ModPodge Coasters

I love making home decor items.  I think more than cards sometimes. I know this is The Happy Card Encouragement Factory and I love to give people cards to be an encouragement.  But sometimes I think a cute little gift they can display in their home that is also useful is very encouraging too!  I had seen on ModPodge Rocks some time ago a lady who made some coasters using ModPodge.  I filed it away for a rainy day when I wanted to start the project.  I went and looked at the page I saved and come to find out that she was also behind the wonderful dollhouse template for the Paper Dolls' first challenge.  It was Patricia from A Little Hut!  Go check her out, she is a wonderful designer!

I thought I would add a few more pictures this time.  Sort of a step by step.  OK, I just wanted to show my beautiful "little brother" Silhouette SD in action, still action, but action none the less.  This is a nice little machine!  Cuts like butter, as you can see from the pictures.



I used a file called Artistic Box Ornate from the Silhouette Studio store.  If you have a Silhouette and haven't checked out the designer's files on there you are missing out.  They have the cutest designs, I just can't pick a few.  Silhouette America ran a Facebook special a few weeks ago for the store.  If you started a subscription it was 20% off the regular price.  The subscription is a really good deal, they put a lot of time and thought into making the store a great place with really nice designs.  I have a Boss Kut Gazelle too and the designs available from their store are no where near as nice as the ones at Silhouette America.

You Silhouette owners might want to keep an eye out on their Facebook page for deals and offers.  There is always something going on over there.  If you would like more information regarding Silhouette subscriptions, it can be found here. 


I bought my tiles from Home Depot for .16 a piece and were approximately 4.25 inch square in just plain white.  Opening the file in Silhouette Studio to the right size, I then placed my paper on the mat and started cutting.  I cut out only two at a time due to their size.  The first thing you want to do after taking the design off the mat is put a thin coat of ModPodge on just the cut out.  This helps to stop the bleeding of the paper that occurs onto the tile.

Then just place a thin layer on the tile itself, place and center your image and then another thin layer of ModPodge.  I think it works better with three thin layers as opposed to one or two thick coats.  Also doesn't take as long to dry.


After everything was coated a few times and let to dry overnight, I sprayed a clear acrylic sealer in gloss on them.  I would have prefered the sealer in matte but I had the gloss on hand.  If you choose not to seal, the ModPodge when wet will cloud up and get a little soppy.  They will dry out again and go clear but I wouldn't want to take the chance and ruin them with repeated use.


Here they are all finished and looking good all tied up with twine from the Twinery.  I can see many birthday gifts in my future.  My mother-in-law loves this kind of stuff and doesn't care what the pattern or colors are.  She just likes.

I had some after thoughts on this project - what about using green tile with the blue paper or vice-versa.  Maybe even black tile with white paper.  Maybe even a Print n Cut.  The possibilities are endless with this project.  Have any other ideas or comments?  You know where to put them.  I would like to hear what you guys or gals would do with this.  Thanks for looking!