DIY: Coasters, Part Two

Part One

While I was back at home for two weeks recently, I finally got around to getting my coasters done.  Most of them anyways.  Back in part one I said I was going to use the StazOn ink in black to stamp on them, but I changed my mind a little bit after running across some awesome embossing powder at the Unclaimed Freight store I was telling you all about.

I already had green pigment ink in a very similar color, so I decided to stamp on the coasters in green, and then emboss them with the green powder.  We just so happen to have an embossing heat gun laying around the house from my mom's stamping days, so it worked out perfectly.
I didn't take any pictures along the way, but basically you get your stamp inked really well, stamp onto your surface, and then coat the entire thing with embossing powder. 
Don't worry about using too much, because all you do is tap it off onto a piece of paper and funnel it back into the container.  After doing 100+ coasters the container looked like it had been barely touched.
Then all you have to do is heat up the powder and watch it turn.

I was doing all of them the first way and my sister came in and said I should do them on an angle to make them "more interesting."

Right now I have somewhere around 100 done, and I need to figure out how many more I want to do.  They're going to be sitting at the bar, so I don't know if everyone will grab one, if some people will grab one with each drink, etc.

Side story:  So you know the little caddies at a bar that hold napkins and straws and stuff?? Maybe?  Well I was telling my sister how I wanted to steal two of them from the bar we always go to, and she was saying she could probably get her friend's parent to get them for me since they own the bar.  I probably mentioned this like three times.  Then one day Mr. T's mom took me to a new little store in town to buy some spaghetti bowls she thought I would like.  It was a restaurant supply store that was open to the public, and a few rows in we found exactly what I was talking about.  There were two of them, they were black, and they were only $1.82 each!
In case you don't know what I'm talking about:

The coasters fit in perfectly, and now I want to find some cute straws and make some drink stirrers to go in those other little cubbie holes.  I'm pretty sure all 100+ fit in that container.  So then there will be another 100 at the other bar, and I can leave about 50 at each for refills as the night goes on.

And thanks to some of you girls, I was able to sell most of the extra coasters, so this project only ended up coasting me about $10 not including the stamp.

Review: Custom Stamps from Etsy

A couple months ago I placed my first Etsy order.   I ordered two custom stamps from Etsy seller Jen from scribbling club and I finally got around to using them this weekend.  She had a deal going at the time for two stamps for $28.00 plus shipping.  We emailed back and forth until we settled on a design I liked for both.  I designed both of the stamps, and she played with them to make sure it would work for the size.  Then she sent me proofs for both of them before making the stamps, just to finalize everything.  I was incredibly impressed with our conversation, and the amount of interaction I had with her.

Once she started making them, it took no time at all, and they were shipped out to me 6 days later.  I'm thrilled with the quality of them both.

This "Eat, Drink, and Be Married" stamp measures 2x2".  I'm planning on using it on cocktail napkins for the bar, as well as on blank coasters I ordered.

I also ordered a return address stamp to use on the back of our invitation envelopes.  It measures 2"x3".

I reversed both of these in the picture so you could see what they really look like.  In reality, they're obviously backwards so when you stamp them they read correctly.

I addressed our Christmas cards this weekend and got to use my new stamp for the first time.  It's a little big for everyday use, and definitely can't be used on the front of the envelope, but I wanted it to be big for the back of our invite envelopes.  It stamps nice and clean, and like I said earlier, I'm very happy with the way it turned out, and will probably be ordering from Jen again.  My mom said she wants one for Christmas!