DIY Tile Coasters

Supplies

Paper for printing the papers;
Ruler and/or craft knife, scissors or paper trimmer;
Brush or sponge;
Small tiles – the ones I used were approximately 4″ (10 cm ) square;
Modge podge or PVA glue; and
Varnish or waterproof sealant.

Instructions

I used Boutique collabs from the Digichick designer as my paper but there are many beautiful designs to choose from.

After printing two sheets of the paper, I cut them into 4″ squares, ready to fit onto the tiles.

Then I used a mix of PVA glue and water (half water and half glue):

This mix was then brushed all over the tile:

I placed a square of the printed paper onto the tile and then once it was placed correctly on the tile, I brushed it all over with the PVA mix. I made sure to cover all the printed square, even going over the edges to ensure it was completely adhered to the tile:

I allowed a day or so for the papers to dry before adding the cork matting to the tiles.

I cut the cork matting into 3¾” square pieces (a fraction smaller than the tile) and I used 100% PVA glue (not the 50/50 mix) to cover each mat:

You can actually see the pen lines above where I marked out the 3¾” squares prior to cutting out the cork.

I did have to use thick layer of glue as is soaked into the cork fairly quickly:

I then placed the cork on the back of the tile:

As you can see, I got quite carried away making the tiles!!! Well, since I had gone to all the trouble to cut out the cork (which was a real pain, to be honest as the cork (which was in a roll) kept rolling back up as I was trying to cut it out;) !) I thought I may was well use the whole box of tiles

Anyhow, this was the first lot of coasters I made, ready for the drying:

There were actually a further 12 tiles as I made these into Christmas gifts for friends and family, although I did use Stampin’ Up! paper on the other tiles.

The tiles needed to be pressed down really hard to ensure that the cork adhered firmly to the tile. I placed the tiles underneath a large (and heavy!) wallpaper book and left them to dry. You do need to use something heavy to keep the cork matting flat underneath the tile as it took about a week to dry the tiles. Mind you, my office is not necessarily the warmest of places so chances are, the tiles would have dried sooner in a warmer location.

When I was sure the tiles and cork were 100% dry, I covered the front of the tiles with a sealant.

The sealant dried clear and was to form a waterproof covering. I also brushed over some clear varnish just to make absolutely certain the tiles were waterproof.

All I had to do then was tie some ribbon around the tiles ready to give as a gift.