- 1). Choose your tesserae; tesserae is a term that refers to the pieces making up your mosaic design. Vitreous tesserae, also called Venetian, are opaque glass tiles and smalti are tiles of enameled glass. Ceramic, stained or mirror are other popular types of tiles. Recycle your broken China or pottery and repurpose into mosaic tile by cutting into the desired shape with tile nippers.
- 2). Trace around the hand mirror on pattern paper with your drafting pencils. If you are unable to position your hand mirror flat, measure the width and height with a ruler. You will need the dimensions of the handheld mirror's base and backside.
- 3). Draw in any motif patterns, such as leaves, hearts or butterflies within the hand mirror tracing. This step is optional.
- 4). Position your tesserae placement pattern using the pattern paper tracing made in steps 2 and 3 as your guide. Place the tiles onto the drawing. This will be your road map while applying the tiles.
- 5). Brush a light coat of non-water soluble white craft glue with a bristle brush onto the hand mirror's base and backside. Read your brand's drying time. The non-water soluble craft glue will often yellow. If the product dries quickly, brush adhesive onto a small section and avoid brushing it onto the entire hand mirror.
Read your brand's surface recommendations prior to application. For example, if your hand mirror base is made from wood, use a mosaic tile adhesive for your tile application. It is important to work in a well ventilated area and always wear your protective mask, goggles and rubber gloves. Adhesives produce very strong and harmful odors. - 6). Pick up your tiles with tweezers and position them onto the adhesive. Work at a fast pace to avoid the glue from drying before you're finished. If you are working in sections, repeat steps 5 and 6 until the hand mirror is covered with adhesive and your tile pattern.
- 7). Wipe away excess glue seeping in between the tiles with a damp sponge.
- 8). Pour the dry grout into your mixing bowl. Make a sufficient amount to cover the entire hand mirror. This is especially important if you are mixing grout coloring powder because it's challenging to make the exact shade of grout a second time.
- 9). Pour the recommended amount of water into the grout and mix with a wallpaper scraper. Continue to mix until the grout has a creamy consistency. Add the grout color powder to the grout mix base according to the instructions.
- 10
Smooth the grout on the hand mirror's back side directly onto the tiles with a rubber spatula. Wipe away any excess grout with a clean damp sponge. Let the grout dry the appropriate length of time according to the instructions.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -