Happy Coasters!

So, this weekend, I decided to become a DIY'er. Wait, don't get too excited. It's just coasters. But, don't they look fabulous?! Rob and I are on a tight budget until we close on our house, so I can't do my usual thing which is shopping. AND, I have like two weddings that are coming up plus Mother's Day. So... that makes sticking to a budget pretty hard because I really, really love buying gifts.

But first, let me tell you how I found the idea. I've joined Pinterest. Finally. I've seen it, I've heard about it... but I never made the jump. That thing is AMAZING. It has given me so many ideas on things I want to try. It is there that I found this fabulous idea. Here is the link to the blog that I found. I won't regurgitate all the steps or anything as this lovely lady did a great job of explaining how it goes down... and she didn't miss a beat. I followed her instructions to the T.

Click Here for How-To Make Fabulous Coasters

Let me just say, my plan was to spend about $20 on this project. That kind of didn't work. Nothing is ever as cheap as I think its going to be. It was mainly because I didn't have ANY of the right equipment. Here's what I had to buy:

I needed Mod Podge, Waterproof Acrylic Spray, Waterproof Glue, a Foam Brush, Tiles, Cork and last but not least... paper to decorate those pretty little tiles with. I started off at Lowe's to get the tile and the waterproof acrylic spray. I decided I was going to make 3 sets of coasters with 6 in a set. For three different weddings that are occurring beginning in June. I bought 20 for two messups (because lets face it... I rarely do anything right the first time... especially when it comes to glue). I also bought some acrlyic spray under the Rustoleum brand. And then, we went to Michaels to get the rest of the supplies.

The cork and the acrylic spray is what kind of crushed my $20 budget. Each of those were about $7.99. So, I think hit about $30-$35 after I had bought everything plus an X-acto knife (how else was I going to cut all those squares for the tile plus the cork that goes on the bottom??)

And on Saturday night the festivities began. It was me and a side table on the floor. But, Rob definitely helped too. The hardest part was the letter that I decided to put on the coaster of the couple's last name. I had to get it sized correctly and then make it a stencil. Let's be real here.... I cannot free-hand 18 letters and them all come out looking the same. So, I traced them. And then colored them in. I'm a huge fan of tracing. Best thing ever. It's like pretending you can draw and the end result makes it look like you can draw. I cannot draw, however.

At first, I was going to cut out the black ones that I had printed out on the computer, but I didn't like how that created a "raised" surface on the coaster. Didn't figure that'd be a stable surface for a cup holding liquid in it to rest on. So, I traced the letters and then used a permanent marker to make it bold. That took forever.

Actually, by Saturday night I had only made it through one letter! Eeek! It was 1 AM before Rob was helping me spray the waterproof acrylic spray. That's where things went wrong. The spray turned all my work yellow. BOO!!!

So, come Sunday, I returned the Rustoleum and bought another brand, Miniwax. And I had to start all over. Well, my two extra weren't enough so I only made 12 because my previous 6 had to be trashed plus the one tester I made. And that took me ALL of Sunday. It was quite the long project for coasters. Seems a little insane when you really think about. It was all due to that stupid letter. It was so time consuming to cut the letter, trace it, and then color it in. Plus you got to add in the dry time for the mod podge and acrylic spray But, never fear... I sprayed my THIRD coat of the waterproof spray at 9 PM on Sunday with absolute NO yellowness.

P.S. I was a virgin mod-podger, but this stuff is pretty darn cool. Gives stuff a nice little texture.

So, here they are. If you're reading this and your last name starts with an F or a W and are getting married, you might be getting some coasters in the mail. Just know.. I made them out of love. I can't guarantee their life span. And, I took them to work to get my co-workers approval... so I think they are legit.

So, here's to my first DIY experience. Happy Coasters Everyone!