A Place to Rest Your Coffee Cup

I found a tutorial recently that has made me very happy! In fact, I have hosted two different parties this month to let my friends in on it. That means it must be good, right?

It's a set of coasters made out of porcelain tiles (the cheapy kind you can find at the hardware store) with a decorative napkin mod podged to the top. Can I use the term "mod podge" as a verb? Well, I did.

I got the idea here. I can't remember how I came across it, but it was immediately placed in my "Projects to Come" document - a document (on my work computer *sheepish grin*) that is now 8 pages long where I keep inspirational ideas, links to tutorials and pictures. It's a wonderful resource.

Here's the set I made for myself. I absolutely love the napkin print - it goes so nicely in my house for the summer season. Sorry, the pictures aren't very clear. That's kind of annoying.



Here's a set I made for my dear cousin. I sent them to her for her birthday. I have no idea if they will look good in her home, but hopefully I didn't go wrong with simple black and white.

If you want to make these yourself here are a couple of things I would suggest:

• It was more difficult to find decorative napkins then I would have thought. Target was a great resource.
  
• Work in a well ventilated area. After one of my parties (particularly after painting on a couple layers of polyurethane) we all began to feel a little loopy. Oops.
• Use a pencil to trace around the tile onto the napkin. Then cut out a square from the napkin that will nicely fit on top of the tile. Don't mod podge the napkin to the side of the tile like it says in the instructional video. The simpler, cleaner version just simply looks better in the end.

I hope you try this project. It's easy, fun and instantly gratifying!