So recently I went to the store to buy a bunch of tile to play with in different ways(mostly with my laser). However lasers aren't the only way to play with spray paint and tile. What if I didn't have a certain color of tile or wasn't in the mood for a white background? I decided to try using some of my old cartoon decals as a resist. Thus the screaming cartoon beaver coasters came into being. If you want to make your own custom coasters that can double as trivets come along for a simple project that looks great when all is said and done.

Step 1: Tools and Materials

Tools

Box Cutter
Plastic card(like a frequent shopper card or credit card)

Materials

4.25 inch Ceramic Tiles
Spray paint(I used Orange and Black)
High temp clear spray paint(I used this. It is only needed if you want to use it as a trivet. If you are want to use it for cold beverages only you can just use any clear coat)
Vinyl Decals(you can make your own or buy one you like. If you are making your own check out this instructable by TSTricky)
4 inch self adhesive cork tiles

Step 2: Base Coat, Time Travel, and Apply Decals

The first step to this process is to put an even coat of a base paint on your tile. Since I was going to do contrasting coasters I painted one tile back and the other tile orange. To get a good paint job on the tile they want to be clean so give them a good wipe down before painting them. The goal is to get a nice even coat of paint. My trick to achieve this is to start the spray off to the side of the tile then bring it across the tile till I am off on the other side. This keeps me from having paint build up as I change directions. Once the base coat was on the tiles I knew I had some time to kill. According to the labels on the spray paint cans it was a little over an hour. With that in mind I did a quick unrelated and absurd project while the paint dried enough for me to continue on with this project. With the paint dry it was time to take the mini trees out of my beard and apply the vinyl decals to the tiles. I centered my screaming beaver decal and placed it down. I wanted to make sure it was really on there so the next coat of paint wouldn't seep under the decal. Once I had the decal where I wanted it I used my road side service card to apply even pressure and make sure the decal wasn't going anywhere. With the decal firmly attached I carefully removed the transfer tape. The tiles were now ready for the second coat of paint.

Step 3: Paint, Peel, Cork, Cut, and Clear Coat

Back to the painting table I applied an even coating of the contrast paint. The black tile got a coating of orange and the orange tile got a coating of black. I painted these coats the same way as I did the first coats. I needed to wait for the paint to dry again so I ate lunch and started working on this instructable. Now that the tiles were dry I carefully peeled the decals off the tiles exposing the contrasting colors. With the screaming beavers true colors revealed it was time to stick a cork on it.

The bottom of the tiles are quite rough and would damage the very surfaces the coasters are meant to protect if left uncovered. To avoid this I stuck the self adhesive cork to the back side of the tiles. I noticed the corners of the ceramic tiles was inset. I was worried that this would be a failure point as the tiles were used. So I took my box cutter and trimmed the corners. Now it was time to put the final high temp clear coat on. I applied this coat in the same way I did the others. Now I had just had to bide my time till I could enjoy my coasters.

Step 4: Enjoy Your Custom Coasters

Now that the coasters were dry I mixed up a nice cold beverage in one of my custom etched glasses(Which also used vinyl decals as a resist) and sat back to enjoy the evening. These coasters where the caps stone to a day of making and bring a bit of humor to my table. I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures in coaster construction. If you make some coasters of your own I'd love to see how they turn out.