Leslie Reese

Today I am sharing a DIY with you that I came up with in the wee hours of the morning while I was lying awake in bed thinking. Don’t you love when that happens? I do! I had been planning to make some coasters out of ceramic tiles and pretty paper. I was trying to come up with a unique way to do it and for some reason, I thought it might be fun to use wine bottle labels. Many of us save the corks from our favorite bottles of wine. I love that idea and I do it too, but what about the labels? Would that work on a coaster? It did work and I am going to show you what I did but I am also going to warn you, it wasn’t that easy to get some of the labels off of the bottles! What seemed like a perfectly good idea in the middle of the night, turned into a tedious project that I was determined to complete but might not do again anytime soon. I do love how they turned out though so it was worth the effort.

This is a project that takes some time because you will be removing labels from empty bottles. Some of them will come off easily, others won’t. In order to get several usable labels, you might go through twice the amount of bottles. I simply ran this bottle under hot water and the label peeled off without much trouble.

I soaked this label in hot water and it still wouldn’t come off so I wasn’t able to use it.

Eventually I had several labels I was able to use. If they were wet I waited for them to dry completely before I continued.

To make the coasters I used 4″ X 4″ glass ceramic tiles I picked up at Home Depot, Extra-Strength Spray Adhesive to attach the labels to the tiles, Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating to form a water-resistant surface on top of the tile, and  felt pads for the bottom of the tiles.

Some of the labels were bigger than the tiles so I marked them with a pencil once I placed them where I wanted them.

I cut off the excess label.

I flipped the label over and carefully sprayed it (in a well ventilated area) with adhesive. There were a few labels that still had adhesive on them after they were peeled from the bottle but I sprayed those too to make sure they didn’t lift from the tile.

Once the label was sprayed with adhesive I immediately placed it on top of the tile moving quickly to put it in place. This is when I realized just how sticky and permanent spray adhesive is!  If you do this, be careful. Cover your work area and if you touch the adhesive, like I did, and it gets all over your fingers, you can use baby oil to remove it. I was being a bit of a reckless crafter here! I get a little excited and move too fast at times! Oops…

Eventually I had four labels glued onto the tiles. I decided that was enough to make a set of coasters.

I sprayed the top of the tiles with Acrylic Coating (again, in a well ventilated area). I waited for it to dry and repeated the process numerous times until the labels were well coated and the tiles had a nice shiny surface.

After the tiles were completely (and I mean completely) dry, I flipped them over and attached four felt pads to the bottom of each one.

I now have a set of coasters that are not only fun to use but make great conversation pieces. Each one tells a different story or has a special memory and for that reason, I loved creating them.

I did, however, learn a few things in the process that I think are worth sharing…

There are a million ways to remove wine bottle labels on the internet. Everything from soaking to buying special products. If you choose to do this, just Google it to find the best methods.

Spray Adhesive is serious stuff. Period.

Layers of Acrylic Coating need plenty of time to dry (especially if you don’t want your wine glass sticking to it). If you think it’s dry, it probably isn’t.

Patience is a virtue.

It may not seem like it, but I want you to try this project. I just want to be honest about my experience. Basically, I got an idea, tried it, and learned a lot. Bottom line- I LOVE these coasters.

Be brave and try it! And by all means let me know if you do! I can’t wait to hear all about it!

Leslie xo