Book Room, Part II

Project Time! 
... AND PROJECT UPDATE!

So a couple weekends ago, we got the first part of the mini library completed: the large bookshelf. It wasn't necessarily a complicated process; I'd call it more time consuming that "difficult." Not a bad problem for a DIY project. 

Yesterday afternoon, between the morning & afternoon visits with my cousin, Rob and I made a trip to pick up the lumber needed for the reading bench. The original plan was to go ahead and get the second bookshelf materials as well, but well.. things happen and you decide that you don't really wanna do it just then and so you don't. And so we didn't. Meh. Another day. 

So today, we did church and then a much-needed and much-loved lunch outing with the Ricks and Costanzas, before coming back home to tackle the bench. Rob assisted me with some of the sawing [I could use that thing every day and still manage to cut off something that isn't lumber...], and then I hauled the cuts upstairs to build the bench.

First things first: baseboard removal. Somuchfun.

It's a box. I built a box. Not super complicated, but again - time consuming. Especially when you decide you're going to make pocket screws, sans kreg jig or any other foreseeable solution outside of winging it. I'm good at that, so it worked out :). 

Here's the before: 

freshly vacuumed :) 

a box & some suuuper pretty "pocket screws" [haha]

Rob has relentlessly teased me about my plans to make this thing sturdy enough to support half the house, and well, he's not wrong, and in the event that it does need to support half the house, well, WE'RE GOOD HERE. :D 

Anyway, fast forward a couple hours, a couple drill batteries and several stripped-out screws later... 

final touches: hinges and hatch opening!

And thennnnn: 

ta-da! 

because i'm not about wasting space... 

She's done! 

phase 2!
... of... 4, i think. 

So if you can picture a smaller white bookshelf (to match the existing one) situated in front of and of the same height as the bench, then you've seen the next step. I'll add a bunch of memory foam and cool pillows+blankets+comfy shtuff on top of that & it'll probably be my new favorite place in the entire house. 

Also, YAY for not having to paint ANY of this so far. While I don't like cutting corners, I also don't like creating unnecessary work for myself. Everybody wins. 

Oh, and if you had no reason to turn your clocks forward today - or if you're among the rare who don't have a cell phone that automatically updates, well.. make sure you do that before tomorrow morning :). 

Here's to another solid week! 

Cheers,

xo | cms

Hide & Seek: The Silver Lining on a Monday

I was not overly impressed by how the work day ended. It's an ongoing plight, really; I struggle more than I'd like to admit on days like this, to convince myself that I'm not operating like someone who hasn't resigned herself to the path of someone who's blinding circling around in Einstein's definition of insanity. It just.. today was not the best day I've had recently. 

But it's okay, because ya know what? It wasn't the worst, either.

There's a silver lining in everything, I'm certain of it. Plus, I'm a firm believer that where there are valleys and unfruitful seasons, that they only exist because there are mountain tops and bountiful spans to contrast [and vice versa, obviously]. But seriously. Today was a wash; I'm letting it go.

my friends.... 

Tonight was different. I'm among the lucky to have my best friend by my side through thick, thin and days like this that otherwise make me question myself. As we continued on with the project in Sydni's room, we talked. We talked, and talked, and talked. We didn't have phones out. We just... worked and talked. It was relaxing, but above that, made me realize that I owe so much more for the gift of him and the rest of my mini clan of friends & family than I could give.

amazed by this guy!

Speaking of our quality time, this guy impresses me every day with his ability to do something he's never done before - in this case, building a loft bed fit for an almost-7-year-old and an adult or two if needed. He is patient, understanding and confident that if he doesn't know something, he will figure it out and make it work. #bragmoments♥

Tomorrow, we paint! Sydni's room is nearing completion, and I can't wait. In time.. in time. We're on a roll though and I see no signs of stopping, until it's done.

