Delightful DIY: Cute Coasters

I have really been getting my craft on lately and I must tell you - I've been loving it! Every year my office delivers Christmas gift baskets to our biggest clients and lately we've been filling them with handmade and locally bought goods (sense a theme here at Fusion??). This year, I'm contributing some of my very own Lather Creations. But not furniture silly! That's wouldn't fit in a gift basket...

I'm branching out and contributing some handmade housewares. The theme this year is 'staying cozy' so the baskets are a mix of hand thrown ceramic mugs, hand sewn cup cozies and a selection of teas and hot chocolates. I made handmade ceramic coasters! I've been hemming and hawing over how I can make some more portable/shippable Lather Creations items for my (yet to be opened) Etsy shop. So this was my first test product on something new...plus I was lucky enough to be able to put my business cards on them. Here's hoping the recipients love vintage furniture!

Now these are easy peasy to make so if you're looking for a fun DIY with the kids or even just on your own, these are very fun and simple to do!  They're not new to the craft world, but I thought I would share my personal spin on them! Sorry I didn't take step-by-step photos - I had a deadline to meet and totally forgot.  Bad blogger...

For the paper, I had some gorgeous red and white patterned scrapbook paper that was perfect for Chrismas, but would look great all year round. You can really have fun with your paper choice, look for everything from vintage maps to old family photographs to pages from garage sale books to pieces of wallpaper. Use your imagination and make it personal!

You'll need:
-a roll of thin cork
-simple white ceramic 12" x 12" tiles (get these in the tile section of your hardware store for pennies each!)
-scrapbook paper or other decorative paper
-spray adhesive
-Mod Podge and sponge brush
-Water-based Polyurethane and paint brush

1. Cut pieces of cork the same size as the tiles and glue them to the back using spray adhesive. Allow to dry under some heavy books! (I left mine overnight to make sure they were good and stuck together!)

2. Cut pieces of scrapbook paper or other decorative paper. Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to your tile and position the paper, smoothing out any air bubbles. Allow to dry for a few hours.

3. Apply 2-3 more coats of Mod Podge, allowing ample drying time in between. I like to also do a light wet sanding between layers for smoothness.

4. Apply 2-3 coats of Poly to your finished coaster, to make it more durable for mugs and glasses. Ta da! I also dressed up my sets with raffia ribbon and my business cards as pretty packaging.  If you're giving these as gifts you can add holiday tags.

Have fun crafting!

Being creative makes me feel so good. I'm definitely putting more crafting at the top of my New Year's resolution list! Are you a crafty gal?

For expanding Lather Creations, I've also thought about painted recycled wood signs, painted vintage mirrors and frames and even small wooden items like jewellery boxes and shelves.  Any thoughts on what Lather's smaller, less expensive line of goods could be? I want to keep with my business theme but have a little fun on the side next year!

Have a lovely day friends...only 11 more sleeps until Christmas!