Impressive & Inexpensive Tile Coasters With Paper And Enviro Tex

This post contains affiliate links :)

I caught the découpage bug and made these coasters, along with some washer necklaces and glass marble magnets, for Christmas gifts. My mom was so impressed with the coasters that she asked me to make several more to display in her skincare salon boutique. I read many tutorials and most people use an acrylic spray to protect the mod podged paper from wet drinks, but then I read that the surface can still get tacky.  Luckily I read this post and used a resin called Enviro Tex lite that gives a thick, glossy and water/heat proof finish. They turned out great but I'm still going to try another option that I read about on Curbly -- polyurethane. She says her coasters have held up well and painting the finish on sounds a little easier than mixing and pouring and dealing with missed spots and drips. But Enviro Tex looks FANTASTIC so I still highly recommend it, plus you can also use it on the washer necklaces.

I didn't take pictures of the coasters as I made them, so to show how the Enviro Tex pours, I'm going to use pictures I took making washer necklaces... but you'll get the idea!  I'll take more pictures the next time I make coasters.

>>> I get a lot of questions about EnviroTex so here is my Amazon affiliate link:


Here's what you need:

• Ceramic or stone tiles from the hardware store. Ceramic is cheaper but I think the stone is nicer looking (they come shrink-wrapped in a package of 9 tiles for $4)
• Mod Podge
• Scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, paper napkins, stationary etc.
• Pour-On Enviro Tex Lite (Michaels $13 before coupon)
• Optional: felt, foam or cork sheets or dots for the bottoms.

Lets get started!

Wipe down your tiles with a damp cloth. While they dry, cut paper into squares to fit your tiles -- I cut mine 1/4" short to make a small border around the edges because the natural stone is so hole-y that the edges aren't perfectly smooth anyway.

Apply a light layer of Mod Podge to the tile. Put the paper down and smooth out bubbles. Give it a few minutes to set up do the paper doesn't slide around and apply Mod Podge on top of the paper. Make sure you get the edges sealed well so the Enviro Tex doesn't get all up in there and ruin your paper. Let it dry completely. Then apply another layer brushing in the other direction to get all those nooks and crannies.

Now set up to pour the Envirotex. Make sure you have good lighting because it is VERY hard to see missed spots and they are a pain to try and correct later. You need to cover your workspace in wax paper (or plastic bags) and elevate the tiles on something like a soda can or a baking rack. Since the ET takes 2-3 days to cure, it helps to put everything on a cookie sheet so you can move it if you need to without touching the tiles.

Some people recommend putting tape on the underside of your tiles to keep the ET from getting on the bottom but I found that the drips piled up on the tape and was hard to brush away, then I had to sand the edges which is no small task. But I also poured way too much on that set so you should really experiment on a few tiles to see what works for you.

Read the instructions on the box to mix the Enviro Tex, but in a nutshell you're going to mix equal parts of hardener and resin in a plastic cup and stir like mad for 2 minutes, pour it into a second container and stir til it's plenty bubbly. I stirred with a plastic spoon.

Then pour or drip with the spoon in kind of a swirl on the tiles, giving it a minute to level out. Then use the spoon to push it around to the edges being careful not to drip over the edge. You can use a straw to gently blow to get rid of the bubbles on the surface - this is addicting so don't hyperventilate.

You will get some drips, and you will want to use a brush to sweep them away so they don't dry into icicles hanging off your coasters. If you're not being über conservative with the product you could just pour a ton and let it drip off so that the sides have a nice thick glaze too. You will figure out how you want it to look.

In 36-48 hours they should be hard and should not be tacky. Now you can glue cork or felt or rubber to the bottom (I used Mod Podge for this). The ceramic tiles are less attractive underneath so they need a little covering up.

I hope this all makes sense without lots of photos!

I think it would be so neat to use larger tiles and mod podge a wedding invitation or birth announcement to hang. I've also seen people use a stencil and Sharpie on tiles which doesn't need to be sealed, it looks very earthy.   Have fun!