Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Tile Coasters



I have received some questions about my tile coasters, so I thought I would post the answers here!
This is how I make them...
I have used 3 types of tile for these, please learn from my mistakes.  Do not use any tile that has ANY type of a coating.  The first ones I used had some texture and didn't look glossy,so I thought I would try them, but they run, even after my stringent baking process.

My favorite are the 4x4 Chiaro tumbled marble from Lowes.  They are shrink wrapped in groups of 9 for 4.86.  These are natural tile and you may get some that are pretty pitted.  A moderate degree of pitting is ok and just adds to the effect IMO.   Lowe's won't take back singles, but if you get a lot and can come up with a group of 9 to return, they will exchange them for you (if you get deeply pitted ones you can't use.)

On to the crafting...
I wipe these down with a baby wipe and lay on a towel to dry.  When they are dry, I stamp my design with Stazon ink.  I think it's very important to bake after this step to set the ink so it doesn't run when you color.  I bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  (If you aren't going to add color, bake an extra 30 min, to really set the ink.)
Let cool.  This will take a while, these babies hold the heat.
Now you can add color.  I use colored sharpies to color them in.
*tip* yellow seems to bleed.
After they are colored, bake for another 30 minutes, and let cool in the oven.  I don't add any kind of  coating, like clear coat and they don't run.  IMHO a clear coat impedes the tile's ability to absorb the liquid, one of the reasons these coasters are so great!


When they are cool, I add cork to the bottom to keep them from scratching the table.  I get a roll of already sticky cork from Lowes for about $10 that does at least 12 sets of coasters.  you can also get the little sticky things you get to put on chair legs and put on all four corners.

2 comments:

Maria@Crafty Cre8tions said...

Great tips!!! Thanks for sharing! I haven't made these yet but was wanting too!!
Maria

Michelle said...

Hi
love your posts! Your projects are gorgeous and your tips are greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for sharing.
Michelle
http://michelle-pinkpaperparadise.blogspot.com/