Just Like That, I am Back

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 If I said I was back, would you believe me? Blogging is complicated, and there are so many "get rich quick" blogging schemes that make it look like you are a lost cause if you are not currently earning money blogging. And why are you even blogging if you don't have multiple streams of income and entertainment. If you don't have a brand? I do have this website, but I do not have Instagram, Twitter, TikTok (you don't want to see me dance), or whatever is next.  Heck, I haven't even updated this since before the pandemic. So why am I here, writing about being back and then, probably ghosting for another two years? Life has been rough. It's been painful and overwhelming. I am so thankful for you my readers, or what is left of you. I am so thankful you are reading this post. I am so thankful that you are still committed to making the world a more exciting and more sustainable place.  Keep up-cycling my friends, and you never know, I might be back again with an

Jill from Envirocraftiness and Her Upcycled Tile Coasters

Today Robin has invited to share a stashbusting tutorial with all of you and I couldn't be more excited! Spring is a great time for stashbusting/purging/cleaning!

Today I'm busting some ceramic tiles from my stash.  I bought them at ReStore for $0.20 a piece with the intention of making coasters as gifts at Christmas time.  Then I wanted to get them done for my friend's birthday in February. Now it's April....

I started with these tiles.  I love going to ReStore because they have so much neat stuff at good prices.  It's nice to know that all these construction materials are being saved from the garbage!
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Next I found some images I liked over at the Graphics Fairy.  I've talked about Karen's site many times before - if you haven't checked it out, why not?!
The Graphics Fairy

I picked 4 images I liked and resized them in a word document and placed them how I liked.  I did a test run on plain paper to make sure they were the right size and in the right position.

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Once I was happy with how they printed I did a good copy onto some old book pages - also from my stash.  I had received these dictionary pages from another crafty mind years ago when she was trying to de-stash!  

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After I was done printing my images I trimmed them down to size for my coasters.
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Next step was mod podge! I bought the outdoor stuff just to make sure that it held up against the moisture from glasses.  
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I used my trusted mod podge gift card to make sure there weren't any air bubbles under the paper.
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Once that dried, I applied one coat of 'podge to cover the paper too.  I usually use a regular paint brush to apply mod podge because I don't like the little foam brushes.  I'm apparently too violent and break the little plastic thing on the inside all the time.  I realize that using bristle brushes leaves brush strokes, but I've come to peace with it.
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After they were dry I was ready to call it done.  The outdoor mod podge however left them feeling tacky, and when you set a glass on them, it stuck.  I found a clear sealer spray and gave them two coats of this, which fixed the problem!

Here's where I have a confession to make.  I had to *gasp* SHOP to finish this project.  I know, it goes against the rules of stashbusting, but I ONLY bought what I needed, and I figured that the buying to busting ratio was more than reasonable, so I figured I could forgive myself.

I picked up a bunch of these little guys:
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I know I could have busted even more stash by cutting up some felt or something similar to put on the bottom, but I really wanted them to have that professional, polished look.

I applied one to each corner like so
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Voila!
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Reach into your stash and grab a ribbon to tie around them and they're ready to give to your bestie as a belated Chris-birth-gift!  Total cost = $3.01 (not including printer ink/mod podge/sealer)  This gift recipient reads my blog.  Thank goodness she loves a great deal as much as I do! :P
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One set down, a box of tiles to go!
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Time to head back over to the Graphics Fairy!


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~JILL

envirocraftiness.blogspot.com
envirocraftiness@gmail.com
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Comments

L.A. said…
So gorgeous!!!! Great job Jill!
Christa said…
Those are awesome! I've seen coaster tiles before, but I never thought of printing from my computer onto dictionary pages, and I've never seen those little plastic "feet". Thanks for the great ideas!

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