DIY Wine Coasters

So I've been seeing a ton of DIY coasters on Pinterest lately.  Well while my family was here, we decided to get our craft on and make some of our own.  Well, I kind of forced it on them but they had fun.

It started when we went to a local winery here in Bloomington called Oliver Winery.  I've been a couple of times with friends and last year I brought my aunt along when she and my dad were here working on the paver patio.  She liked it so much that when she came out last week, she wanted to go again.  And you know me, I am all about tasting wine.

So my uncle, two aunts and I headed over there last Monday and brought along a picnic lunch to have after the tasting.  The grounds of the winery are gorgeous and there is a huge grass area with tables overlooking a large pond with koi fish.  It's very serene and if I lived closer, I'd probably spend most of my weekends with a good book, a bottle glass of wine and a blanket out there.

After sampling our fair share of wine, we purchased roughly 15 bottles and some novelty items, one of them being a coaster.  That cost $10.50.  As my aunt was looking at it, she said she really liked that one, but was also thinking about getting a second one.  I told her that one for $10.50 since it was a memento was OK, but two coasters for $21?  Hell no.  So she begrudgingly put it back.  But she did get this one.

Part of the order was put into a brown gift bag that had a wine bottle label on it.  One of them made a comment about keeping the bag since it had the sticker on it and the really nice guy leaned over the counter and said, "I have some extra stickers in the back if you want some."  Well, we jumped at the offer.  Little did they know, the minute he told them that, a light bulb went off in my head.  Shut the front door- we could make our own coasters!  He came back with a couple rolls of stickers, 6 of 3 different types of wine and 7 of another- 25 in total.

I told them my idea and we headed off to Menards to check out the tile selection.  I knew I'd seen something similar there before but didn't want to get everyone's hopes up.  Well, it turns out they have the exact same 4X4 travertine tiles as a 9 pack for $3.79.  So we picked up 3 packs.  Then we headed to Michael's for the cork backing and some Mod Podge.

Wednesday afternoon we laid the tiles out on the island and got started.

Here are a couple before they got the labels on them.  Below are a few with the stickers.

We did 3 coats of the Mod Podge, letting them thoroughly dry in between coats and then we glued on the cork backing, that conveniently came in 4X4 squares.  I love when that happens.

I think they came out really well!  Here is a comparison.  

I have to say that I like ours better with the contrast of the black label.  But maybe I'm a little biased.  

Overall cost breakdown:

3 packs of 9 tiles = $11.37

6 packs of 4 cork squares = $11.94

Mod Podge = $14.99

25% off coupon for Michaels items = -$6.59

Grand total for 25 tiles = $31.71 (plus two extra tiles for next time)

One tile = $1.27  Compared to $10.50 at the winery?  Shut up.  So basically we could make 9 tiles for the price of the novelty one.  I'd say that was a score.  

The four of us each got a set of 4 (I actually took the odd 5th one that was left over) and there were two extra sets for my aunt to give as gifts when she got home.  

While we were at Michaels, I also showed her all of the scrapbook and craft paper that she could use as well to do these.  Since they wouldn't be stickers, you'd need to put the Mod Podge on the back of the paper and slap it to the tile first and then do your top coats.  But other than that it would be the same process as we did.  They'd be great gifts for Christmas, birthdays, house warming parties, etc.  Super easy and a personal touch.  And I don't know about you, but I have coasters everywhere in my house.  Probably because I'm super anal.  But I think these new ones will make a cute, decorative touch with a conversation piece thrown in as well.  I see a lot of coasters being made in my future.  So Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday and Congratulations on your new home!  Now you know what you are getting.