Project Tutorial - Photo Tiles

Photo Transferred Tumbled Tiles

You can use 4x4in tiles for coasters; 2x2in tiles for magnets; or even 6x6 tiles for hot plates. This is a great gift idea especially for the grandparents. You can do your photos in color or black and white. They turn out wonderful either way. You can used glazed or tumbled tiles depending on your final look you are going for. I prefer the tumbled tiles myself.

Supplies needed:
4x4 tiles (coasters) OR
2x2 tiles (magnets)
modge podge
paint brush or sponge
plain white tissue paper
printer
minwax polycrylic clear sealer
felt feet for coasters
magnets for fridge magnets
permanent glue

There is many ways to do this, but this is my version of it.

1. I took the original photo and changed to black and white and resized to fit on the tile. I did a little photo editing in that I gave the edge of my photos sort of a torn edge. (You can print normally tho, and then physically tear the tissue paper to give the project a torn edge). I printed the actual photograph onto regular paper first – my reasoning for this – is so I would know exactly where to place the tissue paper when I ran it back through the printer for the final printing on the tissue. You could just run a big enough piece of tissue to cover most of the copy paper, I was just trying to eliminate the possibility of jamming my printer.
2. So printed my photo about 3.5 x 3.5 in on the regular copy paper, and then taped a piece of tissue paper (about 4in x 4in) to the copy paper (with removable tape) over the original image and ran it back through the printer. So to clarify, now there is an “test” image on the copy paper and the actual image I am going to use on the tissue paper.
3. Then I trimmed around the edge of the image making sure it fit on the final item.
4. I then covered the tile or domino with a thin coat of modge podge.
5. Gently lay the image down starting in the middle and going out. Be very careful here…the image will tear very easily, so try not to manipulate too much.
6. Then cover the entire image with modge podge carefully and allow to dry.
7. Coaster only: Once dry, seal with 2-3 coats of polycrylic sealer, let sealer dry in between coats. Add felt or cork feet using permanent adhesive.
8. Magnet only: Once dry, cover with coat of glossy accents and let dry. Add magnet using quality permanent adhesive.

Note: Some other gals recommended using vellum instead of tissue, so you may want to give that a try if tissue doesn’t work for you.

Good luck and have fun!
Debbie Weller
a.k.a. DebDuzScrappin