DIY Photo Coasters

DIY Photo Coasters on marble tile:

Really easy to make, cheap, and fun!  

I was initially a bit worried about making these, but I was very happy with the results.

Below you can find the original tutorial that I followed, directions and some more tips from my experience making them.

Original tutorial (thank you!): http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2012/02/diy-coasters-and-free-printables.html

What you need:

- Mod Podge (decoupage glue)

- 4x4 in or 10x10cm tumbled marble tiles (in Italy @Leroy Merlin, in US @ Lowe's)

- A sealer for your coasters (Rush-Oleum Ultimate Polyurethane with Soft Touch or clear spray paint)

- Pictures or artwork printed on REGULAR paper (NOT photo paper) - the thinner the better. If your pictures or artwork have words on it, MAKE SURE THAT YOU PRINT THEM AS A MIRRORED IMAGE SO IT'S REVERSED (flip horizontally). You will be applying them to the tile, so the printed picture must be a mirrored copy of what you want the final picture to look like. 

- Felt pads

- Brush

- Some kind of credit card or id card

- Sponge and water

- Oven

Directions:

1. Gather materials.

2. Put two coats of Mod Podge on the BACK of the tile (thanks to the original tutorial for this tip … as I was making it I could see how it would work better on the back and not the front). I let the Mod Podge dry for about 5-10 minutes in between coats.

3. Once the two coats of Mod Podge on the tile are dry, preheat oven to 170° F or ~80° C. Then put a coat of Mod Podge on your image. 

4. Carefully place the image on the tile, making sure to line up the edges correctly.   You'll want the side of the tile with the Mod Podge on it to be facing your image. Press firmly, especially around edges.

5. Use a credit card or id card to gently push the air bubbles out. Here you will want to push down gently to move the air bubbles, but don't push down so hard that you are scraping the Mod Podge toward the edges.

6. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. I did 4 coasters at a time. 

7. Let your tiles cool down.

8. With some water and a sponge, wet the tile and gently rub off the paper. 

I learned a lot doing this step. I was really scared of rubbing the picture off initially so I went really slowly at first but then found out some things. Some of my tips are:

- With a wrung out sponge, wet the entire tile generously (don't soak) and then start rubbing off the paper with your finger. 

- You will have to rub fairly hard…the design is now on your Mod Podge, so the more you rub, the more the design will become lighter. But you still need to rub the paper off, so don't be too scared applying some pressure. This probably also depends a lot on how thick the paper you printed your image on is.

I found that what worked best for me was to :

A. rub off with fair amount of water the inital layer of paper so that the picture looks like how you want the final result. 

B. Let dry. You'll then see that there are still remnants of paper covering the image. 

C. Using hardly any water, rub off these remaining remnants of paper. 

An initial "mistake" I did was use too much water after I would let it dry the first time after step A. The water makes the image look great and it seems like there are no more places to rub paper off, but as soon as they dry you see that that's not the case. So you have to make sure that in step C. you hardly use any water or you will just be repeating steps B. and C. again and again and again (that's what I did! :-) ). 

9. Let the tiles dry completely and then add your sealer. I used two coats of something like a clear spray paint, but then since I was still worried about it, I added a layer of Mod Podge on top as well. 

10. Add felt pads to the bottom so you don't scratch the furniture while using your new coasters! 

11. Admire your new coasters!! They have a fun, kind of worn look that gives them personality, don't you think?