First,Clean tray by wiping or dusting with a slightly damp cloth to remove fine wood particles and dust. Paint with craft paint in a colour of your choice.
If required apply a second coat to ensure a professional finish. Always wait for the first coat to be 100% dry before progressing
You do not need to paint the area where the mosaic work will be done as this surface will be completely covered by mosaic and grout.
For this mosaic I have chosen some beautiful inserts – blocks with words, flowers, some leaves. The first step is to decide where these go and glue them in place.
To match the inserts I have selected mosaic tiles with colours that work together. There are no rules – just have fun .Glue each piece as you go along, spread a little glue on tray and place mosaic tile.
The entire area around the inserts now needs to be filled by glueing down mosaic tiles. Start with the border and work towards the centre.
You will need to cut, trim or shape some of the mosaic pieces to fit around the inserts as you go along. Use a tile cutter – perfect shape is not needed, the grout will fill in the gaps.
To make it more exciting play with some additional colours. Just keep going – spread some glue, place the tiles piece by piece. The glue is easy to peel off your fingers if it gets messy.
Perhaps add some tiles with different textures and sizes as you fill the tray working towards the centre. You can also cut tiles into halves and quarters – again, there are no rules ,just have fun.
To give a completely different feel in the centre I chose to break the tiles into pieces creating pieces that are diverse in shape and size.
These are “scattered” around to fill the centre of the tray.
The glue needs to dry before grouting can be added, read the glue label for drying time. If unsure 3 to 4 house should do it, overnight is perfect.
In a tub Mix about 5 heaped tablespoons of grout with small amounts of water at a time, you are looking for is a paste between the consistency of mayonnaise and tooth paste.
Use a spatula and spread the grout liberally over your mosaic. I used a black grout and added a bit of glitter for bling. Grout comes in various colours including white & shades of grey and brown.
Start in the centre and work outward to cover the entire mosaic tray in grout.
It is messy but keep going making sure that every gap is filled with the grout.
When completed gently wipe off with a dry cloth to remove a bit of the excess – do not press cloth into the gaps. Now sprinkle some dry grout on top – this helps the grout to not sink when it dries.
Wait 5 – 10 minutes and wipe the surface again to remove excess grout on the tiles. Do not remove grout in gaps. With a wet cloth clean any grout that was messed on the rest of the mosaic tray.
Continue by using a slightly damp cloth wrapped around your finger to gently and cautiously clean any little bits of remaining grout on the inserts.
Leave to dry for several hours (about 4-5 hours).
The final product as follows and a perfect gift for someone special!so creative ART.
