"Mom, when's Christmas?"....

Eeeeek!! I know!!! Who wants to really think about that??? But if you're like me and you enjoy giving gift that were handmade.. you might want to start thinking NOW! A couple years back, I gave some of these wonderful coasters to my siblings for Christmas. Now, they weren't actual Christmas designs.. of course now... I wanted them to use them all year long. So... I made sure each set was personalized to either match their home... or... something they loved. These coasters are sooooo easy and I've used just about every kind of medium on them that my craft room had. I do suggest, however, if you plan to use something like chalks, pencils, etc., you definitely seal them with a clear coat of some sort. The tiles I purchased at a local Lowes store. I believe they were a tumbled tile. Make sure you wipe off the excess "dust" that can accumulate on them from being stacked and moved around. On this particular tile which I used in a class one month, I had the girls use their watercolor pencils as they had all recently bought a set. I know this because I had just taught them how to watercolor with them and use a blender pen. They ALL bought a set!! HA! I started by stamping my design with StazOn black. Make SURE it's totally dry before you begin working with coloring the image. As I said, we used watercolor pencils on this tile. You CAN use the pencils alone... or... as I did... using a blender pen to lighten and darken where needed. Either way, always... always, make sure you're completely dry when finishing up. I did seal the tile with a clear coat spray. You don't want to make a coaster that at the first drop of condensation your image washes away. Always remind the recipient that these should be hand washed. On the back, I simply cut some "Fun Foam" and glued it in place with a strong adhesive. No scratched tables to worry about. These were by far one of the favorite gifts I had given that year. I made sets of four and tied them with a very pretty ribbon and put them in a gift bag. Now, as I said, I DID make these "functional"; but my sister-in-law would not allow my brother to use them. She propped them up on a shelf because they were "to pretty!" LOL Either way... I'm just happy they enjoyed them. Give them a try.. they are super super easy and fun! Have a great day and remember... it's never to early to prepare for Christmas!