DIY Tile Coasters

Let me tell you about how great I am at finishing projects in a timely manner. At the end of 2012, Hubsey and I went to Arizona. It was my first time being in the desert and I got a little souvenir-happy. I bought myself a cactus (which is still alive, thankyouverymuch), found Christmas presents, and scored the lovely terra cotta tiles you see below:

Aren't they cool? They've looked awesome sitting on the shelf in my office for the last year. (They were keeping the cactus company.) The other day I finally decided to fulfill their destiny and turn them into coasters. If you haven't made any of these before, it's ridiculously easy.

Here's what you'll need:

>> 4 tiles
>> a sheet of cork
>> scissors
>> a hot glue gun

You can get basic 4x4 tiles at the hardware store, or you can search for something a little more unique on eBay. The cork is from Michael's, though I imagine every craft store will have something similar. It was near the scrapbook paper.

Cut a square of cork to size for the back of each tile. If you want to be precise you can also use a pencil to mark some lines, but I just eyeballed it.

Once you have enough squares, use the hot glue to attach them one by one. Press them down for a second as they cool. That's it!

Even if you have to buy tile first, this project is still crazy affordable. Lowes has 4x4 white tiles starting at $.16 each and the cork was only $2. I like the idea of getting plain tiles because you can always jazz them up with paint or use Mod Podge to attach some scrapbook paper. And if you happen to have tourist tiles from Arizona laying around, too, obviously you should use them for this.

Have you ever made coasters? Or accidentally waited a year to do a project? Who else likes terra cotta tiles?

P.S. The UncommonGoods giveaway is over! Check the post to see if you're the lucky winner! I'll be sending out an email shortly.

Linking up to My Repurposed Life.