See ya next time, blogbots - it's gonna be a long day tomorrow, I'm sure.

xo | cmd

I Have Decided - Pursue the Battle Lines

And here I thought last week's Sunday sermon was designed to rock me to the core. I mean, it did, but today's was the refresher course that I really needed. Rob, too. We were privileged to be in the audience for the guest preacher, a Zimbabwe native with a first hand glimpse at life on the other side of the spiritual line.

I would much rather let him share his message with you himself, via webcast, so I'll most definitely post it when SonRise gets it up on the website. In the meantime, we'll have to settle for the Storytellers' abbreviated version:

Today we listened to a man whose childhood consisted of a life of rituals, witch doctors and spiritual seances purposed to channel the voices of the deceased. He was witnessed to by a nun, and that led to a decision that would change his life, and ultimately provide him with the information and passion to share his testimony with congregations along the way, just like ours.

What I love, is when something is stated simply: In his case, the fact that whether we want to acknowledge it or not, we are on the front lines of a spiritual conflict. No, it's not a mystical, fantasy, imaginary world. It's the world in which we live, where we are faced with the decisions daily of who and what will influence us, and in what ways.

We must be armed. We must be prepared. We accomplish preparedness by reading the Word. We ready our hearts and minds by establishing the truth in them, so that when false words and claims are presented, that truth will acknowledge. We resist temptation by understanding our limitations and relying on our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to stand beside us in the seasons where our areas of weakness may otherwise distract us. It's a commitment that we must have, to pray. For protection, for guidance and for perseverance of ourselves, our brothers and sisters, our families, children, friends and those who don't yet even know Christ. It's a full-fledged war, in which we put our trust in the power and ability of God.

I can't wait to share the full vido here; I'll absolutely do that as soon as it's up live!
In the meantime, a friendly reminder that the first meeting for this year's Panama trip is next Sunday. I found the video on the SonRise site and thought I would share it, just in case you're curious about what it is in which we invested ourselves last year in April.


For now though, it's the day of leisure that Sunday should be...  .... okay, well maybe with a little bit of Pinterest to boot. I mean, we're going to have a couple of rooms to decorate here soon, right? 
:)  xo | cmd

Talk To Me, Pinterest

We're leaving for Illinois tomorrow, and today was one of those fast forward days that didn't seem to stop even for a moment. It was an early morning at work, a rapid fire day at work, and then straight to the hour+ roundtrip to get Sydni and come home.

It was one of those days that tested my sanity and showed me that my patience extends further than sometimes I've even been able to believe.

It's days like this when I [and excuse me in advance for how cheesy this is going to sound] find myself clicking through Pinterest to find some additional inspiration. I told you it was cheesy. BUT, it worked, and I thought I'd share some of them with you, my fellow blogbots... in case you're in need of some additional oompf today:

First - get your mind right. If the world is fine, don't reinvent the day by creating your own problems, drama or dischord! The right outlook from us, starts with us.

This one has resonated with me tenfold over the past several months. As patient as I try to be, I've always found root in this principle. As I attended a soccer camp some odd years ago, one of the evening motivational speakers said to us that in her history as a player, the best and most respected players she knew were the ones who very rarely had to vocalize their successes or abilities. They demonstrated it instead, which left impressions far more powerful than just words. I love that. Either BE it or don't, but either way, just DO something and stop telling me all about whether or not you do it, are it, or [insert verb here] it.

More lighthearted on this one. As an adult, I find the struggle here more often than I dismiss it, especially when my plate gets cluttered with the responsibilities of adulthood:work, parenting, bills, social obligations, etc. Thankfully, I have a five-year-old who is constantly reminding me that wonder is an ageless, timeless thing that is essential to our survival - at any stage.

It got crazy today, and in a few select moments, I know that I let the pressure get the best of me. This is a memo to myself, on days like this... in moments like that. Be still, self. Just... listen. 

