~Fun & Funky Garden Art Series ~ Mosaic Project "Colors of the Rainbow"

~Fun & Funky Garden Art Series ~ Mosaic Project

 "Colors of the Rainbow"

Colored glass holds all the colors of the rainbow as it shines and shimmers in the sunlight. Imagine capturing all of that and filling your garden with  the colors in the prism..The idea for this project came because we had a table top type of fire pit  where all the tiles had fallen off over the years. I have always loved having fires in the fire pit, it is such a great way to share the evening with family and friends.. making smores and enjoying each other's company. As you all must know by now... my garden areas are more like "living areas" and I love to fill then with "pretties" which have been found , re-purposed and now re- loved!

 So this fun project began with purchasing supplies such as - glass beads/ shapes, tiles,broken pieces of glass regular beads, ceramic beads etc, glue for setting the glass beads/tiles/ceramics and un sanded grout.

  

~Supply List~

*Several pounds of Glass rounds/glass pieces/ceramic beads/shapes ( depending on the size of your project)

* 4 oz Tube WeldBond Glue for setting the items into place ( I have found this glue, which is waterproof,non toxic and a non irritant to be a superior product to use for this project!!)

~Steps~

1)Lightly sand the area to be designed so it is smooth.

2) Using a small glob of glue  cover the bottom of the glass beads then place glass where you want to start designing. 

3) Continue placing the glued glass pieces on the project until you have finished the project.

4) When fully dry ( my project took several days to completely dry and you know when it is fully dried when the white color in the glue turns to clear)

5) To finish your piece, the final step is to then grout all the glass pieces in place, filling in all the spaces around the glass.( Follow directions for you particular grout product) I chose un sanded  grout as to not scratch the glass ( grout comes in sanded and un sanded and  also assorted colors... I will just use a basic beige)

Soooooo I now was on a roll and decided to tackle this unsightly large wooden spool that was left at the house when we moved in. Someone previously had decided that 1,000 nails might be a good addition to the spool so my first task was taking out all the old bent nails. It was even sitting there to be burned in a big bon fire soon because it did have some issues..but after i did the fire pit I thought how beautiful it would look to be turned into a table next to the hammock and finished in glass beads!

Here is the sad looking spool

I have begun with a free flow design

I am now filling in the empty spaces and still wanting to keep the" movement"

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It was fun to add some interesting items to it as well.. keeping the eye busy and moving!

I must admit I ended up making alot more trips to the store than I had wanted to! First I bought out the last 2 tubes of WeldBond at Michael's then had to make a trip to Joanne's  several days later when I ran out of glue since I bought the last couple of tubes at Michael 's! Come to find out Joanne's really doesn't carry mosaic supplies but did have a tube of glue on clearance that I was able to use. I also went to get more glass beads at the dollar store ( Trust me... for all that you will need, go to the dollar store to save you money!!) So last night I went to Micheal's to see if they had gotten in anymore WeldBond and they did, but it was in smaller tubes in another area. So I bought 2 of those and today thought I would finish it off.... well guess what.. I now have ran out of the glass beads!!!! So first thing tomorrow I will hit the dollar Store,get some more and finish up that beauty! Finished pictures of both ( the fire pit needs to still be grouted but I was going to do them both together)  will be posted next week!!! So fill your garden area with rainbows of color with glass mosaic pieces!! Have fun and enjoy!!

In Love & Light

Sherri