day thirty eight: mod podge coasters (or wall art!) for halloween

the finished mod podged halloween tiles!

the day has dawned and its time to mod podge ... mod podge some ceramic tiles to be exact.  pinned to my paper crafts board on pinterest is a great tutorial about mod podging tiles from lindsay at the cottage home blog. she has loads of tutorials, mostly sewing patterns, tips, and tricks ... and she makes the most beautiful childrens clothes.

i really liked her idea for home-made coasters and immediately thought i could do a collage of them on the wall for holiday decor ... we aren't the best users of coasters in this house at present! i had a 6 x 6 pad of halloween paper that needed a project so i went with a halloween theme for this set of tiles.  my papers are from the pink paislee hocus pocus collection, love the petite pads because the design sizes are easy to work with for little projects, like this one!  got my supplies together, if you are making actual coasters, you will need some felt for the backs to prevent them marking the surfaces they sit on.

supplies for the project :)

i have some handy hints for this project:

• i always cut out a transparency the size i need the paper to be so i can make sure i am happy with the pattern on the square i am going to end up with.  this is also really good to do if you are going to undertake this project with photos, takes all the guess work out of where to cut the picture!
• as some of you will be aware i'm not a fan of raw edges :) so when i cut paper i tend to edge it with a distress ink (my favourites are tim holtz ones) ... for this project i used frayed burlap first to vintage up the edges of the paper and then walnut stain on the very edges to give it a bit of depth. i think the end look gives each piece of paper its own little border and i really like that.
• i have used mod podge paper matte for this project because they are going to hang in a sunny area, so i don't want them to yellow and the matte will help limit the reflection more than a gloss would
• and finally, fyi i put three layers of mod podge on these little babies :)

hopefully you can pick up the transparency in the picture
... see how easy it is to figure out where you need to cut :)

outcome:  whats not to love ... this is going to be another one of those projects that i am going to change with the holidays and decor of my home ... i am going to get steve to put 9 hooks up on a wall and just change the tiles according to the holiday, with a set of 9 i can keep up that match the rooms decor at other times of the year (these ones i am going to put family photos on).  i am completely stoked with the outcome of this wall art and if we ever need coasters, i won't need to buy some, i'll just make'em!  bring on halloween!

nine tiles to hang on the wall, love collages!

huge thanks to lindsay from the cottage home for the inspiration, she has beautiful tutorials, they are really easy to follow and i can't thank her enough for this awesome idea :) if you are into sewing children's clothes or for that matter buying them, check her site out, its fantastic for inspiration and buying opportunities!