A reminder to myself that regardless of how the world around me - and those in it - choose to function, adhering to this myself is nobody's responsibility but mine, and it should be one that I actively choose to make each and every single day. Can you imagine if we all made strives for the greatness of glorification of the God who made us, and for each other, rather than for our own often-depraved agendas? #fantasyworld

Lastly, this one. There were several others that seemed so much more cleverly-worded, philosophical, more eloquent, more visually enticing, whatever... but I saw this one and realized that it's the exact opposite of what my human brain wants to do on days like this. It is the exact opposite of what I want to do, but the exact thing I need to do. Amen? Amen.

It's days... like... this.... just breathe. :)

I read those again a few times, and then looked up to my own life here in this moment, right now:

I am home. I am here, present in this moment and proud of the simple little life that I'm blessed to be a part of. Love & light, from us to you.

Happy Thursday!

xo | cmd

'Tis the Season to Be GENEROUS

She finally got me.
Sydni the germ-buster brought her sniffles home on Monday this week, and somehow I didn't contract anything until today. Fortunately, we were able to get out of the house for a few short hours to take care of some shopping:


1. Christmas Tree Lights

round lights! 

We don't have them all up yet [we didn't buy enough strands; go figure], but this year, we decided to go with round Christmas lights, as opposed to the traditional slender strands. At this point, only half the tree is lit, but that half sure is beautiful ;)

2. Christmas for SOMEONE ELSE.

♥& be merry about it, too! 

We are called to GIVE!

"Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to." - Dt 15:10 NIV

Anyone out there who's ever been to a church around Christmas time has probably seen some version of this practice: You draw or pick a name of a child, and with that comes your commitment to provide for that child [or children] gifts appropriate to their age, gender, needs and possibly wants. Our church is of course participating, and it was our pleasure to choose a name and give Sydni a reinforcing experience of giving generously to someone she doesn't even know.

Sidenote: Parents, if you and your kids have never participated in this, I would strongly encourage you to do it. Not only does this give you and your family something you could do as a team, it is a teachable moment built to easily give us a platform to lead by example in giving generously AND joyfully to those in need. In our case, we reminded Sydni that not every little girl and boy has a family like ours and sometimes the only gifts they may receive could be the ones we choose.

And JUST LIKE THAT, my 5-year-old's response gives me as the PARENT a very obvious and very BOLD reminder:

Give not JUST joyfully, but give nothing but what would be fit for a queen [or king!]. 

Whoa.Right?! Because it would've been easy for us to pick out some random, maybe even knock-off versions of what was listed on her little slip: clothes, princess items, baby dolls. We could easily have finished our "obligatory" shopping for this 2-year-old girl in a matter of minutes, but Sydni proved a reminder to us that this little girl deserved the best:

"Oh, MOMMY! I know what we should get her!! Let's get her................."

And just like that, she started spouting off lists of things she would enjoy. And I realized that, although we weren't planning on the cheapest way out for this little girl, I had not actively been approaching this as though I was buying for my own child. I would want the prettiest doll, most fun little game, fuzziest PJ's and functional clothes that would keep her warm. And so for the little girl being assisted by my family and me this year, that's what we did. ♥

#truth! 

3. Christmas Decorations & Of Course... Knitting

The last thing on our agenda today was some comfy family time at the house. Sydni and I perused some Pinterest ideas for fun Christmas decorations. I had to laugh, because of all the crafty, more "kid-friendly" ideas floating out there on the interweb, Sydni has adamantly chosen mock faberge painted eggs. In this case, Sharpie'd faberge eggs. But still. Thanks, kiddo.. haha. Leave it to her to pick one of the most delicate projects on the entire site ;)

thanks, pinterest! 

Although, I've gotta hand it to her - they are gorgeous!
Maybe next year. For now, it's back to these [knitting] needles; these scarves aren't gonna finish themselves! ;)

xo | cmd 

Meal Prep.. GO!

My mission at the end of last week was to do a test run of cooking ahead [aka, weekly meal prep] for an entire week's worth of lunches. I eventually want to phase into both lunch and dinner, but baby steps.. baby steps.

okay little guys..

