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Glass Gems and Marbles

Glass gem and toy glass marbles are not certified by their manufacturers as mosaic tile or building material, yet it is possible to see some older mixed-media mosaic in houses and churches, particularly in Mexico, where marbles and objects of recycled glass have been used. These materials seem to endure quite well, certainly much better than most types of ceramic tile, which can be highly susceptible to freeze-cracking.

Glass Gems

Glass gem marbles have a variety of names: glass globs, flat marbles, craft marbles, accent marbles, mosaic marbles or glass gems. All of these terms refer to a glass gem that is flat on the back side for gluing to surfaces. The shape of the gem is like an enlarged bead of water.

Glass Gem Banner — Glass gems have flat backs for easy gluing.

Glass gem marbles are great for mosaic mirrors, picture frames, backsplashes and mosaic stepping stones, but they also work well as accents in mosaic images. You can also use these gems successfully in mosaic art other than “found-object” collage pieces. For example, this goldfish mosaic makes use of tumbled cobalt gems for the background. The rest of the mosaic was made with iridescent glass.

While the centers of the gems are slightly thicker than glass mosaic tile, the edges curve downward, allowing the gems to provide a 3-D texture to the surface without sticking out too far or too abruptly.

Toy Glass Marbles

Toy Glass Marbles of the traditional spherical type can also be used in mixed-media mosaic. However, the rounded bottoms mean that marbles make it more difficult to glue them to flat surfaces alongside tile which is much thinner. Thus, toy marbles are best used by pressing into concrete in stepping stone molds or pressing into a special type of sticky concrete known as thinset bonding mortar.

Toy marbles can be glued to a flat surface, but it is best to use a thick and tarry adhesive like Liquid Nails brand construction adhesive or use thinset. Both materials are good at holding the rounded bottoms of the spherical marbles, but thinset has an additional advantage: Thinset is concrete and can be applied extra thickly under thin tile to make up for the differences in height when thin tile is used alongside more rounded materials like glass marbles and gemstones.

Safety and Maintenance

Most types of glass, including glass gems and marbles, can produce extremely sharp edges when chipped or flaked, but so can many sorts of glazed ceramic tile, and all such damaged edges should be removed or smoothed with the fine side of a Ceramic and Marble File to prevent injury.

As always, you would file broken tile when wet, misting as needed, and collect the dust in wet bag for disposal. Keeping the dust wet is an easy was to make sure it stays out of the air, and you shouldn’t risk breathing construction dusts of any type, especially glass dust.

Cheap Mosaic Tile

3/4" Vitreous Glass — 3/4″ Vitreous Glass

3/8" Vitreous Glass Mosaic Tiles — 3/8″ Vitreous Glass

12mm Recycled Glass Tile — 12mm Recycled

8mm Recycled Glass Mosaic Tile — 8mm Recycled

Mosaic tile and improvised mosaic tile can be obtained cheaply from various sources: returns to building material stores, construction dumpsters and home renovations, old dinnerware from thrift stores and garage sales, lawn and garden stores (for rounded river pebbles and crushed stone), bottles from recycling centers, etc. Rock tumblers are useful for processing some of this material, but some of it can be used as obtained (or with a little cutting). However, vitreous glass and recycled glass tile can actually be more affordable, especially if you consider the time spent reclaiming and preparing material for use in a mosaic.

Baba Farid Ji mosaic portrait — This portrait by Harjeet Singh Sandhu was made with our inexpensive 3/4″ glass tiles.

Morjo 12mm Recycled Glass Tile — 12mm Morjo^TM is one of the most affordable brands of recycled glass tile available.

Mosaic Art Supply Salvage, Broken, and Reworked Assortment — Our Salvage Assortment is an affordable way to get a fantastic mix of material for use in mosaic projects.

We are excited to tell you about an affordable new line of 3/4" vitreous glass mosaic tile. With a rainbow of intense colors, these tiles will make a beautiful addition to any mosaic art project! — Morjo^TM Vitreous Tile is the most affordable vitreous tile available, and also comes in 3/8″ mini size tiles.

For molded glass mosaic tile, the best value is usually the 3/4″ vitreous glass tile, which is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy to cut and different brands can be used together in the same mosaic. This is a key point because artists often have to source from different brands to get all of the colors they need due to temporary shortages at a particular manufacturer. Morjo^TM Vitreous Tile is the most affordable vitreous tile available, and also comes in 3/8″ mini size tiles.

Another important point about vitreous glass tile is that it is NOT limited to beginners or craft projects. Much of the artwork featured on this website was created by professional artists using vitreous, including the naturalistic mosaic portraits done by Harjeet Singh Sandhu.

Lastly, glass mosaic tile is impervious to water, and therefore frost proof and suitable for outdoor use.

