The other night, we invited some friends over for nachos and margaritas. About halfway through the second pitcher, someone offhandedly commented on how much it sucks when the drink coaster gets stuck to the bottom of the glass. It’s true, it does. Naturally, that sparked a lively conversation on the different ways to prevent the coaster/glass stick. Yes, we know. This really is about as deep as our conversations get while eating nachos and drinking margaritas.

With the previous evening’s intellectual discussion in mind, we spent the next morning – ok afternoon – searching the Internet for a new set of coasters. And what we found was so cool we had to write about it.

The web is loaded with sites that allow you to personalize stone coasters with your own pictures and even drawings (as long as you have permission to duplicate them). These companies use a special process to permanently print your pictures on the stone so they don’t wash off from sweaty drinks. Pretty cool, right? The best part is the cost. These coasters will only run you about $10 each, and in some cases less than that. Did we mention that stone coasters don’t stick to drinking glasses? Bonus!

Feeling crafty? We also found a few sites that allow you to personalize stone tiles (you know, the ones that go in your bathroom or kitchen). You can submit a picture and have it printed on a single tile or have it blown up to span several tiles – sort of like a puzzle with all square pieces. We’re thinking of putting one or two custom tiles on the kitchen and bathroom walls just to mix things up a bit. And with the “puzzle” tiles we’re going to make a really cool set of abstract coasters. In fact, we’re gonna use a photo of a plate of nachos. To make coasters out of tiles, just flip them over and use a sturdy glue to attach a piece of cork backing to protect your tables.

The right custom coaster set will definitely add a unique decorative accent to whatever room we keep it in. And talk about a conversation piece. Just imagine the discussions you’ll have when your guests use coasters that have pictures of your cousin Ed shoving french fries up his nose. And please, if you do print pictures of cousin Ed (or anything else cool) on your coasters, let us know. We can’t wait to see what you come up with.