Creating Coasters Using Alcohol Inks!!

     Yesterday my husband and I took a day trip up to Pigeon Forge where we visited the Titanic attraction. It was very interesting and luckily my passenger was a survivor.  Assigning visitors to an actual passenger on the ship was such a neat idea! A special thank you card will be in the works real soon for my brother-in-law Jeff who got us the tickets.  After visting the museum and eating a wonderful lunch at the Applewood Grill, I had a chance to visit some of my favorite craft stores.  I love the Scrapbook Warehouse and it's clearance store that are located in Pigeon Forge.  Much to my husband's dismay, I could spend hours just browsing their huge selection of papers, stamps, and supplies. I bought a wonderful set of horse-themed stamps at half-price, only 4.98!!  I was also able to pick up some small packs of adhesive foam squares for 50 cents each!  I love a great crafting bargain.  On the way home, I made quick stops at JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby.  Can't resist using those weekly coupons!  Plus, JoAnn's was giving 25% off the total purchase to teachers!!  I was able to pick up some Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks. They were 50% off plus I got my teacher discount!!  I was anxious to use them in today's featured project.

     I just love browsing all the neat ideas found on Pinterest.  This weekend I came across these beautiful tiles created with Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks.

  I purchased white and ecru ceramic tiles, the four inch by four inch size, at my local home improvement store.  I got these a while back for only six cents each!!  This project is so simple, yet amazing.

All you have to do is wipe the tiles down with a paper towel and some rubbing alcohol.  Make sure to wipe down the whole surface.  The Tim Holtz inks come in an easy application bottle.  All you have to do is open them up and begin to drop the ink in droplets onto the surface of the tiles.  I rotated colors between each drop.  I even drop colors within colors!! I think the colors are terrific.  I used both earth tones and brights.  I used six different colors on my tiles.  I kept old newspapers under my tile, as sometimes I tend to get a little messy. There was a little odor to the inks, if you are extra sensitive, you may want to do this project in an area where you can open the window.  My husband noticed the odor more than I did.  After I was satisfied with my colors, I let them dry overnight.

Our temperature got up to around 50 today, so I took my tiles outside and sprayed them with coat of glossy clear acrylic spray. 

I finished the tiles up by adding some felt squares to the bottoms!  Don't want to scuff the coffee table!  The tiles were so simple to create and I had fun watching the color transformations.  These tiles will make wonderful coasters to sit on my coffee and end tables.  I may even make a set or two to give as gifts! You have to try this fun and easy project!! Thanks for visiting!  Happy crafting!
Patty