Tile Coasters and Clay Pots Coasters

I've seen several pins on Pinterest about how to easily make coasters with scrapbook paper and Mod Podge, and I decided to kick it up a notch.

The tile coaster method usually involves buying the cheapo 4 inch ceramic tile squares in basic white.  But while I was browsing the tile aisle at Lowe's I found some really cool porcelain tiles that had more of a tumbled stone look. Were they as cheap as the cheapos? No, but at 33 cents apiece I didn't really feel that it was an issue.  This was still going to be a super inexpensive project.  I bought four in a cocoa color and four in a lighter beige color.  Since most of my home is decorated in browns, it made more sense to me than stark white tiles, anyway. I also bought four 4 inch clay pot saucers at Michael's.

Scrapbook paper in the brown family is not exactly plentiful, but I did find two really cool patterns that I absolutely loved.  One was the words "live," "laugh," and "love" printed in various fonts against a beige background.  The other looked like letters and numbers in various sizes of printer's type - all brown shades. The other ones I had would have been ok, but these were the ones that seemed to "pop" the most when held up against the different types of tile.

Be sure to use wax paper!

I used my paper trimmer to trim four squares of each of the papers. I made the squares a little smaller than 4 x 4 so the paper didn't extend competely to the edge.  Once I decided which paper I wanted on which colored stone, I brushed a layer of Mod Podge on each tile and centered the paper on top, making sure not to have any bubbles.  Once it had set, I covered the top and sides with two coats of Mod Podge, letting it dry in between coats for about an hour.do this on wax paper in case it drips down.  If it does, you can pretty much just pick off the excess.  If it leaves a bump, a little sanding block action should take care of that.

Make sure it's dry before flipping!

 Moving on to the saucers.  First, I painted the tops and bottoms with two THIN coats of Rustoleum Metallic spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze. Be sure to let the paint dry adequately in between.  Don't be impatient, especially once you flip over to do the other side.  If you rush it, you'll be sorry, in the form of messed up edges.

Meanwhile, get out your circle cutter.  Or, if you're like me and don't have one, find a glass or some other round object that is close to the size of the inner circle of the saucer.  Use that cup to cut out four circles of your choice of scrapbook paper. Use the same Mod Podge technique described above. This time make sure to coat the inside of the saucers as well.  You want the whole thing waterproof. Two coats again, being sure to let it dry completely in between coats. Then a coat of clearcoat, just cause.
 
Last step.  You need something on the bottom to keep the stones and saucers from roughing up your tables.  I used little felt circles that you put on chair legs. They're a little thicker than I would like, but it's what I had. I cut them in quarters and put one in each corner. You could also use felt or cork. Thin cork sheets would probably work best.  But I'm happy with these.  I think they look really unique and I'm so glad I didn't go with the cheapo white ceramic tiles.