Inspiration Post - Upcycled Coasters

It is Cec here and I am bringing you some inspiration today in the form of some upcycled coasters.

I have a bunch of coasters that really should have been thrown out long before now because they have stains on them or little torn spots but the other day I had a bright idea that maybe I could salvage them.

I started by covering the back with some painters tape since I wanted to make sure I didn't damage the cork backing.  Next I covered the front and sides with a couple coats of Liquitex Gesso.

The next step was to paint the coaster with some Folk Art acrylic paint called Italian Sage.  It took two coats to get good coverage.

Next I used Jet Black Archival Ink and an IndigoBlu stamp called Script Background to add some stamping to the coaster.

I crumpled up some tissue, flattened it back out and adhered it to the coaster with some Mod Podge.  This photo was taken of the first attempt at altering the coaster so there was another stamped image that didn't make it on the second version that I am showing you today.  Once the tissue is dry, I trimmed the excess away and added another coat of Mod Podge over the tissue.  Try not to touch the tissue while it is wet because it does tend to disintegrate and you don't want it to come off areas where you want it to be.

The next step was apply some inks of various types in random spots.  I used Tim Holtz Aged Mahogany and Iced Spruce Distress Spray Stain along with some FW acrylic inks in Pearlescent Copper, Pearlescent Silver Moss and Antelope Brown.

I then used Jet Black Archival Ink and a set of stamps from Hero Arts to add some butterflies to the coaster.  I heat set them and then put a coat of IndigoBlu Super Thick Slap It On over the coaster to seal it.  In the future I think I would wait a couple days to ensure that the stamping is really set because the ink still moved a bit when I added the sealer but it wasn't so bad that I couldn't use it.

Here is a close-up view of the finished coaster. I hope you are inspired to rescue your old coasters and give them some new life.