When Good Ideas Go Bad

How many times have you had an idea for your etsy shop, or just a wonderful idea for something you wanted to make or do and the whole thing implodes before your eyes?

I want MyOtherShop, my etsy home decor shop to have a big variety of items in it. I want people to be amazed when they enter my shop at all of the different things they can pick from. I want to have the decorative decoupage trays, picture frames and little bird houses, but I also want my cake stands. I love looking for plates and making a really unique and useful piece for people. That isn't enough though, so what I wanted to add now is ceramic tile coasters.

I did my homework and read up on how to make them. I thought I had it all figured out when I went and purchased some tiles, paper and sealer. I glued the paper to the tile, I let them dry and then I started spraying them with the sealer. After a number of coats and a couple of days, I tested one by putting some droplets of water on it and letting it sit for a while. Later I took and look and all seemed well. So I put more droplets of water on it. There is no way I would ever sell something that I didn't know was excellent quality.

This time when I checked it....the paper was soft and I could scratch it right off the tile! My heart sunk....I had a table full of partially made coasters and now they were all no good! UGH!

I searched the etsy forums for suggestions. I even posted a new thread on the topic. A few people told me what they use and it was pretty much what I was doing. I searched the internet again. I e-mailed some companies that made different sealers. I sent a convo to an etsy friend that works with tiles.

I ended up using bits and pieces of everyone's advice and got back to work and guess what??? Success!! Woo hoo!!! I am so excited.

I decided to switch to acrylic sealer and after many coats, I was even able to salvage the coasters I had started and I have another table full of coasters waiting to be sealed. When I tested them this time I practically dumped the water on them. I even put water on them and then put a glass on top of it. Hours later I was still able to just wipe it off and it looked great.

I must admit that I was near tears for a while. I just felt so bad. I really wanted to make the coasters. My thought was that these would be a great item to take to shops or to sell at craft fairs or to wholesale and the fact that I couldn't make them was really upsetting to me. I love the colors of the tiles and there are so many cool scrapbook papers. Rather than lose my cool though, I just took some deep breaths and tried to figure out what went wrong.

Have you ever had a project go wrong? Are you able to keep a level head and work your way through it or do things go flying and not so nice words come out of your mouth? Were you able to make it work after all?

The first batch of coasters need to sit for a couple of days and then they will be ready to list. I just need to glue the cork to the backs. I ordered some little boxes for them today that should be here next week. The second batch is waiting for their turn to be sealed.

I am really excited about the coasters, and I am already getting ready to start experimenting with the next idea. I'll let you know when it's ready to make it's debut!