Handmade Gifts: Coasters

You give but little of yourself when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give

                                                  ---Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

                 I cannot always express my emotions with handmade gifts. But sometimes I make a little extra special effort and a handmade gift to show how much I care. It is like a special gesture for your dear ones. The love and affection for the person is shown through the efforts taken to make the gift. The entire time I was making this gift, I was thinking of my friend and of what she means to me, I thought of what she might like and how she might use it, I thought of times spent together, and of times we will spend in the years ahead. As the years go by, I value how friends have becomes family especially as we stay away from our parents, siblings, and other family.

                 I like to give gifts that along with keeping in mind the receiver’s likes, also expresses me….kindof like a bit of me in the gift. A bit that represents my tastes, my skills, my interests, and my life.

                The festival and holiday season has begun rolling and we friends celebrate Diwali with a Diwali party, and I made this coaster set to give as a hostess gift to my friend.

             

            There are thousands of DIY instructions on the internet on how to make coasters, So I thought I would throw my bit in too  J. All you have to do is get some plain white tiles, cut some scrapbook paper to fit the tile and mod podge the whole thing a few times…and you are done! Did I make it just sound too easy?..…trust me it is actually that easy. 

                      

Get a few inexpensive white tiles from the home store.

Cut some scrapbook paper to fit the top of the tile. My only tip for this would be to trace the outline of the tile on the paper and cut a little inside the lines. You want the paper to be a little bit smaller than the surface of the tile. I learnt the hard way that trying to fold the paper over the edges of the tile makes for a mess and not a very neat finish.

                              

Then all you do is brush on several coats of mod podge over the tile and paper letting dry between coats.

                     

It looks kindof milky when wet but don't worry it will dry clear.

Cut some cork roll to fit the bottom of the tile and glue that on. 

And you are done! An easy project that took only an hour.

The box was a lucky fit, so I mod podged that too. But the coasters gift-wrapped with some nice ribbon would be pretty too.

               It is not about how simple or elaborate your gift is that matters most, a heartfelt gift given always touches the heart. All through this holiday season, I plan to post little projects that can be made easily and given as gifts. I hope as you read these, it inspires you to give it a try even if you think you don’t have a single crafty bone in you. And that as you look at these blog posts you can think of someone it would be perfect for.

Happy Gifting!