mosaic planter project

The inspiration photo
planter
breaking the tile
broken plates and bits and pieces

the mixed mortar

the end of the afternoon, all the pieces are on!
putting on the grout...messy!
after a sponge bath

The girls with our finished planter!

I have always wanted to make some kind of mosaic project, preferably like the beautiful urn in the first photo. I also wanted to have a project to do with the girls....so we said "let's mosaic" (or something like that.)

First, we got our supplies together. I bought the planter at Home Depot, then we got some seashells and glass disk pieces at the craft store. I collected a couple of Fiesta ware plates that I don't use anymore, leftover glass tiles from tiling projects, and some broken pottery.

I then broke the plates and tiles into pieces by placing them between layers of a towel, and then hitting them with a hammer. I kept breaking them until I had the sizes that we needed.

Next we needed the adhesive. We used mortar leftover from a kitchen backsplash project. I read that people use Welbond Glue for mosaic projects too....but I decided to go with what we had on hand. The mortar is the adhesive we applied to the back of each piece of tile we put on the planter. I mixed it up in an old cut down milk jug. We used painters stir sticks to apply the mortar to the back of each piece, but you could use plastic knives, painter's palette knives, spatulas or whatever you have on hand. Make sure to use sponges to wipe away the excess grout. We had plenty of that! By the end of the afternoon we had all the pieces applied to the planter. We let that sit overnight.

The next step is grouting. This is the grout I used for the planter. The grout is the material that fills in the spaces between the tiles in mosaic designs. It comes in fine grain for narrow spaces and coarse grain for larger gaps. Again, I mixed the grout in an old cut down milk jug. The best method for me to get all the grout between the spaces was my hands. Again you need to use sponges after the grout has set for about ten minutes to clean all of the excess. When you are done grouting the whole piece keep wringing out a damp sponge and wiping it over your piece. The next day you can wipe down the haze with a piece of cheesecloth. Lastly because the planter will be outside, purchase a sealant to protect it from the elements.

This was a really fun project for kids.... today we are going to sign our names on the bottom of the planter!

Ashlyn