Homemade coasters

Projects have been lacking due to not wanting to do anything.

This summer my kids have been going through cups like crazy.  Every night there are about 8 cups in the sink from throughout the day.  This is only from the 2 older kids.  I thought I would find a way for them to reuse cups during the day.  My resolution was homemade coasters that will sit on the counter.  When they finish with a cup then they will rinse it and place it not  the coaster for the next time they need a cup.

First I did a little research and found tons of people that make coasters from ceramic tiles.  We had some left over from a small home project.  I then went through my scrapbook supplies and found I had everything I needed to make the coasters.  No out of pocket expense.  YEAH!!!!

I wanted to make 5 coasters. The coasters are 4.25"x4.25". I cut 5 pieces of scrapbook paper 4"x4".  The next step was applying them to the tiles.  This was easily done with a 4-5 coats of Mod Podge and then I sealed them with an acrylic sealant.  In a little over an hour I had 5 coasters.

Step 1 - Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge and put the paper on top.  Be sure to smooth out any air bubbles

 Step 2 - Apply a few coats of mod podge over the paper.  Let it dry 10-15 minutes between coats.  After each coat it will look white but it dries clear.

Once dried it will look like this.

Some people like the streaked or "canvas" look.  I don't.  I decided to sand down the ridges to get a smooth finish.  I used a fine grit sand paper.  Once you are done, seal it with an acrylic sealant.  Mod Podge is NOT water proof and will become tacky if water sits on it.  I had some felt pads and put those on the bottom to prevent the tiles from scratching anything they were placed on.
 

After sanding and sealing

Now we have a place for everyone's cups except at dinner time when Vivian like to put these on the table for everyone to use.