You can view many fantastic artworks made with vitreous glass tiles on our Mosaic Artists Gallery.

Frequently Asked Mosaic Questions — Mosaic Project FAQ

Using contact paper for mosaic — Using contact paper

Children’s Mosaic Craft Projects

We receive school, church and camp project questions every week, so we know how to make things easy and help you save money!

Project Ideas for Kids

The 3/8-inch vitreous tile is recommended when cutting is to be avoided, but keep in mind that the 3/4-inch size is cheaper and can easily be cut into quarters that are the same size as the 3/8-inch tile. For more ideas on how to source inexpensive materials, click here.

Mario Gamer Mosaic Art second view by Jason Oakley.

Many types of tile can be easily used to create fun and simple to design ‘pixel art’ style mosaics based on your own designs or even video game characters. Students can be instructed how to make their designs on graph paper in colored pencil before laying them out in tile using a grid. We carry grids in most common sizes to make the process painless!

Outdoor Mosaic Patio Table with bench seats by Naomi Haas.

Benches, tables and other outdoor furniture are popular group projects for kids. We have a ton of information on our blog about outdoor mosaic materials an methods. Keep in mind that the materials used for a mosaic which is to survive exposure to the elements aren’t the same as indoor mosaics. Review our guide on outdoor mosaic for details.

Coaster sized mosaics can be a simple and satisfying mosaic for all ages.

For smaller projects, coaster sized mosaic bases can be used to great effect! The designs can be very simple and freely executed with much satisfaction. In fact, this type of small project can be a fantastic, low stress introduction to mosaic for kids and adults alike.

Materials used in the projects on this page:

Tools & Kits

Supervision and Safety

All children should be given adequate adult supervision. Wear safety glasses with side shields when cutting glass or mixing grout.

While many forms of mosaic involve cutting glass with cutters, nippers or pistol-grip cutters – uncut tiles can be handled safely and used to build a satisfying mosaic without cutting. However, children should be instructed in sound handling practice, as even a molded tile can occasionally have a sharp edge.

Our line of 12mm Morjo tile is easy to handle with safe rounded edges.

It also comes in a full spectrum of colors as well as iridescent varieties.

Note that it is often easiest to grout the children’s mosaics for them outside the class or session for several reasons. First, the glue needs to dry a day or two before you grout. Also grouting is the messy and mildly hazardous part, and the focus of the children’s work should be the creation of their own unique design and gluing the tiles. Many instructors report having some of the older children help with some of the labor of grouting with great success, but all agree that having an entire class play with wet concrete is a bad idea, especially with young children. Always read manufacturer’s safety instructions on grout and glue. Keep in mind that even whole glass tile can be sharp due to occasional chips and breaks that occur with shipping and handling.

How to Save Money on Mosaic Projects

Grout

Grout can be purchased cheaply in large bags at building material stores. Our packages are small convenience packs for individual projects, and they require a shipping charge to get to you.

Mosaic Backers

A popular project for church and camp mosaics is a 6-inch x 6-inch mosaic trivet. The best backer for 6×6 trivets is 1/2-inch cabinet-grade plywood which comes pre-sanded. We sell plywood mosaic backers for small projects, but you can buy a sheet of plywood and skill saw to cut it much more cheaply than you could buy the expensive backers from one of the craft websites! Ask one of the parents or a friend if they could cut up the plywood. Someone probably already has a saw and a truck to pick up the plywood.

Glue

Instead of buying a separate convenience bottle of glue for each child, you should buy a jug of Weldbond glue and pour a little bit for each child in a styrofoam plate. They can use popsicle sticks to apply the glue.

Tile

Morjo^TM Vitreous 3/4″ Tile and Morjo^TM Vitreous 3/8″ Tile are our most affordable glass tiles. Read our guide on inexpensive sources of mosaic tile by clicking here.

Mosaic Kits

Mosaic project kits may at first seem like an easy solution, but most popular kits we’ve reviewed have poor quality materials (sometimes even plastic tiles!) in quantities that make them much more expensive than ordering individual materials would be. It’s much better to plan the project out and order all the materials at once, avoiding extra shipping charges. Furthermore, kits are usually marketed with eye catching ‘results’ that can leave a young mind disappointed and stifle their self expression. Joe has stated about craft kits in general, “The kits were about producing over-the-top results instead of experiencing a traditional art form in the way it had been experienced for generations. But even that statement does not adequately explain what was wrong. The kits were about PROMISING over-the-top results, but they were pretty weak in the delivery.”

How to Order Supplies as a School, Church, Camp or other Organization

We accept purchase orders! Read our Purchase Order instructions by clicking here.

Questions, Concerns & Project Advice

Still have unanswered questions about your project or how to order? We’re happy to help with any step of the project. Contact us via email by clicking here. We respond to e-mails faster than any other type of inquiry!

