Categotry Archives: Applying Tile

I am Courtney Hamby from Hamby Home Décor and I’m so honored to have the opportunity to share these easy DIY mexican tile coasters.

We’re in the process of building a house with an open floor plan and I’m planning to use the blue and white ceramics in the kitchen which means I need some blue and white accent pieces in the living room as well. Blue and white ceramics are all over the place these days (antique stores, thrift stores, Home Goods, Pier One, etc.) but I have yet to see blue and white coasters which would be beautiful and great accent pieces for our living room. I saw an Instagram picture with blue and white tiles that got me thinking, why not make some blue and white coasters out of Mexican tiles?! And that’s how this project was started!

Here is what you’ll need:

• Tiles
• Cork Sheets
• Acrylic Paint
• Hot Glue

How to Make Them:

Step 1: Purchase Desired Tiles

Fine Crafts & Imports has a great selection of Talavera Mexican tiles at great prices ($1.30 each)! You could use multiples of the same style but I decided to make every coaster different by ordering 8 different style tiles. That’s another thing I love about the blue and white ceramics, you can mix all kinds of patterns and it works!

Step 2: Paint Tile Edges

These tiles are gorgeous and so fun but the sides are rough and unfinished because they’re typically not used alone. I took acrylic paint and painted the edges of all the tiles to give them a more finished appearance and you would have never known they didn’t come that way. I just used whatever color was used on the edge of the tile to make it look as natural as possible.
If any paint gets on the top of the tile, just wipe it off with your finger and it comes right off! Did I mention how much I’m loving working with these tiles? They’re so easy to work with!

Step 3: Prep Cork Backing

The tiles are rough on the bottom and need some sort of backing/cushion to protect them from scratching the surfaces they’re used on. I picked up these thin cork sheets from Michaels and it is perfect for this! The tiles are slightly larger than 4×4 so I marked and cut the cork sheet into 4×4 squares.

Step 4: Glue Cork Backing

Then all you need to do is glue the cork to the tiles. I used hot glue but any glue will work. Apply glue to the edges and around the center of the cork and place the cork on the bottom of the tile. Press to flatten and secure the cork backing and then flip the tile over and apply pressure.
Note: If you are using hot glue, make sure to apply the glue to the cork, not the tile. I applied the glue to the tile the first time and it cools immediately causing problems securing the cork backing.

That is all!! I’m in love! These will be perfect accent pieces in the living room and wherever they may be used to tie in the “blue willow” ceramics I’m using throughout the house!

This blog post was created for the Landeelu blog. You can view the original post here.

I’m Courtney, from The Hamby Home blog. I am a wife and mother of two fur-babies and marketing coordinator by occupation. I have lived in Alabama my entire life. I have always had a love for DIY and frugal home décor projects and that’s usually what you’ll find me doing during my free time. I am a bargain hunter, trash-to-treasure lover and thrifting enthusiast that’s just trying to create a beautiful home on a small budget.

When decorating the inside of your home, it is a good idea to consider what decorative theme you plan on making prevalent throughout your home. Many different types of furnishings can be used to convey a certain message in the environment, with accessories such as lighting fixtures and wall-mounted furnishings further solidifying the theme. One of the most important aspects of the decoration process, however, is considering what type of floor you want to have present in the room. Because of how the floor can be seen as both the backdrop and the centerpiece of the room, it is a good idea to plan your floor first before purchasing other furnishings for the home. Tiles are perhaps one of the most widely recognized and aesthetically pleasing types of flooring options available, and Mexican tile in particular can be an extremely attractive option for homes that emphasize a more traditional and quaint design.

Typical Mexican tiles are unique furnace-fired terracotta pieces of tile that can have a wider variety of colors, finishes, and designs, each of which can provide something unique for your home. Authentic Mexican tiles are typically hand-made at local kilns, fired at low temperatures to ensure a strong, reliable surface. What makes these tiles truly special is the potential for charming flaws that it may have when it is made by hand. Some Mexican tile designs may not be perfectly flat or perfectly square, and some may even feature imprints of animal tracks or debris, creating a truly old-world feeling in the home.

Saltillo Floor Tile are typically the traditional Mexican ceramic tile, which features a wide variety of colors, such as varying hues of browns, beiges, oranges, yellows, and even reds. These festive colors make them ideal for homes that feature such a color scheme. The tile is named for the city from which the strong clay is mined. Another type of tile is the Talavera tile, which is the most decorative type of tile because of the wide variety of patterns that are typically painted on them. These tiles are given a glossy finish to further emphasize their decorative appeal. These types of tiles are often wall-mounted in conjunction with the aforementioned Saltillo tiles because of how well the two types complement each other. By carefully planning out the design of your home beforehand, and researching different types of furnishings that can go along with the backdrop, you will no doubt be able to create a warm, cozy environment that is sure to please.