Monogram Coasters

It's the end of an era in our house.  The trusty coasters...those old wooden hexagon with cork centered kind of coasters...my husband and I received as a wedding present 15 years ago just a few short years ago FAILED!!!  I walked off and left a cup of ice water on one and when I returned there was water underneath the coaster.  NOT COOL!!!  Thankfully, this Pinterest addict had just pinned a project where you make your own!!!  Right down my alley...and another excuse to make a run to the store for a quick project day!!!  Let me give credit where credit is due for the coaster idea...Yolanda at The Huckaby's Happily Ever After was the inspiration for this project.  Another CASE (copy and steal everything) moment for me!!!

To start off we need:

The Pieces

For this project the pieces are:

4x4 rough tile (mine came in a package of 9 for $3.98 at HD)

Stamps of your choosing (I used acrylic cause I had them, rubber stamps would be fine as well.)

Staz On Ink...trust me, use this brand!!!

MinWax Paste Finishing Wax (about $10 at HD, but I barely used any for 9 coasters so it will last a LONG time!)

Felt Adhesive Pads

Two Rags - One you will throw away (this can be cheese cloth instead)

Take the first rag and get it wet without dripping and wipe off any residue on each of the tiles, front and back.  Let them dry for a minute or two.  (No picture here...I figure this is self explanitory!)

Stamp your image and letter on each tile.  This is where the acrylic stamps come in handy.  It's easy to see where to place them.  Rubber stamps are fine, and crossing the pattern and the letter would look pretty cool too.  I also saw them on the blog linked above as half monogramed and half patterned all over the tile.  This is totally preference!!!  For me, I wanted all monogramed for this set of coasters.

Here's how it looks at this step: freshly stamped!

Once the stamping is done open up the Minwax Wax and basically follow the directions on the side of the container.  I took a clean rag and rubbed the wax into the front and edges of each coaster.  I didn't apply any wax to the back because I want my felt feet to adhere properly.  I started with the first coasters I stamped to ensure the ink had ample time to dry.  It worked well and brought a lot of the colors in the stone out.  Once I applied the wax to all the coasters I then went back and buffed them a bit with a clean section of the rag I was using.

Adding the Finishing Wax to each coaster.

Here's how it looks after buffing it.  It's not a lot different, but if you look closely you can see a bit of a sheen to it.  I believe it just seals it a bit so the coaster can do it's job properly...and isn't that what we're striving for?!?  Once I was done buffing them up I flipped them over and adhered a small, round felt pad to each corner so I don't scuff my furniture.

Look at me...all buffed up!!!

And voila!!!  They're all done.  I took my old coaster holder and prayed they'd all fit.  They did (all but one which sits on my end table all the time anyway)...even better than those octagon weirdos...oh wait, did I say that out loud???

I love them.  They're heavy duty enough to keep kitties from knocking them on the floor, and they sure do look nicer than the others.  I think they're keepers. 

Love having another piece of Treasure!!!