Make Your Own Tumbled Tile Stone Coasters"Stone coasters are very popular right now,
They are very easy to make, costing less than a dollar each. In fact these cost me only about .55 cents to make. Thirstystone coasters cost $20.00 and up a set! If you don't have stamps and stamping ink you will spend a little more, but you then have some supplies to make many other homemade gifts and cards.
The supplies you will need to make your own stone coasters are:
Let's Get Started Making Stone CoastersTo start making your own stone coasters, you need to wash them to remove the dust residue, then let dry thoroughly. Next, prepare to use the background stamp. If you don't want your background to run through the center image you will need to mask the area. There are different methods of masking, but for this project you can use this simple method with paper and tape - no need to buy anything special. In the case of the coffee cup stamp, I stamped the background stamp onto paper, then cut out the center diamond as my area to mask.
For the snowman stamp I first stamped the center image (snowman) onto scrap paper. Trimming close around the image, I left a tiny margin (about 1mm) around it.
For the coffee cup beverage coaster, I taped the mask to my stamp to make sure it would be centered properly on the design.
For the snowman coaster, I first stamped the image of the snowman in the center of the tile, let it dry, then taped the mask over the stamped image.
TIP: If you use heat set inks and markers, you will not need to seal your tumbled tile coasters. They will then be naturally absorbant. Heat set inks and markers include Staz-on, Versacraft, Stampin-Up Crafter's Ink, Adirondack, Close to my Heart, Walnut Ink, Hero Arts, Plaid Kid's Inkpad, Paper Salon, Ranger alcohol and Palette Inks. There are others also. Check the label and manufacturer if in doubt. Once the mask is in place, ink up your background stamp. Press tile onto the stamp using firm pressure, not only in the middle, but around the edges also, to make sure you get a good impression.
NOTE: For my snowman, I actually wanted the background image to appear in his body where I didn't use color, so I did not mask before using my background stamp. Whether you mask or not, will depend on what stamps you chose, and what effect you want. Now you can color in your image, if you are using an image like the snowman. You can use heat set inks if you want your stone coasters to be naturally absorbant. Otherwise, you will have to spray it with a finish. TIP: You can color your stamped images using Stampin-Up Craft Ink and a blender pen, rather than markers, if you wish. When heat set, they will be permanent, thus eliminating the need for a spray finish.
If you are using an image, like the coffee cup, that does not lend itself to coloring, you can use chalk to shade and enhance the image if you wish. You will have to spray a protective finish on the tile if you use chalk. I used a yellow chalk for the center of the design, just chalking the coffee cup and a little area around it. Next I used a terra-cotta chalk to fill in the rest of the diamond area around the coffee cup. Finally, I used brown to just edge the diamond, and also around the border of the entire tile to give it a more aged look. update: If you don't want to use a spray finish, you can use dye inks to shade your image. Using a cotton ball, dab it on your ink pad several times. Pat off excess on scrap paper, then dab it onto the areas you want to shade. Practice on the scrap paper first. You may need to wad the cotton ball up tightly so you only shade the areas you want to. Then you can just heat set your stone coasters and they will be naturally absorbant.
Next you need to heat set your tile. If you've used only Staz-On ink you could skip this step, but I would probably do it anyway, just to be sure. You can heat set your tile in a 350 degree oven, for 15 minutes. Cool completely before applying backing material. If you've used chalk, or non-heatset inks, spray your tile with a clear matte acrylic finish. Let dry thoroughly. Finally trace around the tile onto the back of a piece of adhesive backed cork or felt. Cut out the backing, about 1/4 inch inside your pencil lines so that it will be slightly smaller than the beverage coaster. Remove the paper backing and adhere to the back of the tile. What a beautiful homemade gift to give to just about anyone. They are so easy and fast to make, you could make up several stone coaster sets in an afternoon, and have a stockpile of gifts ready to grab whenever you need!
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