Decoupage Ceramic Tile Beverage Coasters

A few weeks ago I saw a company post on their Facebook Wall & Blog about some really cool beverage coasters they made from ceramic kitchen/bath tiles and when I saw them...I knew I just had to make them! This is a really easy craft project and a great one if you home school and need a project to do.

Decoupage Ceramic Tile Beverage Coasters

I went out to Home Depot and purchase 4" by 4" tiles for around .79 cents a piece. Mine are a solid white color. I then went to my local craft store and purchase some pretty 8" by 11" pieces of scrapbooking paper, a few foam brushes and a bottle of glossy decoupage medium. I couldn't find any cork backing so I ordered 4 sheets of cork backing that measures an 1/8" thick by 12" square from an online source. I used that for the backing on each of my coasters. Other than that you will need some hot glue, hot glue gun, paper towels and some newspapers.

I laid newspapers down on my work surface. I cut from my scrapbooking paper squares that measure 4" by 4" in size. I dipped my foam brush into the glossy decoupage medium and brushed a layer of the medium across the entire front of each tile. I then carefully placed a square of scrapbooking paper onto each tile. Make sure you smooth it out as you go along so that there are no air bubbles. I set them aside and left them dry overnight.

The following morning I used a new foam brush and brushed a thin layer of the decoupage medium across the tops of each coaster (you are sealing the paper underneath with a top layer of the decoupage medium). You want to brush the medium in all one direction so that the finish dries nicely. I set them aside and left them dry for 4 hours. I then repeated it again with a second layer of the decoupage medium. I left them dry overnight.

From my thin sheets of cork I cut squares that measure slightly less than 4" by 4" in size. I cut then slightly less than the size of the ceramic tile coaster as I didn't want any of the backing peeking out from under the coaster. I used my hot glue gun to apply hot glue to the bottom of my coaster and then placed the square of cork backing on top. You need to press down pretty hard so you get it to stick really good. Let them dry for a few hours and then they are ready to use.

This is an inexpensive and easy craft project idea that you can do year round. Use some Christmas theme'd paper to make holiday coasters and give them as gifts. You can also cut up some maps and decoupage those to your tiles to make travel theme'd coasters. If you have some scraps of gift wrap or tissue paper...you can use those too! If you don't want the finish to be glossy you can use matte finish decoupage medium instead.

(Optional) If you want a really good seal on the top of your coasters you can spray them with an Acrylic Sealer. However...I found that I didn't need that and the decoupage was enough.