Beer Coasters

I made a bunch of these little guys to give away to all our guests at our Christmas Party. They were a big hit. I even had several extra for those last minute gifts. So easy and you can really use any kind of cardboard, paper, or fabric, it doesn't have to be beer boxes. :)

Step 1: What You Need.

1. 4x4 White Tile ( I bought a whole box from Lowes)

2. Beer boxes, the 6 pack kind ( you can really choose anything you want though)

3. Crafter's Felt

4. Mod Podge

5. Mod Podge spray sealer

6. Quilter's Cut n Press, but any cutting board would work

7. Quilter's ruler and straight edge (this thing is very handy and efficient. I tried using just a plain ruler, but then you have pencil lines and it's difficult to get an image centered.)

8. Rotary Cutter (I tried scissors and an exacto knife to cut the card board squares, and found the rotary cutter to be way more precise and straight with little to no frayed card board edges)

9. Any cheap paint brush or foam brush

10. Scissors

Step 2: Prep

Obviously you'll need to acquire 6 pack of beer boxes. How you do that is up to you. We bought the beer and drank it. :-) Then you'll need to disassemble the beer boxes so you have just the sides. I just cut down the seams on the sides and bottom and then pulled the inner compartments off. Be sure to peel any extra cardboard off to try and make the good piece as uniform as possible.

Step 3: Cutting the Cardboard and Felt Squares

I tried this step with a ruler and an exacto-knife and also with scissors. I found that using the rotary cutter and quilter's ruler was much easier.

I cut the card board and felt squares to be exactly 4 1/8 inches square. I feel like that extra 1/8 inch really made the coaster a coaster rather than a tile with some beer cardboard on it.

When cutting the cardboard, I tried to mix up the angles of all the logos. I didn't just want everything to be perfectly square. You have to be careful with this though, because if that first cut is too angled, you'll never get a full square out of it. This is where the quilter's ruler really helps. Because it's clear and has lines on it, you can get an idea of where the best part of the logo is prior to making a cut.

Step 4: Glue!

FIRST! Make sure you cover any surface you're working on if you want to protect it. I simply used a garbage bag.

Using the cheap foam brush, paint on a thin layer of Mod Podge on the tops of the tiles. I generally did 4 at a time. Because we're working with cardboard here, I let the Mod Podge dry a little before I stuck the cardboard on. This made the glue a little tacky so the cardboard would stick better. If you put too much glue on or put the cardboard on too soon, the cardboard could get soggy and warp a little bit. It's not the end of the world when this happens, but it's something that can be prevented.

Once the first layer of Mod Podge is tacky, place the cardboard squares on the tile. I then placed other tiles or something heavy on each of the tiles to hold the cardboard in place, careful not to allow the cardboard to slip around.

Let dry, usually about 15 to 20 minutes.

Step 5: Brush Coating

Once the cardboard is glued on and relatively dry, you can start coating the top of the tiles with layers of Mod Podge. Paint on a thin coat, being sure to cover the entire surface and the edges just a little bit. It's ok if Mod Podge drips down the side a bit, we can fix that once it drys. Let that coat dry (about 15-20 minutes) and repeat. I usually put on about 5 to 6 coats of Mod Podge, this was a recommendation on the Mod Podge label and it works pretty well.

Step 6: Spray Coating

Once you have all the layers of the paint on Mod Podge, I sprayed on a Mod Podge sealer. This was also a recommendation on the Mod Podge label to prevent tacky-ness. I am not a huge fan of picking up my drink and having he coaster stick to the glass, only to fall off onto your foot or something. It seems to have made a difference. Again, I sprayed on 5 to 6 coats allowing 15 to 20 minutes of dry time in-between. Do this is a well ventilated area on a surface that you don't need to protect. I did it outside on a stump.

When this is complete, this is when you can cut off any extra Mod Podge drips from the sides. The exacto knife and rotary cutter both worked well with this task.

Then I let the coaster sit over night to finish drying. Be sure not to stack the tiles at this point. It could cause the finish to get blemishes.

Step 7: Adding the Felt

Brush on a layer of Mod Podge on the bottom of the tile and stick on the pre-cut felt square. Let dry and you're done! I allowed each guest to pick two coasters, which allowed each household to have a set of 4 (lots of couples).

We had several coasters left over, so they made great gifts for those friends that surprised us with gifts. :-) I just picked 4, stacked, wrapped with gold ribbon and stuck a bow on top. Easy Peasy!