Map Coasters

My friends and I have an annual tradition of doing a secret santa gift exchange in which everything has to be homemade. This is exactly the kind of Christmas exchange I can get behind! And to top off an already delightful idea, I pulled the name of one of the people I knew best in the whole exchange. She likes maps, and sea-life, and organization, which lucky for me, are pretty easy things to work with as far as crafts are concerned. I decided to start small, with those darling map coasters you see all over pinterest, but personalize them for her, highlighting all of the fun places in LA we've wasted time and money over the past couple of years.

I picked up a pack of 4 cork coasters at Joann's for about $3, pulled out my old Southern California map (iphone users laugh in the face of maps, right?)

The first step was simply to trace the coasters over the spots in the map I wanted to apply.

Then, I cut out all 4 squares, rendering the map entirely useless.

I used a layer of ordinary white glue on the cork to attach the paper to the cork.

And finally, stuck on my square of map. 

This whole process took about 15 minutes.

But then, there was Mod Podge. 

In an attmpt to make them water resistant (coasters must be, right) I ended up covering them with about 30 coats of Mod Podge outdoor. It was another one of those eternal, paint-a-coat-go-to-work-paint-a-coat-sleep-paint-a-coat-go-to-work activities that made me glad I started early. But, the end result was pretty impressive, and hopefully water proof.

If only I had remembered to take some photos. Next time!