I am excited to be partnering with Canon USA these next few months to share a few DIY photo projects using their range of photo printers. I used the Canon SELPHY CP910 Printer this month to make tile coasters and they turned out to be one of my favorite small projects ever (and bonus! even Paul and Ellerie were impressed).
For these coasters, you will need:
- black paper
- stapler and staples
- pointy scissors
- white tiles (I picked mine up at the Habitat for Humanity Restore, but any hardware store will work)
- mod podge (I used the kind that said “dishwasher safe” because I figured that would deal with condensation best)
- a foam brush
- a bone folder or something to smooth out wrinkles and air bubbles
- an exacto knife and cutting mat
- and photos of course
When choosing photos for this project, I looked for ones with clear “person” shapes that showed relationships. Ellerie on Paul’s shoulders, the three of us holding hands, etc. Of course, you could also do a more “traditional” silhouette of the side of a person’s face too.
All of my photos were taken on my iPhone. I used the ABM app to put two images on a 4×6 canvas and then printed directly from my phone to the SELPHY CP910 Printer. Being able to skip the computer all together and just print directly from my phone felt like magic. (They have the PIXMA Printing Solutions app and I found the whole SELPHY printing process totally seamless.)
I cut my photos in half and stapled them on top of the black paper to hold everything together.
Then I carefully cut around the photo image (and paper at the same time) to get the best cut possible. For the holes (like where Paul’s arms come up) I used a whole punch first and then my scissors. You could totally use an exacto knife here.
Don’t worry about the image looking “cropped.”
You can just bump it right up against the tile side (and trim off any excess when you’re all done).
I cleaned my coasters well and then painted a layer of modpodge before adding my cut-out.
I then covered the whole thing with another layer of mod podge and used a bone folder to clear out any bubbles.
After the modpodge had dried completely, I added one more coat then trimmed off extra paper overhang.
I would give these guys a least a few days to cure before you use them as coasters, but when you finally do, they’re so cute. (Of course if you don’t need coasters, you could use this same process to make wall hangings, ornaments, framed art, etc.)
This post is sponsored by Canon USA. Project idea, opinions, words and photos are all my own.
enJOY it 
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