Quick & Easy Upcycled Map Coasters

These cute coasters are such a fun and easy way to upcycle old maps. Plus, they make thoughtful gifts for travel lovers!

A set of four coasters will only take you an hour or two to make (plus drying time) and they’re as easy as cut, glue and seal.

Supplies you’ll need:

• 4×4 inch ceramic tiles – if you’ve got some old kitchen tiles lying around, this is an easy way to repurpose them, which is what I did
• Maps (vintage maps, road atlases and even London Underground tube maps work well for this project)
• Scissors
• Pabeo Matte Gel Medium Glue
• Craft paint brush
• Acrylic sealant spray
• Coaster feet or felt

📌 Most tutorials suggest using Mod Podge for projects like this. When I first made these coasters, I did the same. But now that I know a lot more about glue than I did a few years ago, I recommend Matte Gel Medium instead because – unlike Mod Podge – it doesn’t take weeks to cure and doesn’t leave behind a tacky residue.

How to make your own map coasters

Step 1. Prepare your maps.

If you want to leave a border around the edges of your maps, you’ll need to cut your maps to be just a fraction smaller than your tiles.

I personally preferred how mine looked without a border, so I cut my maps to be slightly larger than my tiles so I could cover the edges of my tiles with them.

💡 Top Tip: Choose a focal point for your tile whether it’s a place, landmark or some other interesting detail and make sure this will appear where you want it to on the tile.

Step 2. Glue your maps onto the tiles.

Paint Matte Gel Medium Glue all over the front of the first tile using a brush. Make sure you’ve got an even coating across the whole tile.

Lay your map on top and glue it down. Don’t forget the edges!

Next, paint another layer of glue over your map. This will dry clear and give the map an extra layer of protection.

Repeat these steps for all your tiles and leave them to dry thoroughly (approximately 2 hours).

Step 3. Apply acrylic sealant spray.

When your coasters are completely dry to the touch, spray the fronts of them with an acrylic sealant and leave them to dry again. This spray should give your coasters all the protection they need.

Step 4. Finish off your coasters with feet or felt.

Glue coaster feet or felt to the bottom of your coasters and it’s time for tea!

Why not try making photo coasters next?

If you enjoyed making these map coasters, you’ll probably also love making your own photo coasters.

The steps are the same; this time ensuring:

• Your tile is white or painted white.
• Your photo is cut smaller than your tile (leaving roughly 1 cm on each side) so the white tile shows through on all sides. This makes them look a little like Polaroid photos.
• (Optional) Write the place and date underneath each photo with a Write-4-All marker pen.

Here are some I made quite a few years ago now, so apologies for the dodgy photo: