Antiqued Tile Coasters

My supervisor at work recently got married. She is always so great that I really wanted to make her something special. She didn't expect a gift but making and giving surprise gifts is pretty high on the list of things I love. But there were a few challenges: 1. I'm literally in poverty (VISTA life), 2. Although we work together on a daily basis, I don't really know her tastes or style preferences besides from normal office stuff. And office stuff is not wedding-y. With these things in mind, I set out to find something inexpensive, not overly personal, but still special. Maybe you've run into this situation before? Or am I the only one who forces my appreciation/gifts on other people...

You will need:

• 
  
• 4- 4"x4" tile pieces, these were were 16 cents a piece! Inexpensive = check.
• 4 chosen images on regular printer paper  
• flat cork. or felt. or slider dots... I just happened to have a roll of cork on hand
• strong coffee
• cotton balls
• Mod Podge
• foam brush
• hot glue gun, if you're using the cork
• ruler

First and foremost, pick out the images you would like to use. Ideally, they would have a 4"x 4" focal area.  The pictures for this project came from this interesting book my supervisor loaned to me. It seemed like a safe bet that she would like it, since it's her book. I made black and white copies of the 4 chosen pages. *That might be illegal... Hope not...

Next, brew extra strong coffee; I used leftover coffee to brew more coffee but you won't need more 1/2 cup. Use a cotton ball to apply the coffee to the paper, concentrating on the desired area and a few inches around. Even with strong coffee it still took 3 coats to get a nice sepia tone. Try not to move it until it dries or it could tear easily. Each coat will take at least 20 minutes to dry. I stole the roomie's seed babies to use as paper weights while they dried. Because I was too lazy to go back inside. Here's something to entertain you while you wait.

The neat thing about using multiple coats of dark coffee as opposed to just soaking it or some other methods is that it adds a lot of variance in shade. Each coat pools a little differently and adds a certain legitimacy to the antiqued appearance. It's not just one tone of sepia. It's my favorite way to antique paper.

Once your papers have reached your desired shade of sepia and dried, it's time to prepare them for the tiles. Center your tile over the image and mark the corners. Make a line about an inch long at a diagonal away from the corner (top left). Use a ruler to draw those inch long diagonal lines together (bottom left). Cut out around your pencil lines (bottom right). Wrap your image around the tile and make creases at the edges. The idea in wrapping the tile is to avoid visible unfinished tile sides so often seen in coaster tile projects. The paper should cover the sides and sit just a little ways onto the back side of the tile (top center). Once the creases are made, lightly coat the top of the tile with Mod Podge (top right) and slowly lay the paper on it, being sure to match up the corners. Carefully smooth the top of your paper watching for bubbles or lines,  then apply a thin coat to each area of the paper hanging over the tile and wrap it as your previously made creases indicate.

I ran into a little trouble with this coaster because I was trying to take pictures and be speedy. It didn't work out so well. But your edges will be cleaner and the tops will be flat I'm sure! The rest turned out much better once I put the camera away.

To prepare the cork, measure out and cut four 4" x 4" squares. Hot glue the edges and an X across the diagonals of the cork and quickly apply it to the back of tile pressing firmly and carefully wiping away any glue webs.

Now Mod Podge it up. Seal in that vintage-toned goodness on the top and sides with a thick coat of Mod Podge to protect it from the future drink elements it will encounter. Even with a foam brush Mod Podge leaves streaks. But you can use those to your advantage to make a linen texture look: for the first coat, keep all brush strokes going up and down, for the next all side to side.

In these pictures the tile looks a little more gray than sepia. But trust me, that's the fault of the photographer and not the method. This stinkin' photographer messes everything up. I should fire me.

Tile coasters are a crazy popular project because they're easy and adorable. Have you ever made any before? How were they different from these? I'd love to know!

Sheila :)

Favorite Apartment Ever (So Far)

I'm convinced that my apartment while in Montana is actually the cutest apartment ever. And I don't say that lightly. I also don't mean how I decorated it. I mean, the basic layout and charm of it even when it was bare empty: adorable. Part of what makes it so neat is the long history of the building. According to the landlady, it was built in the early 20th century and was always intended to be apartments. My theory is they were built to accommodate the railroad workers flooding the west. In my mind, it makes total sense with the time period and the town. I used to love to imagine all the poeple who had lived there before me. Where were they from? What did they do? Where did they go? SO MANY THINGS I WANT TO KNOW.

The apartment is what I would describe as a modified studio. Technically it was a 1 bedroom, but in reality it was a large rectangle of a room that was split in half with a set of french doors in the middle. Then the kitchen was its own room as well as the bathroom (for obvious reasons). There wasn't a clear intention for either of the "rooms". They were both pretty big so in my head I separated each in half. The first half, with the front door that led to the hallway had a living room on one side:

And a dining room on the other: 

An example of the quirkiness: both of the doors pictured behind the table lead to the same closet. It's a great closet, but does it really need 2 doors? ANSWER ME, HISTORY. And yes, don't judge me that technically my clothes closet and dining room were in the same area. (Sorry all of these pictures looks  a little burry for some reason.)

Now to pass through the doors... That in real life were almost always open...

To my bedroom and craft room!

Command central, basically. Pictured as being a total mess because there was never a time when it wasn't.

The kitchen was apparently designed for someone about 7 feet tall. The wood of the bottom shelf in the cabinets was my eye level. Not even the contents, the wood itself. But it had this awesome little spice rack/pantry thing built next to the back door!

Did I mention there was a claw foot tub?

For those of your who don't know, taking baths in a claw foot tub is amazing. Taking showers, however, is not. You almost need a forcefield of shower curtains around you to try to keep the water from spilling out, and then the curtains start billowing in on you at times. I now understand the reason they started to lose favor in the modern world.

I miss my little Montana apartment... Anyway, as you can see, the apartment was full of charm and inspiration. My year there allowed me to try my hand at tons of fun little DIY projects that I can't wait to share. Did you ever live in a building that was older than some states? I'd love to hear about it! If you see anything in the pictures you have questions about, please comment and I've be happy to answer.