Wheels attachment

[Plum]

I want to brighten up the chooks area of the garden. I know flowers stand no chance so thought of making mosaic covered items for the garden. Anyone tried it?

[craftyhunnypie]

I once did it with broken pottery & ready made polyfilla as grouting. Quite effective, but use rigger gloves as proctection for hands. I also stuck decorative glass nuggets over a terracotta saucer once then grouted it. It was a little birdbath. I got the idea from a children's book. You can get some gorgeous effects with mosaics. You might be able to buy a kit?

 

Emma.x

[Egzandra]

That sounds like a gorgeous idea! My fingers have started itching to have a go.

[Plum]

I want to go round charity shops and jumble sales etc and collect some colourful bits of china. When I went to Guernsey there was a little chapel which was covered in broken china and shells it was beautiful. I suppose I can use some tile cement and grout?

[Minnie the Moocher]

Mosaic making is great fun. You can use ready made mosaic tiles (from craft shops, can be expensive) or broken pottery pieces, or broken cheapy tiles. Pieces of broken mirror added in here and there look stunning as they catch the light.

 

One way to work is on a prepared board (with a wooden lip or some kind of edge to work up to). If your tiles are an even thickness, you can work right-way-up onto your surface and grout afterwards. If your tiles are an uneven thickness you can work upside down remembering that the design will be reversed when 'revealed'.

 

Tiles can be 'nipped' to make them fit a design (wear goggles!!!), and designs can be as simple or as complicated as you have time for.

 

Why not try something small to start with to see if you like it?

 

Hope this helps.

[Milly]

I was once given a half day mosaic course for a birthday present and really enjoyed it. In a morning I had time to make a small square picture (I made an apple tree, as we have lots of them). It was fairly simple but quite effective. When I got it home I fixed it to the top of a small cheap stool from Ikea and made it into a little side table.

 

I also made a mirror frame from broken blue and white pottery which I had found in the garden and in a nearby field. Using a ready-made plain frame.

 

But that was 10 years ago and since then I have done nothing

 

Have a go, if I can do it anyone can!

 

Milly

[theherd123]

I love mosaic and spent quite a bit of time making some for our school vegy patch with my students.

 

Its really easy to do and great fun.

 

If i get a chance i will take some photos of ours at school

[Plum]

That would be great. I was having a look in the garden and thought I might start with the concrete fence posts. There again I can't remove it if I make a hash of it. but it could look good

[Redwing]

I made a mosaic table when we had no money and lived in a bedsit, it was ace (the table not the bedsit )

 

I bought cheap white tiles and painted them with tester pots (not ideal for outdoors though)

 

smashed them up and glued them (no more nails) to a table that I got in a charity shop, grouted and then clear varnished the lot!

 

The pattern was a sunflower on a blue background, I loved that table

[bigmommasally]

Sounds Where is it now?

[Ana's flock]

Here's one I made for my conservatory years ago... It took me a good 2 months to complete and if you're attempting something like this I recommend you wear gloves... those little pieces are ever so sharp!

 

[theherd123]

WOW!

 

Thats so cool!

 

I love the lions mane

[Couperwife]

that is soooo

 

well done

 

cathy

x

[Plum]

Wowee that is something to aspire to. Fabulous.

[Redwing]

Sounds Where is it now?

 

Do you know I am not sure?

 

Amazing mosaic Ana, incredible talent you have there

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

Gulpers! That's Rrrrrrr-eally grrrrrre-eat!!!!!

[ubereglu]

Wow, that's brilliant!

[Plum]

Well not got any broken ceramics yet and doubting I can do it so have picked up a few tiles and am going to use them on the posts and then I may do mosaic on the bricks under the steps.

 

This is the posts beforehand. Excuse the rotten chickens they are as bad as my cats when they see a camera

 

and now

 

so now on look out for blue and white tiles preferably with chickens or cockerals on them.

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

Nice!

[Couperwife]

love it

[ubereglu]

That looks nice. I'd quite like to do a similar thing to that with our clothes post at the bottom of the garden...

 

Have any of you seen Candace Bahouth's work-it's really good, we saw it ion Bath last year in a Kaffe Fasset exhibition and it's brilliant, especially like the shoes!

 

This is her website

[Plum]

Ooh shells, I had forgotten shells. 'runs off to hunt out all the flotsam and jetsam from holidays'