Before I get into this post, I have a question…. Does anyone else use Google Reader? If so, have you noticed that suddenly some blogs don’t feed into it properly, and those that you may have unsubscribed to start showing up again? What is the deal? It’s driving me nuts because some of my favorite reads are not showing up!! Anyone know how to fix this?
Anyhow…
I shared some easy homemade gifts earlier this holiday season (candles and glitter magnets), and I have another super easy idea for you. This idea is fabulous for hostesses, neighbors, or teachers. The ones I made happen to be for my own husband though because we need coasters for our living room and he has mentioned it to me a few times. So of course that gave me an idea…. (and don’t worry- he doesn’t read my blog unless I tell him there is something he should read.)
I purchased a package of 8 travertine tiles from Home Depot for something like $5. I had leftover paint from the bookcases so I decided to use that. I planned to do a set of 4 and thought it would be cool to do an ombre style with each coaster getting a little lighter, as they will be stacked as a set. The idea seemed cool at the time… but once they were all painted I was not impressed with myself. Ugh. I thought it was going to be a project fail or do-over. Then Sarah suggested I paint them in chevron style. I still wasn’t sure, but decided what the heck- I can’t ruin them at this point! I used my DecoArt Sea Glass acrylic paint and just free handed one chevron stripe to the side of each tile. I was liking them much better, but I knew a good distressing would make the look blend more…. So I got to work sanding and distressing them, and then coated them with polycrylic for protection. Once that was dry I used a big cork tile I had on hand and cut it into squares to glue to the back side of each tile to protect table tops of course. And finally, I was happy!
Like I said- it was so easy and you really don’t even need any artistic talent! The distressing helps hide your imperfect paint job! 😉
