craftgrrl | Ceramic tile coasters (Reply)

This was my very first attempt at decoupage, and I was pretty happy with how they came out, but I could be happier. Specifically, the Mod Podge left streaks across the surface, rather than being smooth and shiny. Does anyone know what I did wrong, or how to avoid streaking? I don't know how obvious it is in the photo, but it is actually textured - you can feel it if you run your finger over the surface.

These started out as blank ceramic tiles I purchased from Home Depot for pennies each. I printed the images out on my Canon inkjet and then sealed them with acrylic spray. The red ink still bled a tiny bit, so I may try an extra coat next time. I used gloss Mod Podge to glue the images to the tile, sniping the corners and folding them under about a quarter inch. I need to get a brayer, but the makeshift plastic spatula-type thing I used to smooth out the paper worked well - I didn't have any bubbles! Then I started adding layers of Mod Podge with a foam brush. I think I did about 6 layers, followed by 2 layers of acrylic varnish to seal the Mod Podge and make the coasters water proof (generally an important requirement for a coaster!) Finally, I cut squares of felt (unfortunately I only had white) which I glued to the bottom of the tiles with basic craft glue.

I have fallen in love with decoupage! I just need to figure out how to get a shiny, smooth varnish like I see in all the example pictures!