DIY Patriotic Flag Coaster Quad from Small Canvases

You will need:
-4x4 canvases (I bought mine from dickblick.com)
-Illustration Markers (AD CHARTPAK!) or acrylic paint
-Sharpie or Pentel Sign Pen (I use the sign pen)
-Spray Polyurethane and/or Mod Podge
-Shelf Liner
-E6000

So one of my new favorite things is making coasters that form a picture when they are all together, but look interesting apart as well. There are a lot of ways you can do this, but more on that later.

Basically, I ordered the canvases from dickblick.com and used markers I already had to decorate them.

To make these, first draw out the stars with a pencil.  Fill in the open spaces with blue marker or paint.  When you have that done, outline the stars in black (if you are using paint, you may like to just paint them in white, but for markers I preferred the outline). 

Next, use red paint or marker to draw out the lines.  I made mine broken and worn looking because it worked a little better with my ultimate goal on what I wanted them to look like.  Outline the stripes in black.  I scrolled the word "freedom" on the bottom right in the quad. 

When you have them decorated like you want them, you will want to seal them.  Some people prefer to use just mod podge on things, and it is supposed to seal stuff after multiple coats.  I, on the other hand, prefer to use about 2-3 coats of mod and about 5 coats of a spray polyurethane.  Usually, I use Rustoleum.  If you have some other sort of polyurethane, shellac, or other sealant that you fancy feel free to use whatever.  I have considered painting resin over them, but I like the spray poly better because it reminds me of bananas whereas resin just makes me think of mold.  (From a smell perspective). 

Anyway, cut a 3.5x3.5 square of shelf liner and attach it to the back with E6000 after the sealant is dry.  Now, admittedly, it is not quite as necessary to worry about backing on these as it is with tiles because they are not going to scratch tables up.  Shelf liner is literally the perfect thing to use with coasters though because it keeps them from sliding, it can be cut with a big-o paper cutter, and it is cheap!

You can also do this with a big photo on tile coasters, in which case you could cut the photo into quads, attach them with mod podge (I would highly suggest printing on quality photo paper), and then coat with a sealant.  It would be a great way to functionalize some of your favorite family images.

Happy crafting!