The Land of Lost Cups

We have a lot of cups.

We actually have a lot of slurpee cups if you want to get super specific.
I may have had a slurpee addiction when I worked mornings. It was a daily requirement to stop at 7-11 and get a slurpee and a crossiant.
Breakfast of champions.

However, I have noticed something about Hubby.

He uses a lot of cups.

And they get left everywhere.


I'll get up some mornings (because Hubby leaves earlier than I am usually functional these days) and I will find two, sometimes three, half full cups on either side of the sink.

He goes through 3 cups before he leaves for work.


And then he of course no longer remembers which cup is the current cup when he gets home. So there is is a new cup for dinner.

And then probably another new cup after dinner because he will forget he left his dinner cup in the living room when we went to watch TV.

It's a good thing I have a lot of cups.



When I was little, I had this same philosophy towards cups that my Hubby has. I needed a new cup every time I got a drink.

Well.
My Grandma used to baby sit me and my sister once or twice a week.
And she was not having the multiple cup situation!
She would have us pick out a cup for the day, and then it would sit at "our" seat at the kitchen table. And when we wanted a drink we used that cup.
No ifs ands or buts.

It was quite the transition for my little 6 year old self.
But it stuck a little bit.

And I now use the same cup all day long.

Since our kitchen table gets used for crafting and sewing and projects and bill paying and not just eating, leaving our cups on the table was not an option.

So when I saw an idea on pinterest to have a little line up of coasters on the kitchen counter, and each family member leaves their cup on that, I knew that was going to be a good solution for us!
Since we were moving, I decided it would be the perfect time to establish this new routine.

Then all I had to do was make the coasters!


I had seen several tutorials on pinterest, but didn't really have the supplies for them all on hand, and didn't feel like going to the store for specific items. So I winged it.


While we were in Lowe's picking up drill bits for Hubby we grabbed some tumbled marble tiles too. A box of 9 tiles is $3.95.
Awesome.

When I got the tiles home I wiped them down with a damp cloth (they had marble dust or something all over them and seemed sort of powdery).

Then I gathered my supplies.
I had some acid free scrapbook quality ink pads, and a few stamps with pretty designs on them.
And some sharpie markers in complimenting colors.

Then I used one of the more bumpy looking tiles to practice and see which one I liked best.

I decided I liked the blue ink best, and it actually looks great with the colors in my living room. Then I divided the tiles up and I decorated some, and Hubby decorated some. 

Then we put them in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes to set the ink. 

(It seemed pretty set before hand, water didn't make the ink run, but I wanted to be extra sure.) 

Then of course they were hot and took about 15 more minutes to cool down for handling. 

Then I took them outside and sprayed them with a coat of clear spray paint. 

Twice. 

Top and bottom. 

Then the next day I hot glued down some little felt feet so that they wouldn't scuff any furniture up! 

Voila! 

They are now sitting on our new kitchen counter. I picked out my favorite, and Hubby picked out his. The rest are waiting for company to use. 

Hubby's favorite is the one above, mine is the one below. 

I love how they turned out! 

Now we will just have to see if they work on cutting down our cup per day usage...