Coaster Craze

Our old coasters

   As you know, while I've been waiting for people to want to give me a job, I've been bored out of my mind. As a break from the endless stream of applications, I like to indulge in some Pinterest crafting. Unfortunately, I was running out of money to make things, so I had to use what I already had. Whilst sitting on the couch one day, I looked down at the coasters on the coffee table and realized how profoundly ugly they were. I had a project!

Our refinished coasters

    I had recently seen a tutorial on how to take scrapbook paper and tile and turn them into coasters. I decided that since the coasters we had were already made of tile, they could stand to be spruced up a bit. I used the leftover scrapbook paper from my helmet to do just that. I cut it to size (I wasn't really worrying about proportions, due to the white border) and did a quick Mod Podge on both sides of the paper and the surface of the coasters. The paper went on quickly and easily and it didn't take too much to position it. After they were dry, I gave them a spray of varnish and was done. It took about 15 minutes without drying time (The full tutorial is here.)
 
    But since it took so little time, I was soon bored again. Soon after, I discovered woven magazine page coasters on Pinterest (I can't possibly explain how to make them, but you can see how the full tutorial on how to here). I still had magazines left over from the bookcase decoupage I did a while ago, and decided this would be the best way to use them up. It took me a few tries to get really good at them. Eventually I ended up clothes pinning the pieces together while I wove them, and that gave me a pretty tight and even weave (it was also easier to fix mistakes without the whole thing falling apart on me).  Here's how they turned out!

     I'm pretty much thrilled with the results. Though Kris insists that we need to add a layer of cork or balsa to the bottoms for stability. I think, though, that since we don't use plastic cups, the glasses+liquid will be heavy enough not to topple over because of the slightly uneven coasters.  I also plan on finishing them off with some varnish spray to keep them from getting water-wrinkly from the condensation on the glasses.

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