Photo Tile Coasters With Vinyl

I made a set of photo coasters for each set of grandparents for Christmas (hope they're not checking my blog!)...

The photo of the second set is a little overexposed...they look more like the ones in the top photo.  :)

To make the coasters, I bought some smooth ivory travertine tiles from Home Depot.  I printed the photos onto tissue paper and Modge Podged them to the tiles.  I added two more coats of Modge Podge on top, tapping my foam brush over the surface so there weren't any brush stroke lines in the finish.

When dry, I added sentiments that were cut from black vinyl (using Home Decor and Home Accents cartridges).  Once adhered, I Modge Podged over the entire surface again.  Then I coated them with matte varnish (4-5 times each) and again tapped the brush over the surface to remove the brush stroke lines.  When dry, I hot glued cork to the back. 

The Mess Maker and Noise Maker will be giving/sending these to their grandparents for Christmas and the Mess Maker is REALLY excited!!!  :)

Thanks for looking!

Just Buggin' DT Challenge #12: Triple Whammy

This week's Just Buggin DT Challenge (#12) is called "Triple Whammy"!  The challenge: use 3 die cuts on a project.  I wanted the images to coordinate really well, but I also wanted to make sure using three die cuts didn't overwhelm the project.  When I looked at my Home Accents cartridge, an idea popped into my head...and here is the result:

Supplies used:

1.  Travertine tile (Home Depot)

2.  Alcohol Inks: Latte, Mushroom, Ginger (Tim Holtz--Adirondack)

3.  Staz-On ink: Black

4.  Cricut Vinyl: Black

5.  Cricut cartridge: Home Accents

Other:  picture stand (Hobby Lobby)

These 4x4 travertine tiles are from Home Depot and come in a box of 9 for about $5.50.  Before you begin, you'll want to wash the tile well with water and wipe clean with a cloth...these are pretty dusty when you take them out of the box! 

To ink the background, use two or three colors of alcohol ink applied to an ink applicator pad (start out with a few of each color and add more as needed).  Dab all over the tile for an "aged" look.  Allow to dry.  Then, using Staz-On ink, apply black ink around the sides of the tile to "frame" the tile. Allow to dry. 

Using the Cricut, cut desired images (I used the "home" and a flourish image from Home Accents) from black vinyl.  Remove backing and adhere die cuts to tile, making sure to smooth out any wrinkles.  And that's it!  What a super-easy and fun project!!!

Thanks for looking!  :)

Stamped Tile Coasters

My CTMH Upline showed me how to do these....although I must say that hers are much better.  But since it's my first try, I'll cut myself some slack!  :)

These are tumbled marble tiles from Home Depot...I used alcohol ink in three colors to saturate the background of each tile.  Then I used Staz-On ink to stamp the sentiment and flourishes.  My Upline recommended baking them at 250 degrees for about 20 minutes to set the ink, but since I'm not completely happy with them, I didn't bother!  I did spray them with acrylic sealer, just so they didn't ink anything that they may come in contact with.  Then I added cork to the bottom.

That's it!  Thanks for looking!  :)

More Photo/Stamped Coasters (Better This TIme!!!)

This was my second attempt at these and I must say they came out MUCH better than the first!!!  :)  I got tumbled marble instead of Travertine.  That was a HUGE improvement.  Then I used less Modge Podge, spread it with my finger so the brush lines wouldn't show and let the photos dry before attempting to put a layer of modge podge over them.  :)

I also only put one coat of Modge Podge over the photos instead of three, and used an acrylic sealer (spray) to seal them.  I like the finish of these a LOT better than the others.  The directions can be found on the Split Coast Stampers site. 

I'm thinking Christmas presents....  :)

Altered "Marble" Coasters with Photos and Stamps

I have been wanting to make some photo coasters for a while now, and today after I dropped the Mess Maker off at preschool, I went to Home Depot to get some marble tiles...except that when I got there I decided I liked the travertine better.  :)  So I got travertine tiles.

So all is good in the world until I begin to construct them and realize that, "Hey, travertine has holes and dips and valleys....not the best surface for pasting a thin piece of tissue paper".  DUH!!!  But, since I'm just practicing at this point, I went ahead and completed them.  I didn't look up any directions, so we'll see if they actually withstand cold beverages and water rings.  :)

To start, I taped a piece of white tissue paper to a sheet of regular printer paper.  I printed my photos in black and white onto the tissue paper, then I trimmed the photos and removed them from the paper.  I used Modge Podge to adhere the photos to the tiles, being careful not to rip the tissue paper.

When it was dry, I stamped the sentiments and flourishes in black solvent ink, let them dry and then applied a layer of acrylic sealer over the entire coaster.  To protect my furniture surface, I glued a thin piece of cork onto the back of each coaster. 

Now if you look really closely, you"ll notice that there are a couple of small areas where there's no travertine under the photo and I know that it's only a matter of time before the photo rips through in those spots...but I guess at that point I can just tell the Household CFO that I need to go buy more tiles, more stamps, more ink, etc. so I can make new ones...see how my mind works???   :)