Thanks to Pinterest and some other tips from the world wide web of people who are professionals at this, I gathered some tips, recipes and things to avoid, and dug in to a bulk cooking session.  

meal prep

Chicken, fish, cous cous, rice and a variety of different vegetables are on the menu for this week, and at the risk of bragging, I'll just say that I'm actually proud of myself for doing it!


finished, labeled and ready to go! :D

Success. Believe it or not, this is the first time I've actually done a full week's worth of cooked meal prep that didn't include sandwiches and light stuff. Here's to frugal, healthy eating!

xo | cmd

Crafty Cards & A Four-Year-Old Four Wheeler

Elisa and I did something today that we've never done before.
We... played.. hookie.

Okay, so that's kind of what we told ourselves, but really all we did was take a dual lunch break and make a pitstop at Findlay Market. I gave Becky & Mike a heads up that we would be stopping by, and the four of us had a chance to chat over some gelato for a few minutes.

Oh, and there are hanging glass terariums at Market that give me the urge to transform my entire house into a gallery of tiny hanging succulent bulbs.

love!

And cacti:

d'awwwww (:

Sure, we made it back to the office in a reasonable amount of time, but for the sake of pretend rebellion, yeah, we went there. ;)

Anyway, with Monday gone to Sydni and my play-doh party, Tuesday gone to the circus episode of retrieving brick pavers, and last night gone to volleyball, I was left with tonight to start and finish the production of our Mother's Day cards.

So,

THANK YOU, PINTEREST. 

I had the format for these ready to go in my head on like, Sunday night, with every intention of having them completed and in the mail by Tuesday at the latest. Oh well.

They're done, we're happy, and here they are (:

to my mom ♥

open

front & top views

And the personalized but still mass-produced outcome?

dawne. mom. kate. mindi. carolyn.
"[some of] the moms"

add a little bit of a personal touch! ;)

While I was finishing the last bits of final touch on the cards, Sydni got bored and wandered outside to help Rob with the yardwork and re-arranging he was doing. It wasn't long before I heard, "Mooooommmmyyyyyyy!!!!!" It wasn't the panicked cry, rather that mischevious inflection that sounds more like, "Mmooooooommyyyy..." I opened the back door and found a giggly girl and Mr. Rob doing loops in the backyard.

i. friggin. love. them. ♥♥♥♥♥

They're amazing.

We're some happy people in this house, tonight ;)

Happy Thursday!!!

 

xo | cmd

DIY Tutorial : Nail & String Home Décor

Hi, blogbots! [I mean that in a most endearing way]

I, along with a lot of you, occasionally troll Pinterest. When I do, it's usually to re-pin copious amounts of mouthwatering recipes or a rustic living room built into the side of a mountain itself.. and everything in between. Every once in a while, I manage to download an idea off the web and actually do it. This was one of those times.

So I thought I'd share. I'm not much of a tutorial kinda girl, but I'll do my best.

So you've decided you want to do string/nail art, and have managed to sort through the bajillion examples on Pinterest. You've even managed to select your specific design, color schemes and boards. We'll start with the basics:

*****

Here we go. Nail & String Art, the unofficially official tutorial, by yours truly.

SUPPLIES:

- A BASE. Decide what kind of base you want to use. Your options here are nearly limitless, just make sure you don't choose something too thin [or you'll have nails poking out on the other side], too pliable [ply wood for example would be a bad choice] or too soft [like, foamboard or something]. Really, I'd recommend solid wood. I bought some plain craft plaques at Michael's for a couple bucks each. They even had beveled edges already, so aesthetically I was off to a good start.
- PAINT. If you want a solid color, I would recommend a primer. I didn't use one because I wanted some of the woodgrain to show, but that's up to you. I also used an aerosol paint because the project was so small.
- NAILS. Keep in mind I've only done this ONE time now, so do some research on the right nails based on the size and intensity of your project. I found 5/8" wire nails at the hardware store and they worked just fine. Make sure you buy enough (:
- STRING. Another Michael's purchase.  I used Aunt Lydia's Crochet Thread [size 10]; it's thin and coarse enough to not unravel, but soft enough to maneuver.
- HAMMER. You will need this.

