Let's Coast! D.I.Y. Tile Coasters

Years ago when I thought money grew on trees, I purchased  over a dozen hand painted, hand cut tiles from Mexico. I had the intention of using them for the backsplash of the granny unit my parents were building. I had grand plans- shoot for the stars kind of plans! And then reality set in, one: if I moved then my precious tiles would permanently be in someone else's kitchen :( and two: the economy started to tank and I knew I needed to spend my money more wisely. So, fast forward 4+ years and I've got a box of hand painted tiles all dressed up with nowhere to go.

A little while ago I decided I was going to turn them into coasters or trivets or very possibly a table top (until I thought about how much work that would be- meh!) I sat on that idea for awhile until Saturday. I knew I wanted a Sunday craft project and that box of tiles was just staring at me, I mean- staring! So  off to trusty ol' Miners Hardware I went. First, can I just say how insanely friendly and helpful their staff ALWAYS is! Anyway, I got all of the supplies I needed and boom- Sunday craft day was ready!

What you'll need:

decorative tiles

A roll of grip liner- found with the contact paper

glue- I started off using super glue for ceramics which worked great but ran out. You can also use craft glue made for porous surfaces.

scissors

some sort of cover for your work area so you can be messy with glue if that's your thing

Um, my first casualty- whoops! Super glue to the rescue!! I literally dropped this and broke it as the project was starting

take a precut square of the grip liner, that you have cut to just slightly smaller than the tile itself.

apply glue

apply liner to glue and press firmly- I used a small piece of cardboard to smooth it down so I wouldn't get glue all over my fingers. I still managed to glue a few fingers though!

what I call the drying station. Depending on the glue they may dry instantly or take a few hours. 

the finished product!! my pretend inlaid table.

as a coaster for under my plant mister (gotta protect that wood from moisture!)

as a decorative coaster under an egyptian glass vase. I'm also using them for coasters for glasses stacked on my coffee table and ready to go!

 A side project inspired by these tiles all those years ago:

I hand painted this terra-cotta container when I first got the tiles. I had a vision of painting these and selling them as a side business- then the place I wanted to sell them to burnt down- so if that isn't a sign, I don't know what is (oh and this was super time consuming, so that was a factor too!)

close up of my painted pot. :) It's a favorite!

Hopefully you're feeling inspired to make some craftiness happen in your life!!