary cutter to very quickly cut the material. Using a pen to mark the felt this way and then cut with a scissors should work just fine too.

Glue the felt squares to the bottom of your tile using a fabric glue like Tacky Glue.

When I was done, I ended up with a classy looking set of tile coasters. I was pleased with my project, and when I showed them to hubby he said, "They cost how much to make? You could totally sell those!" This is high praise from the man who puts up with my piles of in progress projects. :) I'm not sure I want to start churning out tons of coasters, but they would certainly make great gifts!

Note: If your tiles are still slightly tacky from the mod podge even after drying for days (which sometimes happens)--a light coat of acrylic sealer helps and makes them more water resistant and take away the tackiness. However, I haven't had any problems with the mod podge alone getting gummy from drinks dripping on the tiles.

Pictures of more completed tile coasters can be found on this update post: More Scrapbook Paper Coasters