I subscribe to the Martha Stewart Craft of the Day. Yesterday I received this gem: Wallpapered Glass Coasters.
They look like this:
(The link in the email took me to the wrong project, but I searched for it and found it.)
I thought it would be a pretty easy project. A friend gave me etched glass coasters as wedding favors, which I think were glass tiles with silicon pads underneath.
But of course Martha has to complicate it.
” Have a local glazier cut and sand 1/4-inch-thick glass into 3 1/2-inch squares,” it reads.
A local what? Glazier. Do I have one of those?
How expensive is this do-it-yourself going to be?
A Google search revealed one glass company with a photo of high rises on their website. I don’t think my order for 8 coasters will be accepted.
Then I found a few more and called one nearby. My local glazier! I told him I had a small job. I described the project. The nice man asked how many I wanted to make, so I said 12, a nice round number. I told him the thickness and the measurements. He said he’d call me back, which he did, with the price.
$91 and some change, with tax.
Yes. It will cost you at least $100 to make these coasters, with all the other supplies.
I imagine you might be able to find glass tiles at a hardware store and use those. I don’t know if anyone sells clear glass tiles, because the adhesive would probably show through.
But really. Who are these craft editors at Martha Stewart? I know MS is kind of the Architectural Digest of crafts, but seriously. Michael’s craft store sells her line. Shouldn’t she kind of try to accommodate we plebians? Or is Martha Stewart selling stuff at Michael’s like Jason Wu selling stuff at Target? He still has his high end stuff, and so does she?
I don’t know. It’s like seeing a recipe for an easy family dinner and finding out you need to buy $50 worth of supplies you’ll never use again.
The comments section on the site does suggest other places to find glass coaster (Bed Bath & Beyond, a set of 4 for $10, for example), so perhaps not all hope is lost. I think the editor should have used a less expensive example.
Disappointed, color me.
MARGARET DILLOWAY 
When I was about fifteen weeks postpartum with my first (colicky) child, I realized I had invited friends over and, while entertaining, used a used nursing pad as a coaster. Without even realizing it.
WWMS. What WOULD Martha Say!?!
Oh my. I’m totally laughing right now. What the French toast? $91 for DIY and I say “no way”. Bravo and funny!
Very funny. Sorry, I have coasters someone bought me from a quilt craft store for – not sure but I bet it wasn’t that much.
Then I bought a few tiles at a tile store with ferns painted on. I used those for awhile. I think they were 1.00 each.
No way would I pay that price for coasters.
Oh, Martha Martha Martha. Did you learn nothing while you visited WV???
I think Martha makes her crafts and recipes purposefully hard to make the rest of us feel insecure.