CRAZY week...Next week will be better!!!

It has been an absolutely crazy week for me.  Starting last Sunday at 3 I worked every day till close to midnight helping with sewing projects to transform our church lobbies for our yearly "At The Movies" series.  The reveal and theme are held pretty close to the vest and since tomorrow is the reveal I can say NOTHING about my project.  Once Sunday has passed I can post pictures and let everyone know what I've been up to.  I also have another project I am one button away from finishing.  I know, that's not much, but I have literally had NO time to even go shopping for the button, so the project had to be put on hold.  I can't wait to share that one.

Until then,

Jennifer

Monogram Coasters

It's the end of an era in our house.  The trusty coasters...those old wooden hexagon with cork centered kind of coasters...my husband and I received as a wedding present 15 years ago just a few short years ago FAILED!!!  I walked off and left a cup of ice water on one and when I returned there was water underneath the coaster.  NOT COOL!!!  Thankfully, this Pinterest addict had just pinned a project where you make your own!!!  Right down my alley...and another excuse to make a run to the store for a quick project day!!!  Let me give credit where credit is due for the coaster idea...Yolanda at The Huckaby's Happily Ever After was the inspiration for this project.  Another CASE (copy and steal everything) moment for me!!!

To start off we need:

The Pieces

For this project the pieces are:

4x4 rough tile (mine came in a package of 9 for $3.98 at HD)

Stamps of your choosing (I used acrylic cause I had them, rubber stamps would be fine as well.)

Staz On Ink...trust me, use this brand!!!

MinWax Paste Finishing Wax (about $10 at HD, but I barely used any for 9 coasters so it will last a LONG time!)

Felt Adhesive Pads

Two Rags - One you will throw away (this can be cheese cloth instead)

Take the first rag and get it wet without dripping and wipe off any residue on each of the tiles, front and back.  Let them dry for a minute or two.  (No picture here...I figure this is self explanitory!)

Stamp your image and letter on each tile.  This is where the acrylic stamps come in handy.  It's easy to see where to place them.  Rubber stamps are fine, and crossing the pattern and the letter would look pretty cool too.  I also saw them on the blog linked above as half monogramed and half patterned all over the tile.  This is totally preference!!!  For me, I wanted all monogramed for this set of coasters.

Here's how it looks at this step: freshly stamped!

Once the stamping is done open up the Minwax Wax and basically follow the directions on the side of the container.  I took a clean rag and rubbed the wax into the front and edges of each coaster.  I didn't apply any wax to the back because I want my felt feet to adhere properly.  I started with the first coasters I stamped to ensure the ink had ample time to dry.  It worked well and brought a lot of the colors in the stone out.  Once I applied the wax to all the coasters I then went back and buffed them a bit with a clean section of the rag I was using.

Adding the Finishing Wax to each coaster.

Here's how it looks after buffing it.  It's not a lot different, but if you look closely you can see a bit of a sheen to it.  I believe it just seals it a bit so the coaster can do it's job properly...and isn't that what we're striving for?!?  Once I was done buffing them up I flipped them over and adhered a small, round felt pad to each corner so I don't scuff my furniture.

Look at me...all buffed up!!!

And voila!!!  They're all done.  I took my old coaster holder and prayed they'd all fit.  They did (all but one which sits on my end table all the time anyway)...even better than those octagon weirdos...oh wait, did I say that out loud???

I love them.  They're heavy duty enough to keep kitties from knocking them on the floor, and they sure do look nicer than the others.  I think they're keepers. 

Love having another piece of Treasure!!!

What does Pieces to Treasure mean to me

Have you ever watched the movie "Tinkerbell"?  Tinkerbell is "born" a tinker fairy, but she is bored with all the mundane things she sees all the other tinker fairies do.  So she sets out to find her true calling.  She tries on all the other fairies jobs only to fail, time after time.  But one day she sees all these pieces and parts lying on the ground.  She looks at them and it clicks in her little brain.  Suddenly she's putting them all together to create a music box.  Ok, granted, she just put together a broken box, but later she discovers she has a knack for taking pieces and parts of things and putting them together to create useful different things. 

Pieces and parts...to Treasure.

I love to craft...but that's putting it mild.  I love to sew, knit, crochet, paint, scrapbook, stamp, paper fold, bake, decorate cakes, sculpt with fondant, and on and on.  What strikes me as amazing is looking at the pieces and parts you start with and how they transform into Treasure.  Think about a skein of yarn.  It's bulky and all bunched up together.  With some applied time and a bit of talent a masterpiece (at least it's a masterpiece to you...as it should be) is created.

Each and every one of my crafts is a "Pieces to Treasure" project to me.  I love to start with a picture of all the pieces the project takes and watch how it progresses to a treasure.  That's the point of this blog.  I want to share what pieces become treasure in my home.

I hope you enjoy!!!