Sabby In Suburbia: “Scrappy” Tile Coaster Project

Monday, February 8, 2010

“Scrappy” Tile Coaster Project

My three little ones (2 boys and 1 furry girl) can cause some serious damage in and around our house. Yet another reason for my frugal DIYing.

Here’s an example of the damage. This wasn’t the worst one, but I don’t have photographic proof of the others that died for the cause.

Poor little woven coaster. You didn’t stand a chance against them, did you?

I’ve had this lovely set for years. It took less than one year for my toddler to find them and distribute them all over the house. It took even less time for the dog to turn them into her newest chewie.

I needed something to stand up to both drink glass perspiration AND my kiddos.

Inspiration?? DIY ceramic coasters that I’ve seen everywhere like here and here and here. Cute, right? So many options!

I know these have been done a million and one ways. My little twist? Instead of buying 4x4 tiles, I used several odd left over scrap pieces from our master bathroom floor project. I couldn’t just let them go to waste!

Frugal and with a little green thrown in!

So, while Carpenter Dad was still grouting the new floor, I snagged his tile cutter to make several 4x4ish squares out of the leftover end pieces.

Here’s what I was left with.

Some of them are 4'x4 inches exactly and others are a bit smaller. I made sure I had a least 4 of each size that I cut to make complete sets.

For my first sets, I painted out the edges with some black acrylic craft paint.

Quick note, I like to dry projects on shoe box lid edges. If a little paint is on the back of the piece, it won’t stick to your surface. Wax paper also works well for this.

While the edges were drying, I picked out the paper I wanted to use and cut it to size.

When the edges were dry, I used Mod Podge (love this stuff!) to attach the paper to the top of each tile.

Let them dry. (Went to SuperBowl party!)

After drying, I trimmed up any paper that was hanging over the edges. Then, I sponge brushed more Mod Podge over the entire tile. Once again, let that dry.

I’ve read that Mod Podge can sometimes peel when exposed to water and heat. Something that a coaster is liable to run into over the course of its life. So I sprayed a few coats of Krylon Acrylic Crystal Clear in satin over each coaster.

It’s pretty chilly outside and spray painting hasn’t really been an option for months. The back of my can says use when the temps are above 50 degrees and today its only in the 20’s.

What to do?

I covered a cookie sheet with newspaper and topped that with wax paper. Then, I ran out to the freezing garage, sprayed my tiles and ran back in with them. Repeat.

Ha! It worked, although I’m not sure what the consequences of using spray paint in the cold might be.

Next step, measure and cut felt for the bottoms of each tile. Don’t want to scratch up the end tables.

I attached the felt with Tacky glue. I’ve also seen crafters using smaller self-adhesive felt circles as well. I’m sure either works.

Finally, the finished product!

I added a little black craft paint to the edges of this set for a more aged look. They are my favorite so far.

I had everything, minus the felt, in this project at hand, so the total cost was $1. Gotta’ love that!

Now, I know all of you busy DIYers out there have some extra tile pieces laying around somewhere. Or maybe you will think to repurpose them as something else on your next project? Either way, I hope this gives you a little inspiration for scrappy little pieces of tile.