Strangely enough we’ve never had coasters at home. Now that I think of it, I’m drawing a blank on why we never thought those were necessary. Anyways lately the lack of coasters has become an issue especially for B, when he wants to put down his hot cup of tea on the coffee table. My solution…..
Cork coasters made with vintage Bollywood movie poster and comic book cover/ page prints. And totally free as I had everything on hand! If you were to buy all the supplies from scratch then I doubt it would cost you more that $10 for a set of 8.
Supplies
Cork board or pre-made cork coasters (available at craft stores) – I used the tiles that I had left over from my cork board map project. Mod Podge Gloss – Micheals -You can use matte finish Mod Podge for gluing the print to the cork but for the sealing layer you need the Gloss Movie Poster/ comic print – You could use anything you want, prints of your kid’s drawings, wrapping paper etc. Xacto knife Sponge brush A hard surface to work on
The Process
- Secure your print to the cork board square with painters tape and cut along the edge.
- Add a layer of Mod Podge (Matte or Gloss) to the cork and stick the print.
- Make sure to smooth out any air bubbles with a credit card. When you do this always start from the center and go towards the edge.
- Once it is dry coat the print and the sides (important) with Gloss finish Mod Podge. Trust me, I tried the Matte finish. It looked pretty dull. The Gloss brings out the colors in the picture and gives it a professional look.
- Repeat if necessary. I applied 2 layers of Mod Podge to be on the safe side.
Love how they turned out. Won’t they make great hostess or teachers gifts?
For the prints I just picked colorful ones after searching the net, played around a little bit (upping the contrast and sharpness) in Pixlr and re-sized all the pics to the same (4 x 4) size. Then I made a collage with the 4 pics and printed it out.
It is that easy! Took me half an hour to make a set of 4.
Just a note, for the first few times of use these might stick to the cup when you place a really hot cup of tea or coffee on it. After a few uses this problem goes away (I think) because the Mod Podge layer gets used to the warm temps.
You could make these with ceramic tiles or scrap wood too.
Have you DIY’d coasters?
Linking to;
Project Inspired Linky Party #8 @ Setting for Four
Love the idea, Vidya. Of course…me being myself thought that these were old CD’s…LOL!!! Very innovative….I really want to try this out!
LOL! Thanks Anu.
Are these washable afterwards?
Yes, you can wipe any spills off of them.
I made them too couple of weeks back…I used vintage movie posters (english/hindi), few of Doddles and few of my paintings 🙂
Wow! That’s awesome. Great minds think alike!
V
aaah!!!! These are so cute– My husband would love it!
🙂
Nice idea Vidya… Waiting for more such innovative ideas…
Thanks Sreekala.
I love these! Fun, colorful and easy (and using Mod Podge, one of my fav craft supplies!)
Thanks so much for sharing this week at Project Inspire{d}!
Thank you Shanon.
Super cute! Great gift idea too!
Thank you!
Hey Vidya! Just came by your blog and I love these coasters and your DIY ideas as well. Do check out the rustic rope coasters on my blog and let me know what you think…
Thanks for dropping by Sujatha. That’s a very clever way to use rope for coasters. Would have never thought of that. How do you clean them if there is a spill?
Vidya
You would have to stand it and tap gently till the liquid drips out and work it with a hard bristle brush. Ideally though i would’ve liked to thread a needle through the rope and not use the transparency but this rope wouldn’t give !
Broke a needle trying..
Sujatha
Oh these are super cute! My pumpkins and your coasters should definitely get together! LOL! Have a great week!
Consider trying different wrapping papers for different Season or Holiday coasters.
Yup, sounds like a plan.
does the paper start to come off after water moisture ?
After 5/6 years it did on some. But the mod podge did a good job.
Question: when printing photos do you use photo paper to attach to the cork or will card stock work?
I just used regular printer paper.