Grape Vine Mosaic Mirror

crafts

Beautiful Mosaic Mirror

Use broken mosaic tiles, stained glass, and glass beads

from our previous site: CraftAndFabricLinks.com

Special Note

This is one of our oldest projects from our previous site, and I only have a few photos, but I wanted to include it here because it was such a gorgeous mirror.

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SUPPLIES

5/8 x 11 - 3/4" round plywood - buy as is at Home Depot - Approximately $1.99

Mirror - circle - available at Michael's 

Ceramic Tile Adhesive - AcrylPro from Home Depot 

Stained Glass - use more than one color for added texture 

Green mosaic ½" x ½" mini tiles 

Mosaic Glass Nippers / Cutters - can buy at Home Depot or tile stores

Glass beads

Grout (color of choice or white grout can be mixed with acrylic paint to achieve desired color) 

Silver VentureTape - about 2" wide - purchased at stained glass shop

Plastic bowls, plastic knife and spoon (disposable)

Latex gloves for grouting

D-rings and braided framing wire - can be purchased at framing stores or Michael's 

INSTRUCTIONS

Apply Mosaic Pieces

General Notes It is helpful to loosely draw your pattern onto the wood base (mark approximate areas grape clusters will lie). Use the ceramic tile adhesive to glue down all the pieces. Use the plastic knife to dab the glue onto the pieces. Try to avoid using too much glue.

1. Glue the mirror to the center of the round plywood base.

2. Create Grapes
Glue the purple glass beads onto the plywood, on each side of the mirror. These beads will form the grapes.

3. Create Grapevine
Cut the green ½" x ½" mini tiles in half using the mosaic cutters. Glue them onto the plywood as shown to make the grapevine.

4. Add Glass Beads
Glue the glass beads randomly onto the plywood.

5. Add Stained Glass Pieces
Break the stained glass as follows: Cover the stained glass piece with a towel and hit the center with a hammer. This will give you more rounded edges. Continue to break the larger pieces into smaller pieces with the hammer. Use the mosaic cutter to further cut into smaller pieces and achieve the shapes you want. Lay the broken mosaics onto the plywood, cutting as you go to make shapes that will fill in around the grapes, grapevine and glass beads. Do NOT glue yet. Once all of the pieces are in place and you're happy with the design, glue them down.

6. Allow Glue To Dry
After all the pieces are glued gently turn the plywood upside down to make sure no pieces were overlooked. Let the glue sit for at least 24 hours before grouting.

Grout

General Notes

Sanded or unsanded grout can be used. Unsanded grout is harder to work with but less likely to scratch the stained glass. In most cases, using a darker grout makes the piece look richer. In other words, avoid pure white grout when you can. For this piece, I used unsanded grout and added a dark teal acrylic paint to get the color shown.

1. Mix Grout
Put 2 cups of white grout into a plastic disposable bowl. Add enough water and stir until the grout is the consistency of peanut butter. Add the acrylic paint until you achieve the color you want. Mix thoroughly.

1. Apply Grout
Cover the entire piece with the grout, making sure to fill in all of the crevices. Let the grout sit for about 10 minutes. The warmer the temperature of the room, the faster the grout will set up.

Take a well wrung out sponge and wipe off some of the excess grout, exposing the stained glass pieces. Rinse out the sponge periodically.

Let the grout sit for 10 more minutes.

Using the sponge, continue to smooth out the grout and clean up the stained glass pieces.

As the grout starts to dry and is filmy, continue to smooth it out with the sponge or use a lint free cloth to clean up the stained glass pieces.

The grout is pretty forgiving. If needed, you can go back over places with excess grout and smooth it out with the sponge.

After the grout is complete, remove as much excess grout from the sides using a putty knife to make it easier to later apply the VentureTape.

Venture Tape

1. Cut VentureTape
Once the grout is completely dry and the sides are clean, cut theVentureTape to the length needed to go completely around the mirror.

Cut the VentureTape down the middle.

1. Apply VentureTape
Starting at the bottom side of the plywood, apply the uncut side of the tape towards the front of the piece, covering up the plywood. Remove the backing as you work your way around the plywood. Once the tape is completely applied around the sides, fold down the excess tape on to the back of the plywood.

Attach Hanging Wire

1. Drill Holes
On the back side of the plywood about 1/3 of the way down on each side near the edge, drill a small hole for the D-rings. Drill gently to avoid cracking the grout.

2. Attach D-rings
Screw the D-rings into the drilled holes with the rings facing inward.

3. Add Hanging Wire
Take braided framing wire and attach to each of the D-rings. Make the wire tight enough so it doesn't go above the mirror and can be used for hanging.

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