Technique Tidbit Thursday – Ceramic Tile Coasters

Ceramic Tile Coasters
By Mary Chong

Ceramic Tile Coasters are a super easy project to make. They make great gifts – given individually or as a set tied with a pretty ribbon bow. A friend of mine gives them to teachers/baby sitters and has her kids decorate and sign/date the underside of the coasters.

This is also an easy project to “assembly line” if you wanted to make a whole bunch. Once they are stamped you can take your time colouring and then top coat them all at one time.

You can also use this same technique to make fridge magnets – just buy 1×1 tiles and hot glue heavy duty magnets onto the back.

Supplies:
– unglazed 4×4 ceramic tiles (I use tumbled marble)
– stazon ink pads
– detailed stamps (rubber or acrylic)
– stazon stamp cleaner or similar
– coloured pencils or markers
– clear acrylic spray paint (ie. Krylon)
– felt/cork/rubber cushions for “feet”

 

 

Step 1 – Prepare the tiles
It is very important that the tiles you buy are unglazed so that the ink will adhere to the tile and won’t just “sit” on top
– Wash and dry thoroughly the ceramic tile to ensure there is no dust or residue.

Step 2 – Plan out your design
Stazon ink is permanent – once you’ve stamped it there is no going back so take a moment now to decide how you want your design to look. I often choose a stamp that has an antique look to it. This way it doesn’t matter if I don’t get a perfect impression when I stamp.

Step 3 – Stamp your design
– Stamp your design with the stazon ink – I like to use brown ink because it gives an antique feel especially with the tumbled marble tile.
– Tiles are a bit slick and your stamp may slip and slide so be careful and take your time.
– Don’t forget to clean your stamps afterwards to prevent staining.
– I am showing 2 versions – one done with markers and one done with pencil crayons so that you can see the difference between the 2 colouring medium.
(I’m using stamps by Stampin’ Up! and Krista Schneider for Sunshine Designs)

 

Step 3 – Colour your design
– Once the stazon ink is totally dry. Apply colour with pencil crayons, markers, or chalks.
– You can even layer your colours or layer your colouring medium together.

 

**NOTE: Some people pop their tiles into an oven at this point to cure the design – 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes OR they heat them with their embossing gun for a while and then cool overnight. Personally I’ve never done this and my tiles have weathered the test of time… Either way – continue to Step 4.

Step 4 – Protect your design
– Take your project outside (due to the paint fumes) and spray multiple light coats of clear acrylic paint, allowing the paint to dry between coats.
– An aerosol spray is preferred to a liquid paint to avoid brush strokes.
– A few light coats is better than 1 heavy coat. Be careful here too because if you spray to heavy a coat your design may run.

Step 5 – Protect your surface
– Apply bumpers/feet to the bottom of the tile so that it doesn’t scratch your table.

Here’s my finished project

We hope you like this tutorial! Drop us a comment and let us know what you think or better yet upload a photo of your finished coasters into the gallery!