Illustrated Mosaic Instructions

How To Make A Mosaic

These instructions are for an indoor mosaic not subjected to excess moisture. The mosaic process is similar for outdoor mosaics (such as pools and fountains) but thinset mortar is used outdoors instead of Weldbond adhesive. For wet mosaics such as shower floors, you also need to use thinset. Thinset is a sticky concrete with polymers added for strength, adhesion and water resistance.

More information on outdoor mosaics, specialized topics and advanced mosaic methods can be found on our Outdoor Mosaic Guide.

Our FAQ page also contains additional mosaic instructions, tips on using thinset and answers to many specific mosaic questions. It is constantly being expanded and has solutions for many common mosaic problems. Also, here are some tips on how to avoid disasters while grouting.

For an indoor project not subjected to moisture, it is very simple:

1. Draw a simple “cartoon” (outline) on the mosaic surface. You can copy a mosaic pattern from a coloring book or your favorite pattern of china or fabric. See our blog article on creating easy mosaic art patterns from photos and images.

The Mosaic pattern is transferred ready for tiling. This is a dry indoor mosaic, and so the tile can be attached with Weldbond Adhesive. For outdoor and wet mosaics. aconcrete stepping stone or piece of flagstone could be used for a backer and the tiles mounted with thinset mortar.

2. Decide what size mosaic tiles are most appropriate for the level of detail in the design (don’t use 1″ tiles to make details that are 1/2″). Lay a few tiles down just to make sure the colors look right together.

It’s better to take a loose, creative approach to picking colors and textures for your mosaic – a variety of surfaces and color often delights the eye more than even fields of color. Have a look at our Mosaic Artists Gallery for inspiration!

3. Glue the tiles to the surface one at a time. We recommend Weldbond Adhesive. Make sure the gaps between the tiles are about 1/8 inch or less.

We’ve extensively tested Weldbond, and consider it the most practical adhesive for indoor mosaic projects.

For outdoor projects, other considerations are required. See our comprehensive guide to outdoor mosaic for more details.

Work In Progress Goldfish Mosaic by Joe Moorman — Work In Progress Goldfish Mosaic

4. After the glue cures for 24 hours, grout the mosaic with regular tile grout. Follow our comprehensive guide to grouting, “How To Grout Mosaic Art“.

For more complicated designs, you can lay the project up on fiberglass mesh (by gluing sparingly with Weldbond adhesive), or you can pick up the tiles with clear contact paper. In either case, the next step would be to spread glue or cement on the surface and press the sheet of mosaic onto the glue or cement.

We have even more information, advice and how-to’s on our Frequently Asked Mosaic Questions page.

Continue to wipe off the excess grout. — Grouting isn’t as agonizing as you might imagine – follow our step-by-step grouting instructions.

We carry everything you might need to make a mosaic:

See the Mosaic Tips below for more help with your mosaic.

