Photo Tile Coasters

I have been pinning a lot of photo tile coaster DIYs on pinterest lately. I really wanted to make some so I was getting inspiration. Then my friend Colleen blogged about the ones she made for her MIL for Mother's Day. Her instructions were simple and I decided to make some. I thought I would make some for my mother with photos of my children on them. She doesn't use coasters that much but she loves the photo calendars that I make her for Christmas so I thought why not.

The original post of Colleen's instructions can be found here on her blog. I also recommend following her blog because she posts lots of great things, including a weekly writing challenge that can sometimes be fun, sometimes difficult.

Anyway, I followed her directions almost word for word. The only change I made was I used premade cork coasters instead of cutting adhesive backed cork into the shape. A six pack of the 4x4 coasters cost less than 2 dollars, the only thing is that you have to glue them on to the back of the tile. I used Elmer's Glue-All, which is stronger than the school glue they make. I'm not sure how well the glue will hold up, but I can always glue them on more securely with a stronger or more waterproof glue later, if need be.

The most difficult part of this whole project was getting the photos. There is nowhere in town that prints out 4x4 photos, and I waited to the last minute to do this project, so I could not order online. I printed the photos out on regular paper first, but the quality was not great. I then printed them out on photo paper, but because my ink was starting to run out, the photos did not all turn out. I ended up using 3 photos printed on regular paper and 3 photos printed on photo paper. The photos printed on regular paper seemed to wrinkle a bit more, although one of the photos printed on photo paper had a huge air bubble under it also. I talked to the photo guy at Walgreen's and he said that I could make the photo 4x4 and then have them print it 4x6, and trim of the extra space. I may do that next time because the photos nearly sent me into a rage. Lol!

Anyway, they didn't turn out too bad for a first attempt. I am going to make these again, and maybe do some with art from comic books. I will post that on here if I do.

Here is the finished product:

The photos printed on the photo paper are (from left to right, top to bottom) the 1st, 3rd, and 5th. The others were printed on regular paper.

"Stained Glass" Candle Holders

My mom & I went to a craft get together and decided to make these "stained glass" candle holders that mom found on pinterest. They were very cute on the website and looked easy enough to make. Basically you just use a shaped hole punch to make tissue paper shapes and then Mod Podge them onto a glass candle holder. Easy, right? No! These were a pain in the ass. The tissue paper did not want to cut all the way with the hole punch. We finally figured out that if you put a regular piece of paper under the tissue paper it was a bit easier to cut, but still far from perfect. It took about 2 hours for us each to make one. They turned out pretty cool, but I probably won't be making another one.

I will not post the step by step instructions, if you want those the website is here.

Here is a photo of tissue paper flowers and the dollar store glass candle holder I used:

Here are photos of the finished product:

And here is a photo with a candle inside: