Look at My Mosaic Light Switch Cover

LOOK AT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You love it, right? I LOVE it. I am IN love with it.

I didn't make it, obviously. Syd helped me pick it out at a local craft fair from the bits&pieces booth. Its creator doesn't have an online presence, which is a bummer, because now I kind of feel like every one of my light switches should also be a mosaic?

These are the kinds of things that I love to buy at craft fairs. I can do most sewing projects, can figure out how to hack or DIY a lot of things myself, but pieces like these, pieces in which the crafter's artistry and expertise and 10,000x10,000 hours practicing her craft shine through, well, those are the pieces that I buy.

And then I start figuring that craft out for myself!

Well, not so much "figuring out" as playing with, I suppose--the kids and I have explored mosaic-making a fair amount, and while our pieces don't attain the artistry of my beautiful light switch cover, of course, mosaic-making is actually quite an accessible craft. Here are some of the mosaics that we've done:

colored bean mosaics in a clear CD case

This is a nice way to practice mosaic-making without having to worry about grout. If you'd like a larger color range, you can work with buttons instead.

sailor's valentine

Here's another one where you don't have to worry about grout, but using the little shells allows the mosaic to be more detailed and more of a test for one's fine motor skills.

concrete poured mosaic

This project gives you the finished look of a mosaic, but again without having to grout around tiles. Since you pour the concrete and then set the tiles, however, it is time sensitive, so I suggest first laying out the mosaic on a template, then simply transferring it, piece by piece, to the poured concrete in its mold.

mosaic tile coaster

Finally, here's a REAL mosaic project, grout and all! You can actually use any upcycled tile or sheet of wood as a base--our local Restore has LOADS of random tiles to be had on the cheap.

I have visions of more involved mosaic projects, but those are pretty far back on my to-do list. Right now I'm focused on finishing up our World War 2 study and helping the older kid master all of her spelling bee words, and the kids are focused on Geomags and Perler beads. Our December dance card is full!

Painted Ceramic Tile Coasters

For Christmas, my mother gave me a set of markers to use on ceramics. Combined with a bunch of white ceramic tiles that I bought back in the spring as a possible craft project for Sydney's rainbow birthday party, the girls and I had a little ceramics painting party of our own:

 
I didn't know what to expect from the project, as I'd never used ceramics markers before and didn't recognize the name-brand of these particular markers, but they turned out to be pretty fabulous. The colors are really bright, and although the ink doesn't run or bleed, it seems to be liquid enough that it smooths out after it's drawn on and looks more like paint than marker:

After our paint party, I let the tiles dry overnight, then I baked them as recommnended in a 150 degree oven for 40 minutes. The result is a pretty nifty set of coasters that, although not particularly necessary on any of our battered furniture, adds just that much more ambience to our evening incense:

Decoupage on ceramic tiles is what I'm really curious about--guaranteed that it requires a much more sturdy varnish than mere heat-setting, but I'm pleased that I'll have these ceramics markers to add to my decoupage project, once I do figure out how to do it.