Welcome back! Today we start part two of the Mosaic Tiling Series. Ready to get messy??
For this tute I used white glue and a tile base. I like tile because its 42c for a 6 inch tile, and the edges are finished. If you use the backside of the tile, you end up with a smooth bottom. You can use a scrap piece of wood or any flat, strong surface. Plastic normally doesn’t work, because your finished project is going to be HEAVY. You are basically putting rocks and cement on your base. That said, I have seen foam used for an awesome mosaic “quilt“! I aspire to that level of awesome. seriously though, isn’t that gorgeous?
Okay, let’s run through the materials again:
- 6 inch tile (or piece of wood) for the base.
- Items to use as tiles: mirror, tiles of any shape or size, glass marbles for flowers (flat on one side is helpful, but not necessary), etc. If it doesn’t dissolve in water you can try it out!
- White school glue (you can use mastic, and its helpful if you are sticking down round items, but its kind of expensive for one project).
- Grout. Grout comes in lots of fun colors in a carton or big ol’ huge bag. The big bag is like $5 and will do over 50 coasters.
- Mosaic Tiling Kit. For a coaster, nippers and a sponge are useful.
- Hammer
- If you aren’t using the above tiling kit, you will need something heavy to cover the tiles while you break them. A heavy placemat or towel (that you won’t use for anything else) works well.
- Safety glasses and gloves. VERY important!!! I have cut myself when demonstrating how you should always wear gloves! Safety glasses even for those of us who wear regular glasses.
Gather your items on a surface that will not get damaged from hammering and sharp objects.
If you have tiles that you need to break, use a tiling bag or heavy cloth placemat to shield yourself from flying shards.
Break tile into desired size. Use nippers to get a more precise shape.
You can take a lot of time and map, sketch, trace, doodle, etc. to get just the look you are going for. Or you can do it my way, and find pieces that are about the right size, because its midnight and you will wake up the family if you start hammering now.
I did make a note on this tile. I have a bird figurine that I wanted to go on this tile, but the tail got in the way of the tiles, so I saved its spot.
If your base is relatively flat, you can apply glue directly to the base or the tile. If your tile is curved and/or your base is not so flat (bathroom tiles from Lowe’s have ridges) you can apply glue to the tile. To be safe, you can add some to the base as well. Glue never hurt anybody.
That’s it! Once you have all your pieces glued in place, set your project on a flat surface where children and spouses (and pets) will not disturb. I recommend the top of the fridge. Let it dry for a day, and tomorrow we will grout!
Part One of my series is here.
This series is sponsored by my Tomboy Tools store. Check it out here.
Linked here:
Inspired 
