Making Mosaic Garden Art

Turn bits and pieces of broken china and tile into unique garden ornaments

I was openly disbelieving when signal up for a shop on how to makemosaic stepping stone , since I had never even been able-bodied to put together basic saber saw puzzles . But equal pressure from my gardening buddies , Linda Beutler and Nancy Goldman , prevailed , and off we conk to socio-economic class . Within a year , my friends and I were fill our garden at an alarming charge per unit with physical object comprehend in assorted bits of wiped out china and roofing tile . We produce colorfulgarden artfrom aim such as trowels , bowling ball , lacrimation cans , mailboxes , birdhouses , and tables as well as brick , concrete pavers , terra - cotta deal , and lamp chimney flues .

By now , the word has spread among our Quaker about our hobby , and it ’s not rare to come home to oblation of humiliated china and tile at my basement door . Several time a yr we sell our wares at garden - art sales — a perfect excuse to featherbed in our fixation . This guile is fun to do , keeps the three of us comparatively out of trouble , and requires only simple , inexpensive household items .

Stage 1: Setup

There are several thing you need to do before assembling a mosaic garden ornament . pull together and ready the materials for use beforehand will ensure that the relief of the stages flow swimmingly .

assemble your supplies

Select the materials

Sturdy , well - built objects made of metal , Mrs. Henry Wood , terra cotta , or concrete workplace well as base objects for a mosaic . The decorative mosaic piece will adhere to just about any aerofoil except detail made from flimsy plastics that stoop and crouch . service department and estate sales , swap meets and flea markets , as well as parsimoniousness and secondhand stores are good places to find china for your mosaic pattern . Tile manufacturers often offer seconds at discounted price , which are sodding for mosaic study .

Prepare the cornerstone object

All materials must be cleaned before the bits and piece of china and tile are utilize . Some require special preparations :

Break the china and roofing tile

Breaking Red China and tile is a cathartic yet willy - nilly process since it is hard to know how the slice will break . It ’s best to work on top of a solid , flat control surface ; always wear safety spyglass to protect against fly dust . Wrap china or tile in a bathing tub towel , and hit it with a pound several times . Some pieces will be laborious to break than others and may ask several strikes to attain pieces of the desired sizing .

Gallery of ideas

When craft mosaic decoration , Lucy , Nancy , and I endeavor to limit the turn of colors featured on each mosaic object to two or three , plus one or two equally vivid flowered or geometric patterns , since it is possible to be too garish . Rarely do we mix in color values , keeping the full project all bright or all pastel tincture of the prefer color motif . With a reassembled plate design or a decorative tile in the center of our project , we often select a solid color or a strong repeating print or texture in similar shades as a border around physical object like stepping stones and water features .

To give personality to our ornaments , we include noisome stuff discovered during our travels . Nancy add buttons and jewellery to her design . I like to boast extraneous coins , while Lucy employ colored - glass nuggets that add a little light . We all like to seek to include the china back stamps or manufacturer ’s cross , which key where the china is from . These simple ornamental addition help provide harmony in our motifs and wage our creativity with laughable juxtapositions .

— Linda Beutler , a flowered designer with a whimsical sense of style who lives in Portland , Oregon

Stage 2: Mortar

Mosaic while are affixed to base objects with thinset trench mortar mixed with acrylic paint admix , both of which can be found at home - betterment or hardware storage .

Stage 3: Grout

usance sanded grout , with its attractive , common texture , to fill in the fissure around the mosaic pieces .

Design

If a home plate has a centre excogitation that you want to reassemble in your mosaic collage , you may break the piece in a more controlled fashion by crisscrossing the control surface of the dish with unclouded packing tape , wrap up it in a towel facedown , and striking it several times . Then turn the patch upright , cautiously remove the magnetic tape , and reassemble the pattern on a insipid surface .

Stage 4: Sealer

To protect object from outdoor elements , utilise two pelage of tile and rock - floor sealant to the surface of the mosaic garden ornament .

Apply the sealant with a small paintbrush ; do this open for good ventilation system . Let the first coat hook in for 10 to 15 mo before brush on the 2nd coat . Buff the object with a flaccid towel after the sealant has dried . For added aegis , reapply sealer every couple of years . If you live in an area with great wintertime rain or snowfall , bring your ornaments inwardly in the fall to protect them .

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