Mosaic Tips from Our Resident Mosaic Artist

Start simple.
Make a small mosaic plaque before you mosaic a wall or floor. That way you can work out your materials and methods before the big job.
How can you draw a design? Simple drawings like those in a coloring book work best. The color and the details come when you add the tile and glass. I always sketch something on paper and then come home and draw a simple cartoon on my plywood or concrete board using a magic marker. If drawing is a sore spot, you can create mosaic patterns easily without drawing as well.
My first rule of grouts is to choose a contrasting color. If you use white grout with white tile or grey grout with grey tiles, then the tiles don’t stand out from the grout, and most of the detail of your design will be lost. When in doubt, black grout is usually the answer.
My personal second rule of grouts is that DARKER GROUTS ALMOST ALWAYS LOOK BETTER. I have almost always been disappointed when using plain white grout. White grout makes a nice mosaic look like a summer camp project! Try an off-white or light beige if you think you need a light color. Also remember that grouts are much darker while they are wet and get lighter as they cure.
Don’t know anything about glues, grouts or tiling? Your local hardware store or handyman is a mosaic expert even though they’ve never made one. (You might not know anyone who has made a mosaic, but you probably know someone who has tiled a bathroom or kitchen. The technical skills are very similar.)
Use a wheeled glass cutter to cut glass and smalti. Use a tile nipper to cut ceramic tiles, china and other dishes.
Always wear safety glasses when cutting tile or glass or mixing grout. (Grout is mildly caustic and has sand and grit in it.) Making a mosaic can be fun but you should always be careful.
Grout mosaics outside. It’s a messy process. Look at books on home improvement for basic techniques of grouting if you’re not sure. Keep grout damp as it cures and do not allow it to dry out rapidly, otherwise it will crumble. Remember, the grout is binding water internally in a chemical process as it cure. It is NOT drying.
Keep mosaic tiles and supplies out of reach of children. Use caution when handling the broken glass and ceramics.
Spend a little more time on your mosaic. Don’t rush and don’t think about what you want to make next. It can make a world of difference in your satisfaction.
Avoid plywood as a backer unless you can seal the edges and bottom. Wood materials absorb water over time and warp, and then grout and tiles pop off. You might not be trying to recreate a timeless Roman mosaic that will endure for centuries, but at least make something that will last 2 or 3 years. Use plywood at least 1/2″ thick inside and concrete or concrete board outside. Always use concrete or concrete board as the base of any mosaic that will be walked on. Concrete board can be purchased from building material stores. A common brand name is Wonderboard. For my indoor mosaics, I laminate 1/4″ Wonderboard to cabinet grade plywood backers.
The best all-around glue for making mosaics is Weldbond. It is a water-based adhesive that looks and handles just like plain white glue, yet it cures stronger than many of the smelly solvent-based glues. The manufacturer’s brochure calls it “the most versatile, non-toxic, non-flammable adhesive on the North American market.” I agree. It bonds to hundreds of different materials and is very water-resistant once it dries. It cleans up easy with soap and water.
If you make a mistake, don’t be afraid to pry some of the tiles off if you don’t like what you see. (Wear goggles or safety glasses with side shields.)
I always wait for a week or two before I grout a piece. That way I have a chance to change things before they are literally set in concrete.
Simple and crude can also be noble. It’s ok if your art has blemishes and mistakes. That’s what makes it interesting and keeps it from looking like it was made on an assembly line. Don’t try to make it a perfect reproduction of anything, and you’ll probably be much happier with the time spent and the results.
Avoid making copies of phony arts-n-crafts stuff. There’s way too much of that around. Make your mosaic YOUR way and it will be genuine art in the highest sense of the word.

Legal Disclaimer and Copyright Information

No warranty is implied by these instructions. Use at your own risk. Please wear goggles when cutting mosaic materials or mixing grout. Mosaic materials are often sharp. Keep out of reach of children. Do not overload patio tables with mosaic materials so that the table becomes unstable (top heavy). You should also make sure that the table frame can support the overall weight. Copyright 2009 J.E. Moorman. Please link to these instructions freely, but email us if you would like to reproduce them for classes, etc.

Mosaic Art Project Ideas

Ideas for small mosaic projects for beginners with examples

Mosaic Trivets and Mosaic Plaques

The best beginner’s project is a small trivet or plaque made on 1/2 inch plywood. I recommend cabinet-grade plywood which comes with a sanded finish. Many times you can get plenty of plywood in the scrap bin from a home remodeling job. Note that your backer doesn’t need to be perfectly square. Irregular triangles and rectangles and trapezoids work as well as squares. Remember to be “artistic” and “color outside the lines.”

If you desire to make a mosaic shape like a star or a cat or a sun, then 1/2 inch sanded plywood is still the best way to go. You can buy an entire sheet of plywood and a jigsaw to cut it with for not much more than what most craft websites charge for mosaic backers. Another advantage of cutting your own shape is that your project is more likely to look like YOUR art instead of some factory-made craft kit, which is all I can think of when I see the mosaic shapes or mosaic backers sold elsewhere.

The exposed edges of your plywood backer can be painted with a neutral color of acrylic paint or even latex house paint. You don’t always have to buy something special to make art, and you can often use what you happen to have on hand. In fact, using re-purposed materials usually adds an extra dimension of creativity to your project.

Displaying small mosaic plaques is simple: they can rest on a table as a coaster or trivet to hold hot plates, or they can be displayed on a small plate easel, such as people use to display fine china plates.

Mosaic Christmas ornament by Jim Hopton constructed on a 2.5″ Styrofoam ball using glass mosaic tile and antique china shards found along the shores of the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, PA. I recommend threading a wire loop all the way through the Styrofoam ball before mosaicing to make sure that the heavy mosaic ornament has something secure to tie the string to. Craft stores sell little hoops with spikes that stick into the Styrofoam less than an inch, but that would not hold a heavier ornament. Our mosaic ornament kit comes built ready to hold the weight of tile and grout.

Mosaic Mirror by Melanie Berry makes use of broken dinnerware and broken talavera tile from Mexico, which is a soft terracotta tile with a colorful glaze of primary colors in traditional patterns. Keep in mind that you can make your own mosaic mirrors from plywood and mirror stock. One sheet of 1/2-inch plywood is used as a backer, and a second of 1/4 inch has a whole cut out for the mirror and forms a frame around the mirror. If this seems like extra work compared to buying something ready made, then remember that making your own allows you to make it exactly the size and shape you want. Tip: you don’t have to own a jigsaw or cut it out yourself. You probably have a friend or a friend’s partner that can do that for you.

