Make beautiful décor accessories for your home by mastering the basic techniques of mosaic art.
Skills Level Rating
Medium
You will need
• terracotta pot
• floral china
• ceramic tiles in soft shades of green
• tile adhesive
• light-grey grout
• craft paint in a matching colour
To make
1 Make your own mosaic tiles or tesserae by reaking up ceramic items or tiles. Break up the ceramics using a hammer, a two-wheeled tile cutter or a pair of wheeled nippers. If you are using a hammer, remember to enclose the item in a thick plastic bag or newspaper before breaking it up. If you’d like to cut out specific shapes, it would be better to use a two-wheeled tile cutter.
2 Now you can start doing the mosaic. Use a wooden spatula and smear an even layer of tile adhesive over approximately one-third of the edge. We used Tylon Super-Flex tile adhesive, which is suitable for indoor and outdoor use.
3 Systematically press the mosaic tiles or tesserae into the tile adhesive. Leave small, even spaces in-between mosaic tiles or tesserae, arranging them as if you were assembling a jigsaw puzzle. Try to position them in line with the top edge of the pot so the top edge will be neat once completed. Repeat to cover the remainder of the top edge, then complete the rest of the pot, working in sections. Set aside for approximately three hours to allow the tile adhesive to dry completely.
4 Pour a little light-grey grout powder into a small plastic container, then slowly stir in the waterproofing medium, mixing well to combine. Stir until the mixture has the consistency of toothpaste. (It doesn’t take long to mix the grout so you can always mix more if you need it later.) Now mix a little craft paint into the grout mixture so as to colour it, again stirring well to combine.
Note: The colour will be slightly lighter once the grout has dried. Use your hands to smear the grout onto the pot ensuring that you fill in every groove.
5 Use your hands to smear the grout onto the pot ensuring you fill in every groove. Set aside to dry for about two hours. Once completely dry, wipe it down with a damp sponge to remove the excess grout. Set aside for another hour to dry completely, before polishing the entire surface with a soft cloth.
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