A Gift

The people who support us the most tend to be our parents. They support us while we grow up, make mistakes, and now as we plan our marriage. How do we thank them for all of this? Any material gift seems insignificant. BUT, we must try!

We plan on giving our parents some type of plant. Both sets of our parents have recently moved and are adding landscaping to their new place. I thought it would be nice if we'd help them out. B and I have a Rosemary bush we have somehow kept alive over the past year, so we thought we'd give that to my parents. It needs a larger pot and B and I will be moving in the next few years and I don't want to plant it and lose it. So, on to a new home it goes. B and I will choose a fabulous plant for his parents as time draws nearer.

Another gift I thought would be nice is a handmade one. As you have seen, I LOVE to make things. I saw in my vast search of projects, people have made coasters out of tiles. I purchased some paper, tiles, modge podge, etc.

Paper, #400 sand paper, #0000 Steel Wool, sheets of cork

First, I cut the paper into 4" x 4" squares. I used a paint brush to spread modge podge on the tile and then centered the paper on the tile. Next, I modge podged on top of the paper. Every 20 min. I modge podged until I had ~5 coats.

Wet modge podge on the tiles.

Once dry (a few days later), I used the #400 sand paper by wetting it and smoothing out the paint brush lines. Once that dried, I used the #0000 steel wool to smooth and give it some sheen. It was recommended that I add another layer of modge podge, so I did. I finished the coaster by spraying it with a colorless gloss spray paint that sealed it. I used hot glue to attach a 4" x 4" square of cork to the bottom of the tile so it wouldn't scratch a table. DONE!

The green are for B's parents and the cream/red ones are for mine. We chose paper that would coordinate with their living rooms the best.


One place I got my inspiration from was: http://diy.weddingbee.com/topic/from-coast-to-coasters

This project is so easy and inexpensive. The tiles were $0.16 each. I made 4 tiles in each color, but a 12x12 piece of paper provides 6 coasters and is less than $1 each. The modge podge can do many coasters and it was ~$4 plus I had a coupon. Cork sheets were less than $3 and there is enough to make ~16 tiles. I already had the spray paint so I am not counting that. The sand paper was cheap too.

My aunt is throwing me a bridal shower in 1.5 weeks and she is a photographer. She sent me 4 of her favorite photos and I am going to attempt to use them to make her coasters as part of her hostess gift.

Did this inspire you? Will you be hand making some gifts for VIPs in your life?

Where have I been?

You've missed me? Awe, that means a lot to me!

This past week has been so crazy! I have finished all of the invitations (photos soon to come, I promise), wrote and submitted an abstract for a poster, made a poster, attended a friend's bridal shower, and completed some projects.

So from my absence, I have so much to tell and show you!

Stay tuned...