What do you do when stores don't have what you are looking for?

I figure out a way to make it!!  My younger sister and her husband have been looking for coasters for their new house. Not just any coasters, mind you, but coasters with cork on the bottoms. To be honest, we don't use coasters. I'm not sure that very many people in this world still use them, but that's what they are looking for. I decided that since we can't find any for them, that I would make them coasters! I'm crafty, so I'll figure something out, right?

I went to AC Moore and found a 4 pack of cork tiles. They came in 6" x 6 " squares. I knew that was too big for a coaster, but since I don't know what a normal size coaster is I decide to make mine 4" x 4" squares.

This is the package for the 6" x 6" cork tiles.

These are the tiles taken out of the package prior to cutting them down to 4" x 4".

 I forgot to take pictures during the next couple of steps. I measured and marked the tiles to the size that I wanted. I then used a box cutter to cut through the cork. It is much harder than you think to make it look nice and straight as cork doesn't cut nicely.

Once, they were cut, I used my paper cutter (it's a Fiskars scrap booking one) to measure and cut my pictures down to 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" squares.

This picture shows the cork cut to 4x4 and the pictures cut to 3 1/2x3 1/2. I was checking to see how they looked.

Next, I used my laminating machine to laminate each of the pictures. You can use the laminating stuff that is sticky on both sides. (I only used a machine because it was given to me.) Make sure that there is laminate on all sides of your pictures. Then, you want to trim the laminate to the size of the cork. Then, using super glue (I used Loctite Super Glue) attach the laminated pictures to the cork. I put the glue on the back of the pictures in stripes along the middle and then on the 4 corners of the cork before attaching. This way, I didn't have to worry about the glue running off the pictures.

(This picture refused to load correctly!) This shows the laminated pictures attached to the cork base.

I let them sit overnight with a heavy box on them. I don't know that it was necessary, but I'd rather be safe than sorry! Once I took the box off, I trimmed off any pieces of laminate that over hung.

This shows the coaster from the side.

I made them with family pictures that we recently had taken. You can make them with any picture that is the size you want. I plan to make some of other holidays to add to their new collection.  It is a neat way to share pictures with friends and family!