DIY Mosiac Tile Coasters

The other morning I was drinking my coffee while getting ready for work and thought to myself:  "self, wouldn't it be nice to have some nice, big colorful coasters that you could leave in the office to use on the desk and makeup table?".  I mean, I already had a cute, beaded set of 4 from Pier 1 that I use in my living room, but I wanted an entirely different set for my office.  So, like any sane person would do, I decided to DIY my own coasters instead of buying them!  

Here are some supplies you might need:

I used cork coasters as my base, but Hobby Lobby also sells metal coaster frames.

Small square tiles, tile adhesive, and tile grout

Grout spreader/sponge

Here are the steps:
1.  I started by laying out the tiles on the cork coasters to figure our what my pattern would look like and if the spacing between the tiles looked even

 2.  Once I determined what pattern I wanted, I applied glue to the bottom of the mosaic tiles and attached them to the cork.  I let the glue dry for about 12 hours.

3.  I then applied the grout.  Not going to lie, this step was tough.  I have never grouted before, but I always thought grout was a thick, sandy oatmeal consistency? The tile grout that I bought from Hobby Lobby was made of 2 layers--a layer of liquid on the top and a tough, hard layer of grout on the bottom.  There weren't any instructions to actually mix the grout and liquid so I just used a plastic spoon to scoop grout out of the container.

I used the grout spreader and basically pressed the grout into the crevices, making sure to apply quite a bit of elbow grease.  I then let the grout set for about 20 minutes before using the sponge side of the spreader to wipe off the excess grout.

This is what the coasters looked like after the grout dried, but before I wiped (polished) the tiles!

Here is a coaster working in action:

That's all!  These coasters would be a nice, little housewarming gift or father's/ mother's day gift.  I hope you try this out!