Tuesday 18 October 2011

Map Coasters

I found this a while back:


Pinned Image


And you know how I love to use my map book. (It is looking in a pretty bad state now! And I promise there aren't many pages left!)

I've also seen a few projects about where people have turned tiles into coasters. (Here's a link I saved.) So I thought I try to have a go myself.

After cleaning and drying the tiles I cut map pages to the same size as the tile and Mod Podged it on. 

(You'll probably notice mine are a little larger than the tile. I wasn't very accurate and ended up trimming all mine later. I would recommend making a template that is exactly the right size first time!)


I made three sets, don't be intimidated! I also made sure that as well as some random map places I also had some meaningful ones, like where they were born, live now, met their wife, went to university etc. .


I then painted the sides and underneath with black acrylic paint. You don't need much, two squeezes from a tube was plenty for thirteen of mine. (These tiles are pre-trimming stage for me!)



I then sealed it with two more coats of Mod Podge and hot glued on some squares of felt that were a little smaller than my tiles (maybe a cm smaller? Can you tell I mostly just guess?)



All done!




And my favourite bit?



That I now have three man presents sorted! (And don't tell them, but they were completely free! I already had everything I needed! The tiles were from five years ago when we re-tiled our shower.) 

Properly manly, useful and personal. 


Even with shiny ribbon tied around!


At least it's blue ribbon.



Photobucket

19 comments:

  1. These will make fantastic gifts. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I totally love this idea! Thanks for sharing and I look forward to seeing your other projects! I'm your newest follower via Sassy Sites!

    ReplyDelete
  3. These are great! Found you from linky party at "homework"

    ReplyDelete
  4. I need to get me some maps ASAP and start using them for decor purposes. I love what you did here.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Such a great idea! I love it. Thanks for spotlighting me the other day on your blog, I feel so special!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am visiting from Mommy by day crafter by night. I am loving your blog. I loved the picture project you shared there. It was awesome! It would make a great Christmas gifts for family:>

    ReplyDelete
  7. love these as a gift idea. unique and special for them, but still easy for you :)

    saw you on the idea room link up.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great idea! Thanks for linking to Crafty, Scrappy, Happy's link party!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I LOVE these like really really really love! I adore doing any kind of craft with maps so this is so so me! Thank you SO much for the great inspiration and for linking up at crafty scrappy happy!!!!
    Jaime from crafty scrappy happy

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh I like these! I'm going to have to look for your other map projects! I have been thinking about finding a map project to do myself... gotta find a good old map first though! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Re-purposing is one of my favorite pastimes! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Did you seal these at all? I've done some Modpodge crafts recently that are going to need to be sprayed with a sealer. Even though it's dry, Mod Podge stays tacky and will DEFINITELY stick to itself...so I was just wondering...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great idea, can see maps becoming scarce at boot fairs etc, so many uses

    ReplyDelete
  14. hort7830, I did just use a few coats of Mod Podge, but it also took a long time to dry. I left it most of a week to dry out properly, but I think I put too much on with the last coat. I just put it up on a shelf and on my desk to dry and forgot about them! But it did dry eventually! It would probably do better with a more porous tile, mine was a glossy one.

    I was just working with what I had to keep down costs, but let me know if you try it out and if you try the sealer.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Popping over to say hello. I saw you listed in the "Blog Crush" post on Vintage Revivals. I love this coaster idea. I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing your creativity.

    Warmly, Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  16. Very cool! New follower :)

    Britta @ TheHandmadeHouse.net

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yes, these are so cool - made great fathers day gifts!!

    ReplyDelete