One of my favorite gifts this year was the photo coasters I made for a couple people. I saw this idea on Pinterest from this blog originally.
The tiles I found at Mendards. I believe it was about $3.50 for a set of 9 tiles!
I stalked Facebook (like every good friend does) and copied some of my favorite pictures. One of the sets I made for Erin with photos of her little girls. another for a co-worker with pictures of her grandkids, and another friend with friend and family photos.
I cropped the photos to 4x4 size. (Next time I would crop them to 3.75 x 3.75).
I printed them on tissue paper by cutting an 8.5 x 11 piece of tissue paper, taping the edges to a piece of 8.5x 11 cardstock, and then running through the printer. Make sure the tape is just on the edges and your photos don't print on the tape. Then I cut out the photos.
Then I applied a thin coat of Mod Podge and carefully laid the photos on top.
**Next time I do this, I will use a sanding block to roughen up the edges so it doesn't look so straight cut on the sides. The tissue paper gives it a bit of a worn look and then edges looked too straight when it was all done.
After it dried for about 20-30 minutes, I applied another coat. I applied a total of 4 coats, letting it dry completely in between.
After the last coat was completely dry, I sprayed it with two coats of an aerosol sealer (don't remember right now which one). I made sure to get the sides too so condensation on a glass wouldn't mess it up.
On the back I put those little plastic foot things from the hardware store. I read that you can put felt on the back, but I liked these little things to avoid slipping, especially with little kiddos around! They come in packages of 16, so one package is enough for 1 set of 4 coasters. Felt is definitely a doable option and more cost effective if you choose to do that!
And the final gift!
I will DEFINITELY be making more of these!