Butterfly Mosaic Vase by Sandra Schwartz was made on a thick glass vase. Sandra reports that she coated the vase with Weldbond and allowed that to dry before gluing on tile. This makes the work of gluing on tile much easier because a surface of dried glue is less likely to allow tile to slide compared to a slick glass surface. I would recommend scuffing the glass with coarse-grit sandpaper before applying the first coat of glue.

Mosaic Mirror by Sandra Schwartz is a mixed-media mosaic that uses glass gems, glass mosaic tile and broken dinnerware.

Elementile 8mm IRIDESCENT Tiles

5/16 inch (8mm) Iridescent Glass Mosaic Tiles by Elementile are iridized versions of the standard gloss-finish product, which we also sell. The iridescence is a surface finish created by firing metal oxides onto the surface of the glass, so it could be abraded over time by foot traffic. Note that the iridescence is deliberately mild instead of heavily applied so that the underlying colors are still visible. Like the regular 8mm, these are sold loose by the 1/4 pound (approximately 175+ pieces), which covers 0.14 square feet with a standard grout gap of 1/32 inch. Mounting grids are available. Made from recycled glass.

Elementile 8mm Iridescent Glass Mosaic Tiles

tile size: 5/16 inch (8mm)
thickness: 1/8 nominal (4mm)
sales unit: 1/4 pound (approximately 175+ pieces)
material: glass
variety: recycled
finish: iridescent
pigments: colorfast, UV resistant
durability: frost-proof, impervious to liquid
usage: suitable for indoor and outdoor use

Coverage

A 1/4 bag of 175 loose tiles will cover 0.14 sq ft. with a grout spacing of about 1/32 inch. To cover 1 square foot with a standard grout spacing of about 1/32 inch, you would need 1225 tiles or seven bags, but for large area coverage, order a little extra in case the tile is running incrementally thicker/heavier than normal, which could cause the piece count to run under 175. Use our tile estimator to calculate how much you need for your project.

Note that dry indoor mosaics do not have to be grouted (and thus you can simply mount the tiles tightly together), but outdoor and wet mosaics must have grout to prevent water from penetrating behind the tiles. The best way to ensure that the gaps between the tiles is to leave a 1/32-inch gap instead of pressing them tightly together, and this point seems counter intuitive to some people. Consider this: you can never mount tile so closely together that water couldn’t penetrate between, but you can put them so close that grout can’t get pressed into the gap sufficiently during the grouting process.

Compatibility

For rendering images, it is best to stick to standard gloss-finish or iridescent finish instead of mixing the two. For mixed media mosaics, a variety of finishes could be considered, but your mosaic might look better if you stuck to one or the other.

Cutting Elementile 8mm

This product cuts extremely well with the mosaic glass cutter that we sell. In fact, the homogeneous nature of pate de verre glass means that it cuts better than most types of glass tile and produces more useful pieces with fewer splinters and dust and waste.

Use in Mosaic Art

A set of tweezers can make working with these tiny tiles a lot less tedious. An 8mm Tile Mounting Grid is available for mounting designs one Mounting Paper or Tile Mounting Tape. For dry indoor mosaics, these tiles can be mounted with Weldbond Adhesive.

Elementile’s rich color palette make it a professional rendering tool that can be used for photo-realist portraiture and fine art mosaic. The colors available are more like the canonical hues of artist oil paint and less like the arbitrary mixed hues of most lines of architectural tile. The material cuts very cleanly into small pieces that can be used for micro-mosaic artwork.

How To Make Mosaics

For more advice on designing your mosaic project or cutting and grouting tile, please see our Mosaic Frequently Asked Questions page or our How To Mosaic blog or our Mosaic Information Guide.

; [product_table category=”elementile-iridescent-recycled-8mm” widths=”auto,auto,12,12,20″] ;

Visual Product Line Navigation Page

12mm ElementileLarge Elementile recycled glass tile 1/2 pound

8mm ElementileSmall Elementile recycled glass tile 1/4 pound

8mm Iridescent ElementileIridized small Elementile 1/4 pound

12mm C3 Recycled Glass1/4 pound or 49 sheet-mounted tiles

Metallic and Iridized C3C3 with metallic or iridescent coatings 1/4 pound

3/4″ Hakatai Tile3/4″ vitreous glass tiles 1 pound

3/4″ Kaleidoscope Tile3/4″ glass tiles on 25-tile sheets

3/4″ Aventurine MetallicAvent metallic glass tile 1 pound

3/4″ Aura Metallic3/4″ metallic tiles on sheets of 25 tiles

Kaleidoscope 3/4″ Iridescentiridized 3/4″ tile on sheets of 25

3/8″ Hakatai Minis3/8″ vitreous mini glass tiles 1/2 pound

3/8″ Kaleidoscope Minis3/8″ mini tiles on 81-tile sheets

3/8″ Avent Metallic Minismini metallic glass tile 1/2 pound

Fantastix 1/2″ Iridescent Tile15mm iridized glass tile 1/2 pound

7/8″ Pre-Cut Stained Glass Tile7/8″ tiles on sheets of 16

1″ Mirror Tile1″ mirror tiles on sheets of 25 or by the pound

Mosaic Tile Assortmentsassortments of different mosaic materials (various weights)