HOW-I-DID-THIS:

*This is just how I did this. If you like the way these turned out, feel free to follow along! If you know you'd like to adapt it to your own liking, well... that is what I love about crafts. We can do whatever we want! I hope this is at least helpful!*

1 | Paint the bases. I chose a brick red color, because it matches the rest of our living room. I also used aerosol. Be smart, and use a well-ventilated area.

spray paint.
4 coats, each dried in about 5 minutes

2 | Cut out your designs. For ours, I used an online font generator and chose the letters I needed, then chose 6 or 7 different font styles. You can search for the letters and state outlines anywhere on the web and hopefully find what you need.

snip.. snip snip snip (:

3 | Grab your hammer! Prepare yourself to drive tiny nails into boards about nine thousand times. I used iiiiitty bitty pieces of scotch tape to hold the design down, but I would probably recommend painters tape if you're using any sort of gloss or matte medium, so to not peel off any of your paint.


here... we.. go.

I wouldn't drive the nails in further than a few good smacks. If they're a little uneven, you can always level them out when you've got them all in. Nail around the outline of whatever shape you're using. For tiny details, I would recommend exaggerating just a little bit; it might look silly at first but will compensate when you start working with the string. 

nails nails nails.

4 | Peel up your paper. Use your fingers, pliers, the hammer, whatever.. to gently fidget around any nails that went in a little crooked or are wobbly when you take the paper up.

paper.... no paper.

I realized immediately that my letter C looked more like a shriveled lima bean than a letter, which taught me that I should've made the letter a bit bigger. [You'll notice on the 2nd state I did, the letter is more pronounced.]

5 | String It Up. This was, for me, the easiest part of it, and a bit therapeutic if I'm being honest. A hint I realized after I finished the first state: To get an evenly-distributed look of the strings, count how many nails go around the outline. Then divide that by the number of nails of the smaller, inner outline. That will give you approximately how many times you'll have to use each inner nail for loops around the outer nails. For example, if you used 85 nails around the large outline, and 20 around the small outline, then you would need to use each inner nail about 4 to 5 times. (85 divided by 20 = 4.25). Once you get all the way around, tie a knot off on the original starting nail.

I'm one of those people who firmly believes in singeing edges. I've been doing it to shoelaces, hoodie ties and random strings for years. Since this string doesn't have any waxy component, just be sure to cut off enough to give some slack and don't burn it too close. Otherwise, your knot will come loose and good luck getting that back together without re-doing the whole thing.

playing with fire... be careful!

ta.... da!!!

^ (You'll notice there's a small gap in the strings around the top of the C; this is from my not counting out how many times I would have to use each nail... rookie mistake. Woops.

6 | Rinse & Repeat! I went ahead and did the rest of my letters, the other state [Illinois] and spared myself from taking pictures of every single one of those, too. It's basically the same process over and over again.

paper.. and nails.. and string.. (:

My apologies in advance for the grainy quality of these pictures; I promise I'll get better ones here soon. Anyway, this is what the finished products looked like: strung up & hung up!

♥!

If you have any questions, please ask! Like I said, this was a learning experience for me, too... so if you have any tips or tricks to share, I'm open to those, too (: This was a fun little project, and perhaps with bigger nails in a more simple design, thicker string [maybe elastic of some sort?], I'm sure the kiddos could have some fun with this too.

Happy crafting... & Happy SATURDAY!!

xo | cmd

Christmas 2013: T-Minus ONE WEEK

First and foremost, Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. I love the assembling of family, even when multiple stops sometimes feels like a game of Tetris. For us, it's a non-negotiable absolute that we will get together at one point or another, because it's Christmas and regardless of how often we see each other over the other 11 months, Christmas is when we get together and celebrate as a unit, the reason for the season and what that means to us.

