How to Make Designer-ish Coasters

It’s down to the wire. You’re driving home from work and suddenly realize your kids are out of school after tomorrow and you haven’t gotten their teacher anything. Your mind immediately jumps from lack of a Christmas gift to poor grades based on the teacher’s bad mood to not being able to graduate with a good GPA and not getting into college and your child ending up homeless on the street corner or worse — living with you until he’s 30.

Your very retirement depends on getting a cool, hip gift for a teacher who has so many mugs coffee shops are calling her.

What do you do?

Or you’re invited to your boss’s Christmas party and you have a sneaky suspicion hostess gifts are de rigueur. You’re not quite sure what de rigueur means and realize you probably shouldn’t give them a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, but seriously, you haven’t had a raise since the iPhone came out. You want something that says, “We’re classy people, man. But classy in that Pinterest-upcycled-dress sort of way.”

What do you do?

Sit down, kids. I’m about to show you how to make a designer-ish coasters for less than $2 a set.

How to Make Tile Coasters

What you’ll need:

Mod Podge
4×4 ceramic tiles (These guys are only $.16 each at Home Depot.)
Self-adhesive felt pads
Fabric, scrapbook paper, newspaper, comics, wrapping paper, photographs, book pages… are you getting the fact that you could pretty much go with anything here?

Step 1. Wipe off the tiles with a damp cloth. They’ve been hanging out with other tiles getting all dusty and dirty.

Step 2. Cut out roughly 4.5 x 4.5 squares out of the material you’re going to use to cover the tiles. I used scrap fabric and didn’t even bother straight lines or ironing. It’ll all work out in the end and why add extra steps?

Step 3. Put a layer of Mod Podge on the top of your tiles.

Step 4. Place the fabric or paper over the tile and smooth. Let dry while you go make yourself a martini.

Step 5. Trim any edges that hang over the top of the tile. Paint a layer of Mod Podge over the top of the covered tiles. Let dry while you refresh your martini.

Step 6. Paint a second layer of Mod Podge over the top of the covered tiles. Let dry while you decide whether or not you can finish this project after drinking three martinis. (Don’t worry. You can.)

Step 7. Paint a third and final layer of Mod Podge. Let dry.

Step 8. Place a self-adhesive felt pad on each of the four corners of the tiles.

Step 9. Step back and realize you like the coasters so much, you’re going to have to make another set for yourself.

Go forth and Mod Podge!