The 7 Basic Rules for Successful Mosaics

by Claudia Wiegand

Rule 1 - Never Do Mosaics With Children Or Pets Around

Fragments of glass or ceramics fly off in all directions. If you don't have a workshop or a separate room (no carpet please) you can cut your tiles inside a large transparent plastic bag such as a food bag.

Rule 2 - No Food Or Drink In The Same Room

Even if you use a plastic bag, tiny fragments can reach places you'd never think possible.

Rule 3 - Never Wipe Off Debris Of Mosaic Tiles With Bare Hands

It's so easy and instinctive, but disastrous for your hands. Use a dustpan and brush.

Rule 4 - Always Clear Up Between Sessions

Put all your tiles, tools, bag and work away and give the place a good vacuum cleaning before letting children and pets back into the room. Never become complacent about safety rules please!

Rule 5 - Wear Protective Clothing

Goggles and a dust mask when you cut tiles. If you sit somewhere sunny while cutting, you'll see the dust thrown up each time you cut. Dust you don't want to inhale! It's also a good idea to wear an apron or overalls so your clothes don't get covered with bits of tiles.

Wear goggles, a dust mask and rubber gloves when you mix cement based adhesive or grout yourself. Cement is very drying for the skin and can cause allergies. Cement powder is very volatile and can seriously damage your lungs if you breathe it.

Rule 6 - Keep It Simple

Mosaics don't have to be complicated or sophisticated to give that magical wow effect! Start with a simple project on a flat surface, even where you don't need to cut tiles at all or mix adhesive and grout yourself!

Rule 7 - Enjoy It !

Making mosaics can be very therapeutic and rewarding. Do it on your own listening to your favourite music or with your friends for a fun and productive afternoon and get the family to admire your work!

The Essential Equipment and Tips

The Minimum Equipment You'll Need To Get You Going And Some Useful Tips

For The Design Stage:

This is equipment you would normally have at home! You might even want to ask your child to lend you some of these...

PAPER (white or even squared), a SOFT PENCIL, COLORED PENCILS, SCISSORS, a CALCULATOR, a LONG RULER and a RIGHT ANGLE. A TAPE MEASURE if you want to mosaic a larger surface such as a table for example.

For The Making Stage:

You can get all this equipment from your local DIY and crafts supplies stores!

A Support

Some plywood or particle board (like MDF), bearing in mind that these surfaces are not suitable for outdoor projects. Make sure it is thick enough so it doesn't bend. If you can't saw it at home, go to your local DIY store and ask them to cut a piece to the right size and keep the cut-offs.

Adhesive

A good non-water-soluble white craft glue will do perfectly. With an applicator, so you can squeeze small amounts of glue straight onto your tiles.

Tiles

The components of a mosaic are also called tesserae. They come in a variety of materials (marble, ceramics glazed or unglazed, glass, mirror, stone, metal etc) in different sizes, thicknesses, shapes (for example regular squares, irregular sizes of smalti, marble rods), finishes (glazed, matt, porous etc, according to the material's properties) and of course colours, where the choice is fabulous.

For your first projects, buy small quantities of vitreous glass mosaic tiles. They can be supplied on sheets (soak them in warm water to dissolve the glue) or in small boxes or bags. You can also dig out some ceramic tiles from your garage (make sure they're all the same thickness) and either put them in a strong plastic bag and smash them to bits with a hammer or cut them into small squares or other shapes with score and snap tile cutters. These are definitely the cheapest tesserae you'll find if you want to mosaic a flat and even surface. For something decorative that you wish to hang on the wall for example, you can use all sorts: buttons, pebbles from your garden, shells, broken china, small objects... Start collecting now!

For The Finishing

Grout

Grout is the mixture of cement and sand that you spread over your finished mosaic and fills the gaps between the tiles. Keep it easy to start with... Don't mix cement based grout yourself but go to your local DIY store and buy some ready mixed grout. Grey is always a good neutral grout colour if you use tiles of various shades. Choose white if your tiles are very light and you want a crisp, clean look; charcoal if your tiles have strong colours and you want to keep the colour intensity. Ready mixed grout pots come in small, medium and bigger sizes....Start with a small one: you'll see that grout goes a long way... They also contain a small grout spreader that you can use to spread the grout and remove most of the excess. Very handy!

A Tiler's Sponge

Don't use any old sponge. You'll need a large fine grained sponge - the type used by tilers - as you need to squeeze most of the water out of it before wiping excess grout off your mosaic.

Rubber Gloves

Always use them when grouting. Even ready mixed grout will dry your skin.

Rags

Keep a collection of lint-free cloths to clean your mosaic after grouting.

A Big Bucket Full Of Water

Don't wash your tools and rinse your sponge in the sink! Use a large bucket of water and dispose of the used water into road drains. This is all you'll need to make a mosaic project that does not involve cutting of tiles! If You Decide To Cut Mosaic Tiles: Tile Nippers

They're an essential tool once you start projects involving cutting pieces of mosaic tiles. Don't go and buy the most expensive ones to start with, but invest in a really good pair if you're hooked by mosaics and want to do more detailed designs.

If You Decide To Cut Larger Ceramic Tiles Into Small Shapes: Score And Snap Tile Cutters

They make cutting smaller squares from ceramic tiles easy and precise.

If You Do Any Cutting Using Tile Nippers Or Cutters:

Large transparent (food type) plastic bag, goggles, dust mask, paint brush to clear small fragments off your work, tweezers to position small pieces of mosaic tiles, a hammer if you want to smash tiles, a dustpan and brush.

Where Do You Go From Here?

You could try out Claudia's mosaic course. She explains a simple mosaic project step by step and and gives you loads of useful info on mosaic techniques. For more details head over to http://www.mosaicsforfunandprofit.com

Please remember to consider and take appropriate safety precautions before and during any art or craft project.

Some craft projects on this site may be unsuitable for children. In any case, adult-supervision is required all children's craft activities and projects.

This article is reprinted here with the author's express permission.
Reprinted from http://www.Family-Content.com

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