DIY Monogram Coasters

Recently, I made these monogram coasters as a gift, and I love how they turned out. It was super easy/inexpensive and I love giving a monogrammed gift- it's so personal! Anyway, this pin was the inspiration for the project.

So, here's what you will need:
4x4 tiles from Home Depot, Lowes, etc.
Card stock
SHARP exacto knife/razor blade
Sharpies (extra fine tip)
Clear spray paint
Felt 'feet'
tape

Step 1- Google the letters of the monogram you need. I needed R, M and A. I hope it was not just good luck that I found these letters in the same font in Google images with no problem... Anyway, after I found the letters, I just formatted them using MS PowerPoint. Knowing the size of the coasters (aka tiles) is 4x4, I just kind of eyeballed the size of the letters on the page to where I thought they were the right measurements.  It only took me 2 tries to get it right. I printed it on card stock to make it more sturdy.

(sorry I do NOT know how to take a good picture of a computer screen)

Step 2- cut out the letters. You'll definitely want to be precise, so that's why the razor blade needs to be good and sharp. Sidenote, sure ya'll know this, but don't cut on a surface that could be damaged. I used the top of a shoebox.

Some letters are weird. Like the R and the A. They have center parts that will have to be individually placed. You'll see what I mean later, but it's not hard to work around.

Step 3- I attached the felt tabs to the bottom before I did the tracing.

Then, I just eye-balled where the monogram should go. I wanted it to be pretty much centered. Then, I taped down the stencil and the middle parts of the R and the A.

 

Trace it.

It looks kind of rough at this point. But after you fill it in and even out the lines, it looks pretty good!

I hadn't planned on adding anything else, but was looking kind of unfinished. And this DIY that Jenny from the Little Green Notebook did popped into my head. So, I painted the edges.

And that ended up being the perfect touch.

The last step is to spray them with the clear coat. I used Rust-oleum outdoor clear to make sure it stands up to moisture well.

Stack them up, add some ribbon and you've got a great little gift!

Can't wait to give them away.... if you are reading this and these are your initials... surprise!