Mosaic Tray

Mosaics have long been admired for their intricate patterns and fantastic colours. Throughout the ages they have been used in many ways, including in Moorish architecture and in the buildings and sculptures of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. While not everyone can create mosaics on such a grand scale, on 'Burke's Backyard' Tracy Marsh shows how easy it is to make a simple, but stylish, mosaic tray.

Preparation

Before beginning any mosaic work, draw the design on a piece of paper and devise a colour scheme using coloured pencils. You can then use this design to draft a pattern which serves as a guide when placing the tiles.

Your design can come from our fish pattern (see the template in the September issue of the Burke's Backyard magazine, page 104), from a source book or from your imagination. It's a good idea to tackle a simple design for your first project, and as you gain confidence and experience, work with more complex designs.

Materials

• wooden craft frame, ours measured 35cm (14") x 55cm (22")
• ceramic tiles - assorted colours and sizes, but preferably the same thickness. Ask for cheap or free damaged ones at a local tile shop
• small mosaic tiles in assorted colours (for the border)
• 2 handles (for each end of the tray)
• Ceramic tile glue
• tile grout
• milk paint (American Country Blue) or acrylic paint
• graphite paper (optional)
• sandpaper
• tack hammer
• old hand towel or tea towel
• tile cutter (optional)
• spatula or knife
• bowl of water and damp cloth
• pencil
• black permanent marker
• glass jug
• rubber gloves
• apron
• coloured pencils
• screwdriver
• protective eye safety goggles (recommended)

Technique

Step 1: Paint the frame

Lightly sandpaper the frame and wipe off all the excess dust. Trace the fish pattern onto the centre of the frame using either graphite paper or by rubbing it with a pencil on the back of the pattern. Then outline the fish design with a black permanent marker.

Paint the edges and back of the frame with two coats of American Country Blue milk paint, or with a suitable colour of your choice in acrylic paint.

Step 2: Make a mosaic border

Arrange the small mosaic tiles around the inside edge of the frame, following the colour scheme of your design. When you are happy with the placement, glue the tiles down one by one, applying some ceramic tile glue with a knife or spatula to the back of each tile and pressing it in place. Remember to leave a small gap between each piece for the tile grout.

Step 3: Make mosaic pieces

First you will need to create your mosaic pieces by breaking them with a hammer. Safety note: we strongly recommend that you always wear safety goggles when breaking the tiles.

Place the ceramic tiles one at a time, glazed side down, inside a folded hand or tea towel. Using the round, blunt end of the tack hammer, tap them crisply and firmly to break the tile. NB: Use an old towel because the sharp, broken pieces can rip the cloth.

To break them into smaller, more precise pieces, place a large tile piece, glazed side down, on top of the hand towel and use the sharper, chiselled edge of the tack hammer to break it into smaller pieces. This soon gets easier with practice. As you work on your design, you can use this method to resize a few tile pieces to fit the design.

Alternatively, you can use a tile cutter to create the mosaic pieces.

Step 4: Glue the tiles in place

Following the colour scheme of your design, match the tile pieces according to their shape and size so that they fit neatly together. This avoids big crevices which can look unattractive when grouted.

As with the small mosaic tiles, apply ceramic tile glue with a knife or spatula to the back of each piece and press into place. Don't worry if you don't follow the pattern exactly. You will find that the uneven shapes of the tile pieces means that the final design will vary from the original pattern, but this is all part of the excitement of doing mosaic.

Step 5: Fill in with grouting

Leave the tiles to dry overnight before doing the grouting. Wearing rubber gloves and an apron, mix up the grout in the glass jug with water to the desired consistency, following the manufacturer's instructions. Pour the grout over the tiles and firmly push it into the crevices with your fingers. Grout dries quickly so you need to work fairly fast. Keeping the bowl of water handy, wipe away excess grout from the tiles with a damp cloth. Rinse the cloth several times to get a clean finish.

Allow the grout to dry for 24 hours then wipe off any remaining grout (which dries to a white powder). Attach the handles to the frame and the tray is complete. Alternatively, leave the handles off and mount the frame as a wall hanging.

Costs and suppliers

The wooden craft frame is available from Spotlight stores for $12.95. Handles cost around $3.45 each from hardware stores. Ceramic tile glue is $5.50 for 350g, and tile grout is $6.30 for 750g, also from hardware stores. American Country Blue milk paint costs $9.45 for a 250ml tin from art and craft stores. Tile prices vary depending on style and size. Tile shops often give away damaged tiles or end of line stock. Check with your local tile shop for availability.

Copyright CTC Productions 2006