19 Jun 09 Ever Wanted To Make A Mosaic?…

Mosaics today are used in so many different ways, both in the home and in garden designs and outdoor projects. In other words, they are back in fashion even though they date back to Roman times.

Do I need many tools for this? Well, you will need your subject to decorate, PVA or a water soluble glue, grout, mosaic tiles, brown paper, sponge, squeegee, pencil, chalk, goggles, face mask, nippers or a hammer and hardie.

What other items can be used? The answer to that is plenty really! You can paint your own tiling with porcelain paint or, as an example, how about trying anything from the following list. Marbles, shells, glass nuggets or even beads, mosaic tiles, pebbles off the beach, mirrored glass, or even old crocks, if you smash them up!

The tiles themselves come complete with a brown paper backing. So, how do you get this off? Quite simply really! Soak them in warm water, continue by giving the tiles a rinsing and just let them dry. With the indirect method you can use the tiles straight from the paper.

Use a sheet of brown paper for this by gluing your tiles into place upside down with an adhesive which is water soluble. If you do this, you will maintain a good smooth surface.

You then need to prepare your item with a tile cement that is quick drying and then put your tiles on to the wet cement. Leave the brown paper on at this stage. Once it has dried, all you need to do, is to soak the paper with a wet sponge to remove it.

This is basically the same principal you employ when tiling a bathroom or kitchen. But you will need all your little cracks filled in. It is easy to use your squeegee for this. Use a wet sponge to clean up all grouting. Once it is dry, continue and finish the surface and polish it up.

Now for your designs. When you first start, it is often easier to do something like geometric patterning. With more experience you can move on to designs with circles and curving’s etc. The tiles may need shaping to fit your design, so for this you need the direct method. This can be achieved in two ways.

An old fashioned way first, but do not attempt this until you have had a practice run. Hardie held over the tile. Use your hammer and tap the hardie, which then cuts away at the tile and, in fact, moves it into whatever shape you are aiming for.

Or you could use nippers, which is by far the easiest method. This lets you cut tiles in to quarters and halves by nibbling away, as it were, to give you curves or whatever you may need. Practice with some spare tiles first, until you are satisfied with the result. It doesn’t really matter if you have some weird shapes, you should be able to incorporate them into your design.

You could prepare your tiles in a clear plastic bag to keep any glass shards or dust safely in the bag. Always make sure that you do wear a face mask and goggles while you work for safety reasons and do be sure to hoover round afterwards or get the dustpan and brush out. Have fun!

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