How to mosaic

     

What You Will Need:

1. Tile Glue and paddle pop sticks

2. An old cloth

3. Sandpaper

4. News paper

5.Wood board

6. Pencil and permanent marker

7. Tiles of your choice

8. Hammer

9. Tile Grout

10. Water

11. Sponge 

(Tile grout and tile glue are both available any floor tile shops. We bought ours in a powder form and then made the paste ourselves)

NOTE: It is important to buy actual tile glue as it has rubber in it and therefore allows the tiles to be more flexible if the board behind them bends.

1. Start by drawing your design onto the wood in pencil. Once you are happy with the design, do over it in permanent marker. This was our initial design, but as you can see, we ended up changing it.

2. Take your tiles and magazine/newspaper book. Open the pages up and place tile inside. Close the page and smash the tile with the hammer. Open up the paper and see if you are happy with the result. If not, repeat the process until desired result is achieved.

3. Mix up your glue by pouring desired amount of power into a container and then mixing in water until the glue has a toothpaste consistency. Generously spread glue on the back of the tiles and firmly stick them onto your design.

4. Once the design is complete, leave the mosaic out to dry.

5. Make up the grout. In these pictures, there are two separate types of grout, one is a darker colour than the other. For our project, we used the darker one as it made the white tiles stand out.

NOTE: If you want to colour your grout a specific colour, you can simply add acrylic paint to the mixture.

6. Mix the water and grout together in a bucket, stirring it and adding water until you reach a toothpaste consistency.

7. Remove as many of the lumps as possible from the mixture and then evenly smooth it onto the mosaic. 

8. Flatten it down and fill all the gaps between the individual tiles. Wipe the grout off the mosaic, leaving only a faint layer of the mixture over the tiles. 

9. Once the grout is dry enough that it can be rubbed off the tiles like dust, take the towel and gently rub off the grout until the tiles are glossy and clean.