Marble Mosaic Tile 3/8 Inch1 pound of 10mm marble tesserae

Marble Mosaic Tile 9/16 Inch1 pound of 15mm marble tesserae

Lyric Unglazed Porcelain Tile 18.5mmLyric brand porcelain tile 1/2 pound or sheets of 75

American Made Stained Glass6″x6″ squares of stained glass made in the USA

Ceramic Letter Tile Sets5/8″ ceramic letters

Ceramic Number Tile Sets5/8″ ceramic numbers

Glass Penny Rounds1/2 pound of 12mm Glass Rounds

Large Penny Rounds1/2 pound of 20mm Glass Rounds

Polished Gemstones4oz of polished minerals

Rough Minerals1/2 pound of rough minerals and crystals

SmaltiNext-gen easy-to-cut mosaic glass in 1/4 pound units

Glass GemsMade in USA 1/2 pound

Italian Millefiorimillefiori micro-mosaic tesserae in 2oz units

Mosaic Tools, Grout, and Gluemosaic supplies, safety equipment, and tools

Stepping Stone Moldsmolds in various sizes

Mosaic Ornament Base

Mosaic base for a holiday ornament is made of the hard variety of expanded polystyrene that is used for fishing floats. The ornament base is spherical 3 inches in diameter, which makes it the size and shape of traditional Christmas tree ornament. The base comes with generic mounting hardware installed (designed to be repairable) and a 2mm beading cord loop which can be replaced with ribbon if desired. Note that the ornament hangs at an angle so that it resembles the earth tilted on its axis (hint). The ornament base hangs at a slight angle because the loop wraps the shaft of a 3-inch decking screw instead of a shallow eye screw like so many ornaments doomed to fail in a way difficult to repair. Our 3-inch screw’s corrosion-resistant coating also allows glue to bond to it better than bare steel, so the same white PVA adhesive Weldbond used to attach the tiles could be used to reinsert the mounting screw if it ever pulled out.

Product Specifications

1x hard expanded polystyrene sphere 3-inch
1x 3-inch deck screw #9 with corrosion resistant-coating
4x stainless steel washers #8
approximately 4 inch loop of 2mm beading cord

Instructions For Using the Mosaic Ornament Base

There are three important tips for making a mosaic on the polystyrene sphere:

Make sure you paint the sphere with adhesive and allow it to dry a few hours before you attempt to glue tile to it. The sphere by itself is so smooth, than any tile stuck to it tends to slide downhill. A layer of dried glue is much more tacky and will help prevent tiles from sliding. You can use your fingertip to paint on the glue.
Lay your ornament on an old folded up towel as you work on it to keep it from rolling over. A coffee mug can also be used. Work on the part of the sphere facing up, allow the area to partially dry and then rotate the sphere slightly to work on adjacent areas.
Put the mosaic ornament near a central heat vent or AC vent to speed drying, but not too close to fireplaces and wood stoves and places that get too hot.

Here is a step-by-step procedure for putting a mosaic on the ornament:

Hang the mosaic over some old newspapers or place where glue can drip.
Use your fingertips or a small brush to paint the sphere with a white PVA such as Weldbond adhesive.
Allow the glue to dry for at least several hours. Hang the ornament near AC vents and central heat vents to speed the drying.
Place the sphere on its side on an old folded up towel or on top of a coffee mug to work on it.
Glue mosaic tile to the part of the sphere facing up, taking care not to work to far down the sloping sides because the tile will slide.
Allow the glue to partially dry and then rotate the sphere slightly to one side so that an adjacent bare patch is now facing up.
Continue tiling and rotating the sphere as needed until it is covered. Take care not to rotate the sphere prematurely and cause tile to shift while the glue is still soft. Take advantage of vents and warm locations to speed the process.
Allow the fully tiled mosaic ornament to dry overnight or longer if needed before grouting. If the glue isn’t fully dry, then wet grout could cause tiles to pop off.
Grout the mosaic with gloved hands over a plastic basin such as an old dish pan.
Haze the grout the next day by burnishing with a cloth until all tile is free of grout residue.
Do not over tighten the mounting screw. Hand tighten only.
If the screw becomes loose or pulls out, squirt a white PVA adhesive such as Weldbond into the hole and reinsert.