I opted out of the mass mayhem of Thanksgiving Day [ridiculous] and Black Friday shopping this year, and pursued the DIY route. My recent discovery of online providers like Julep, and of course Pinterest, made this one an easy vote for me.

julep surprise box for december!

^ I opt in for surprise boxes and they give me cool things like 40% off my next order. Since Julep's are usually around $14/ea for one of their polishes (& worth it, I would say), my enrollment discount + a promo 40%? NO-brainer! I made a big order last week & got a couple polishes for $3/ea. BAM!

And so I made with it on Christmas ordering ;) From there, I picked up some other small, related items for just a couple bucks and was able to put together a nifty little gift for a few girls:

for elisa (top left) & nikki (top right)

A cinch, really. Add some tissue paper, a pretty ribbon and a 'Merry Mistletoes' tag & voilà - done!

I had to save this until the girls got their mistletoes, so as to not spoil anything..

elisa (r) & nikki (l)

DIY success!

Also...... the Blums went in this year on some pretty lil' gift ideas for our clients:

express toffee boxes (:

They're so pretty! I had to snap a shot of them all arranged for delivery before they're gone.
It's really starting to feel like Christmas around here!

Tomorrow = Company Christmas "party" dinner at Zula in OTR. [[yummmm]]
Oh, and btw, Christmas itself is exactly 1 week from today. Chyeah. Wrap your head around that one.... I'm still trying. Hah.

xo | cmd

Christmas DIY : Tile Photo Coasters

Every once in a while, I get on Pinterest.
By every once in a while, I mean only... on the days that end with Y.

And by that, I mean that I have been glued to the stinkin' thing for a couple of weeks now, in preparation for my own Christmas present workshop at home. I've done loads of research [if only I got so amped about info absorption for all those college papers?!] and have collected enough screenshots & examples to last me through next Christmas, so I'm all set.

This is backdated, both because I didn't feel like uploading all this last night at 11:30, and also because I'm in night 2 of completion of the several sets I'm doing this year.

In case any of you out there are trying to stretch your dollar this year but don't want to skimp out on some of those really cool people in your life, this one's kinda sorta perfect. Especially since most of us drink things. Out of containers. And we own tables.

COASTER TIME!

So, among the bajillion DIY tutorials for tile transfers that I found, I thought I'd blend myself into that mix and add another one for the books. Also, I'll address some of the concerns I saw in some of the other blogs & articles.

Hoooooo...kay. Here we go.

Step ONE. [Don't worry; it's not as overwhelming as it suggests.]

1. Make a LIST of what you need.

Don't skip this part, especially if you're not a seasoned pro at crafting. Otherwise, if you're like me, you'll head to Michael's [or Hobby Lobby] & end up distracted by the wonderland of other crafty beckoning and be there for 2 hours when all you need are a couple of things. Focus. Your list, for this, should look something like this... Oh, and I'll even easy it up a little more and tell you exactly where you can go & about how much you'll spend (:

LIST O'THINGS FOR DIY COASTERS
[That you'll need to buy or prepare]

a} 4"x4"Tiles

b} Printed pictures

c} Gel Medium

d} Craft Roller
e} Gloss Mod Podge

f} Small paint brush
e} Felt or cork backing

 

THE OTHER THINGS YOU'LL NEED
[... that are free.]
- Water
- Well-ventilated space

- PATIENCE!

 

MMkay. I lettered this shopping list to answer/address details.

