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Weekend Project: Mosaic

Posted by DIY Guy on September 28, 2011

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we came up with a fun and easy project to do.

“Central Mexico was once home to the ethnic Aztec people who spoke a language called Nahuatl. Mosaics, including masks, were common within Aztec art, often made of turquoise, coral and shells.” –Education.com

To pay tribute to this ancient Mexican culture, you can create a mosaic on just about anything. We just so happen to have an old wooden tray that needed an update, but you can also use picture frames, crosses, floor accents, table tops, etc. In our materials we used some tile we had leftover from another job, but you can also use bottle caps, shells, coins, etc. Have fun!

Materials:

Liquid Nails (Or Mastic)

Steps:
1. If using a tray or an item that needs to be painted, first sand down the object. Then apply a primer made for that type of material and then paint it the color of your choice. We went with an old wooden tray and painted it an off-white color.
2. Then take your tile to a safe location (outside, away from other people). Put on safety gear like gloves and eye protection. Place a towel over the tile and hit it with a hammer until you break the tile into several pieces. Place the pieces in a bucket or tray and carry back to your work space. BE VERY CAREFUL, THE TILE WILL HAVE SHARP EDGES.
3. Lay out all the tile pieces. We went with 3 different colors so we grouped by color. You want to be able to see all the shapes, sizes and colors you have because it will be easier to lay it out.
4. Lay the pieces out on the tray. You want them to fit like a puzzle. Not right up against each other but not too far apart either. Feel free to use Tile Nippersto cut tile to the shape you want. We had enough of an assortment to make it work without the tile nippers.
5. You can either glue the tile down as you go, or wait until it’s all laid out. We used an adhesive called Liquid Nail but you can also use mastic. Apply to the bottom of the tile and then stick to the surface, making sure you press down firmly in place. Its okay if the adhesive comes out the sides once pressed in, just don’t let it come above the tile or it will show even after grouted. (Clean surface of tile off of any adhesive once done)
6. Check to make sure there isn’t any missing pieces and that all pieces are glued down. Your mosaic should look similar to this one.
7. Now its time to grout. If you need to, you can always tape off the sides of the tray, using blue painter’s tape, so you don’t get grout on them. Check out our videos on “How to mix Grout” and “How to Grout Tile.”. Let the grout haze over before wiping clean.
8. Once the grout has hazed over, wipe the grout off the surface using a sponge. (See the proper technique in our video, How To Grout Tile) Make sure to clean the grout off the sides of the tray as well or remove the blue tape at this time. Let the grout dry completely.
9. If you want to add a little something extra, you can take the twine and wrap it around the handles. Tie one end and wrap tightly around the handle over and over again, all the way to the other end and then tie it off. Cut off any loose ends. We did not do this to ours so we do not have a picture to show.
10. If you are happy with the way it looks, you can stop at this point. You may want to seal the grout/tile. (See our video on “How to Seal Grout/Tile”). Our tray wasn’t level so our tile wasn’t level either. Since we want to use this tray to put things on, we need it to be smooth. We decided to add a high gloss finish to it also known as liquid glass. You will need the Glaze Coat kit, 2 mixing containers, and 2 putty knives, a plastic cup.
11. Pour equal parts of Part A and Part B in separate cups. Then pour Part A into Part B and stir with a narrow plastic putty knife for 2 minutes. Make sure you scrape the sides to get it all mixed in well. Do not shake it to mix it and do not use a mixer otherwise it will have a lot of bubbles. Then pour the mixture into a new clean container (like a plastic cup) and then pour over the project area making sure the area is completely covered. You can use the other putty knife to work it around the area and work out any bubbles.
12. Let it fully cure for about 72 hours. That’s it! Enjoy your new mosaic!