Which Tile Works Best For The Ornament?

Our stone is too thick and heavy. Glass tile works best, preferably stained glass, Elementile, and the 3/8-inch mini tiles. The 3/4 inch tile can be used as well, but it would need to be cut to fit to the curvature of the 3-inch sphere. Keep in mind that if you use cut tile, especially stained glass, then take the time to smooth any sharp edges before gluing on the tile. You can use a marble file or a rubbing stone such as we sell, or you can use a piece of stone as I did for years and just rub the edge on that.

How Much Tile Do I Need For A Mosaic Ornament?

The surface area of the sphere is about 0.2 square feet. That means you should be able to tile an ornament with one of our 6×6 sheets of stained glass, which are approximately 0.25 square feet. However, you will have to be careful and not generate too much waste as cutting scrap (slivers). We recommend keeping the grout gap small (1/16 inch or less). The following numbers are based on a grout gap of 1/16 inch, but you might need slightly more of the 3/4-inch tile because that will need to be cut up:

8mm tiles: 255
12mm tiles: 106
3/8 inch tiles: 155
3/4 inch tiles: 46

How To Make Mosaic Art

For more advice on designing your mosaic project or mounting, cutting, and grouting tile, please see our page of Mosaic Frequently Asked Questions or our Mosaic Information Guide, which lists instructional pages described by topic. We also post new articles about making mosaics at our How to Mosaic Blog.

Mosaic Coaster Base Circular Round

Circular Mosaic Coaster Base is made from cherry hardwood right here in the USA. The circular base is 4 inches in diameter and 3/16 inches thick. They are cut out with a laser, so the sides have a natural burnt wood color that could be lacquered. Note that the wood is not recessed to form a border for your mosaic. Instead, your mosaic should extend to the edge of the coaster so that the finished coaster looks like a fragment of an ancient mosaic. This is easiest to do when you use tile without a heavy embossed pattern on the underside, and for this reason, we recommend the 12mm Elementile Recycled Glass Mosaic Tile for use with the coasters.

Weldbond adhesive or another high quality PVA glue is recommended for attaching tiles to the coaster base, and there are several options for grouting your mosaic coaster. You can press the tiles closely together instead of leaving a gap, but that requires much more time and effort than leaving an irregular gap and then grouting the mosaic. With an irregular grout gap of 1/16 inch or less, you can use almost every piece of tile you cut because it does not have to be exact. You can also use regular sanded grout to grout it.

Mosaic Art Projects Using Coaster Bases

Product Specifications

1 piece hardwood cherry circular coaster base.
wood pattern is natural and varies by piece.
diameter: 4 inches.
thickness: 3/16 inches.
laser cut edges (natural burnt wood finish).
unvarnished, unlacquered.
made in America
Removable paper tape protects the best face of the coaster.
The reverse side of the coaster may have occasional singes from the cutting laser, but these are superficial and can be covered by mosaic.

Compatibility

Any type of glass mosaic tile could be used with these, but there is no border on the coaster, so your mosaic will go all the way to the edge. If you use a type of glass tile that has coarse embossing or bevels on the underside, then these might look odd at the edge of the mosaic. It is also more difficult to cut a tile into small pieces if the bottom has an embossed pattern. For these reasons, the coasters are best covered with stained glass or the 8mm and 12mm sizes of recycled glass mosaic tile by Elementile. We prefer Elementile to stained glass because stained glass tends to form sharper edges when cut. Whatever tile you decide to use, make sure you file off any sharp edges at the sides of the mosaic using a rough stone or marble file.

Instructions For Using The Coaster Bases For Detailed Mosaic Art

The coaster bases can be used any way you want, including simple projects for children with tiles glued randomly with variable grout spacing, and these make great first-time projects because they are small and do not require as much time and material. However, it is possible to create a more sophisticated mosaic design on the coaster using these instructions. Due to the limited space provided by the coaster, one of the most important steps is making sure you can cut tile small enough to render the smallest detail of your design and modifying your design if necessary:

Find a design or picture. Google Images is a great source of photos, images, patterns, models to draw from.
Draw a simple cartoon outline of your design.
Try cutting up some tile and arranging it on the cartoon to see how it looks.
Pay special attention to the smallest detail in your design.
If it is not possible to cut tile that small, or the pieces seem too tedious to work with, then simplify your design.
Note that when you start using glue, it will be easier to arrange small pieces because they will not move around as unexpectedly. Tweezers also help.
Once you have you have verified that your design is not too detailed to be rendered in tile, then sketch the cartoon on the coaster in pencil.
You can darken your pencil sketch with a Sharpie brand marker so that glue does not rub it off once you start working.
Wipe Weldbond glue over the face of the coaster and allow to dry to seal the wood. Use a very thin coat to avoid warping the coaster from the moisture in the glue! Remember, the reason you are sealing the coaster in the first place is to avoid warping it later when you use lots of glue for the tiles. Use two light coasts and allow to dry thoroughly between coats.
Start tiling your design from the center and working to the edges.
Leaving an irregular grout gap of 1/16 inch or less is much easier than fitting the tile tightly together.
At the edge of the coaster, cut the tile so that it fits flush with the edge. You can place a tile on the coaster, mark where it should be cut with a Sharpie marker before gluing and then make the cut.
Use the fine side of a marble file or a piece of rough stone to rub the edge of the cut tile so that the edge is not as sharp.
After the glue has dried (preferably for 48+ hours) grout your mosaic with sanded grout.
We recommend sealing the edges and bottoms of the coasters to protect from spills and condensation that could split or warp the wood.
Deft Clear Wood finish in a spray can is sold by Home Depot and can be used for this.

How Much Tile Do I Need For The Coaster Base?

The top surface of a 4-inch circular coaster base has only 12.6 square inches (0.09 square feet) in area. This means you could cover it with 45 to 60 of the 12mm Elementile or 90 to 130 of the 8mm Elementile depending on how you cut and space the tile. In either case, one bag of tile would be more than enough to cover the coaster. However, you will want to order more than that to account for the cutting waste, possibly twice as much if you are fitting the tile exactly with no grout gap.

How To Make Mosaic Art

Mosaic Coaster Base Square

Square Mosaic Coaster Base is made from cherry hardwood right here in the USA. The square base is 4 inches wide and 3/16 inches thick. They are cut out with a laser, so the sides have a natural burnt wood color that could be lacquered. Note that the wood is not recessed to form a border for your mosaic. Instead, your mosaic should extend to the edge of the coaster so that the finished coaster looks like a fragment of an ancient mosaic. This is easiest to do when you use tile without a heavy embossed pattern on the underside, and for this reason, we recommend the 12mm Elementile Recycled Glass Mosaic Tile for use with the coasters.

Mosaic Art Projects Using Coaster Bases

Product Specifications

1 piece hardwood cherry square coaster base.
wood pattern is natural and varies by piece.
width: 4 inches.
thickness: 3/16 inches.
laser cut edges (natural burnt wood finish).
unvarnished, unlacquered.
made in America
Removable paper tape protects the best face of the coaster.
The reverse side of the coaster may have occasional singes from the cutting laser, but these are superficial and can be covered by mosaic.

Compatibility

Instructions For Using The Coaster Bases For Detailed Mosaic Art

Find a design or picture. Google Images is a great source of photos, images, patterns, models to draw from.
Draw a simple cartoon outline of your design.
Try cutting up some tile and arranging it on the cartoon to see how it looks.
Pay special attention to the smallest detail in your design.
If it is not possible to cut tile that small, or the pieces seem too tedious to work with, then simplify your design.
Note that when you start using glue, it will be easier to arrange small pieces because they will not move around as unexpectedly. Tweezers also help.
Once you have you have verified that your design is not too detailed to be rendered in tile, then sketch the cartoon on the coaster in pencil.
You can darken your pencil sketch with a Sharpie brand marker so that glue does not rub it off once you start working.
Wipe Weldbond glue over the face of the coaster and allow to dry to seal the wood. Use a very thin coat to avoid warping the coaster from the moisture in the glue! Remember, the reason you are sealing the coaster in the first place is to avoid warping it later when you use lots of glue for the tiles. Use two light coasts and allow to dry thoroughly between coats.
Start tiling your design from the center and working to the edges.
Leaving an irregular grout gap of 1/16 inch or less is much easier than fitting the tile tightly together.
At the edge of the coaster, cut the tile so that it fits flush with the edge. You can place a tile on the coaster, mark where it should be cut with a Sharpie marker before gluing and then make the cut.
Use the fine side of a marble file or a piece of rough stone to rub the edge of the cut tile so that the edge is not as sharp.
After the glue has dried (preferably for 48+ hours) grout your mosaic with sanded grout.
We recommend sealing the edges and bottoms of the coasters to protect from spills and condensation that could split or warp the wood.
Deft Clear Wood finish in a spray can is sold by Home Depot and can be used for this.

How Much Tile Do I Need For The Coaster Base?

The top surface of a 4-inch square coaster base has only 16 square inches (0.1 square feet) in area. This means you could cover it with 56 to 72 of the 12mm Elementile or 113 to 162 of the 8mm Elementile depending on how you cut and space the tile. In either case, one bag of tile would be more than enough to cover the coaster. However, you will want to order more than that to account for the cutting waste, possibly twice as much if you are fitting the tile exactly with no grout gap.