 

a} TILES. I bought the glossy ceramic tiles from Lowe's. They were $.16/each for the 4x4" size. I read on a few sites that the glossy (smooth) tiles didn't work well because glue doesn't stick, etc., etc. IF you use a gel medium for the transfer, they will work just fine. From what I've seen, you can use pretty much any kind of tile for this, depending on the look you want.

b} PRINTED PICTURES. I've scoured the web for insight on this, and found that many people suggest using only laserjet printed pictures. I'm sure they do work well, but I'm here to tell you I used plain old INKJET printed photos on regular printer paper & they worked perfectly. **NOTE: For this particular method, print your pictures mirrored** << that means, before you print it, use a photo editing software to "flip" your picture horizontally. Also, crop or resize your pictures into squares, and size them to fit your 4" tiles. [TIP: For non-photo software folks, you can insert an image into a blank Word document and format the picture. If you do this, size it to about 4.2 x 4.2" and it will print off the perfect size!]

c} GEL MEDIUM. I bought the GOLDEN brand, soft gel (gloss) from Michael's. This will probably be the most expensive thing you'll need for this, being around $13-15 for the jar. I had this already from a prior project. If you don't want to spend the $$ on the gel, I would suggest doing the transfer method of just "gluing" a picture to the tile instead of actually transferring. [Scroll all the way to the bottom of this for that method].

d} CRAFT ROLLER. This is to get all the air bubbles out of the picture once you've got it on the tile. Again, I had this already; I bought it at Michael's for somewhere around $5 or $6. If you don't have or want one of these, you can use a credit card - just be sure to hold at an angle and pull towards you, gently, or you'll rip the picture.

e} GLOSS MOD PODGE. It's the one with the RED label. Yes, there are different kinds of Mod Podge. If you're doing the "glue-on" method to make these, you'll need this. I spent just under $8 for this at Michael's.

f} SMALL PAINT BRUSH. Super cheap. I used one of Sydni's paintbrushes; it's about an inch or so wide and did the trick. If you need to buy one, check the dollar stores or Big Lots; don't spend more than $1 to $2.
e} FELT OR CORK BACKING. This is for the back of the coasters. I've seen people use full squares of felt or cork, which work great depending on your preference. For me, I found some little self-adhesive [no gluing, YAY!] felt dots at some random hardware store. There were about 40 dots in one package, for right around $2. Sold.

core components

*Phew! My total shopping trip, if I were to buy everything I listed up there, along with 16 tiles [which I did, = 4 sets of 4 coasters/each] = Approx. $33.00. Since I already had everything but the gloss mod podge, felt dots & the tiles, this time I spent around a whopping $13.00. Divide that by 4 people, and I've not even spent $3.50 per person.

 

On to the actual process!

 

Step TWO.

2. PICTURE TRANSFER!

So you've printed your pictures, MIRRORED, on whatever printer you want, on regular ol' printer paper. I used a paper cutter to cut them out; if you have an Xacto knife & a ruler, that works [watch your surface underneath.....], or if you're as frugal as I would be if I didn't already have the first two things - scissors. You don't need perfect edges for these. Cut out your pictures to fit your tiles. Apply a layer of the gel medium to the image side of your picture. Make sure you get the whole picture covered; don't gob up the thing, but don't skimp either. Even coat it. Place the picture then face down on the tile. Use your roller [or credit card, whatever] to push out the excess gel & air bubbles. For this, begin in the center and work your way out. Be gentle; the paper will be soft over the gel, so apply gentle pressure until excess gel & bubbles are out. LET THEM DRY, COMPLETELY! You'll know they're dry when they do not feel cool or damp to the touch.

photos transferred with gel medium.

Step THREE.

3. PICTURE REVEAL [aka, PAPER REMOVAL]

This is the part requiring lots of your free stuff: water [preferrably warm], and patience. I took to the kitchen sink for this, once the gel medium transfers were completely dry. Some people use a sponge for this, but I have a thumb that worked just fine and gave me a little more accuracy in removing the paper. Using water, gently rub the picture until the paper starts to peel back. The picture is most fragile on the edges, so I suggest starting in the middle and peeling outward. Also, on this, don't scrub it [or you'll wear through the picture] and don't soak it [trust me, that does not save time]; an overly-saturated picture makes it difficult to peel the top layer off without taking the rest of the picture with it. Pat dry with a paper towel when you're finished with each tile, and let air dry. The pictures may look a little foggy or as if you didn't remove all the paper once they're dried after this step; if you want, repeat the process gently; if not, the mod podge & clear sealers in the next few steps will eliminate most of that dull appearance.

peeling paper back

before & after peeling paper back with water
[i used some mixed acrylic paint to hide those couple of blemishes]

Step FOUR.

4. MOD PODGE IT

Get out your paint brush & mod podge. A couple of things to note here: 1} Make sure the tiles have completely dried from the last step. 2} If you use a paintbrush, your brushstrokes will be lightly visible in the finished product. I did vertical [seen below] strokes, but I've seen various patterns, which are cool! Don't get too carried away with texture though, if you're going for a flat coaster surface. Apply one even coat, edge to edge, and wipe off any excess. LET. THE. WHOLE. THING. DRY. [Yay, patience...........]

painted-on mod podge

meet my hair dryer, a testament to my lack of patience....

Step FIVE [WE'RE ALMOST DONE!]

5. CLEAR COAT

This is the second to last step! For this, pleaaaase make sure you are in a well-ventilated space and know how to safely use an aerosol can. READ THE CAN INSTRUCTIONS if you have any doubts. I know that sounds like overkill advice, but for the sake of preventative anything, be smart. And THEN, lay out your dried, mod podged tiles on a flat surface [I used a paper grocery back on top of some plastic bags, nothin' fancy]. Apply a single, even coat of the Krylon clear spray, as directed on the can. LET. IT. DRY. **TIP: The clear coat is a sealer; this will prevent hot/cold cups from damaging the image on the coaster. If you don't intend to use these as coasters, you don't need to spray them. I've read that a second coat of mod podge is sufficient... but again, if you expect these to survive through regular coffee table use, spray them!

tiles before clear spray

Apply a single, even coat of the Krylon clear spray, as directed on the can. LET. IT. DRY.
Again, LET... THEM... DRY... COMPLETELY. Otherwise, you'll end up with smudges & scratches; if you were anal on perfection throughout the rest of this process, the last thing you want.. is that to happen.

... and now..... we wait.

Guess what, guess what?!

You're ALMOST DONE! If you've made it this far, this very last step is going to be a breeze. [Pat yourself on the back; you made it!]

Step SIX.

6. APPLY BACKING

Whatever backing you've chosen - felt or cork squares, felt dots, rubber, whatever.... - now's the time! AFTER the clear sealer has dried completely, flip the coasters over and apply whatever backing you want. I wouldn't recommend doing for any reason prior to spraying the clear sealer; unless you're an absolute pro, you may get your coasters stuck to whatever they're sitting on while being sprayed [and consequently damaging the backing] if you apply it before you spray. Since I bought the self-adhesive dots, this took me no time at all and I had a finished product!

ta... da!

^ Please excuse the grainy cell phone picture. I was in a hurry to document the end of this project.. hah.

So.. to recap:

1. Buy & prepare your material.

2. Transfer your pictures.

3. Remove the paper & reveal your pictures.

4. Mod Podge.

5. Seal with Clear Glaze.

6. Apply backing.

and..........

7. Wrap up in whatever creative packaging you've devised
and hand off to the lucky giftee!

all in an evening's work.

Ta------da!

Okay, last thing, I promise. I mentioned somewhere earlier to scroll down here for the instructions on doing this without clear glaze & gel medium [if you're for instance not going to use these as functional coasters]. I have not done that method, but I did a lot of research prior to undertaking my project. From what I understood, that method typically works better if you start by printing your pictures on paper stock thicker than just regular printer paper, because you'll essentially be just gluing the picture down, instead of fully transferring the image. Also, you won't need to mirror the image before printing it, either. You can use mod podge or other adhesive to glue down your image to the tiles, let it dry, and then apply the top coat of mod podge or other top coat. If you want the best results, I would definitely suggest searching out some DIY blogs and articles from crafters who prefer that method. They'll definitely have better tips & tricks!

Here's to a merry, crafty Christmas!

 

xo | cmd