I am trying to incorporate as many crafts as I can into this project. I would like it to be a ‘box full of goodies’ if you like, where people can reach in, grab and admire a craft piece and feel completely inspired to try it themselves.
So I had a good look in my ‘oddments’
box to see what random things I have collected over the years and what I could
use in my mini shed – as long as the scale fits of course.
I found a Mosaic Coaster kit. Now, I do have the proper equipment and other
bits to have done a ‘proper’ mosaic, but this kit measured up to be the ideal
scale to make a little table out of. I
had also found a large wooden bobbin which I could use to make the perfect
pedestal stand for the table.
So I got to work.
Let me tell you right from the off
that this ‘kit’ was awful! I am ashamed
to say I have bought these for people in the past too, having once working in
the large craft store that sells them. The
contents are ok, the instructions are passable – but the mosaic picture on the
front clearly shows that some of the tiles have been cut to make smaller
pieces. There is no tool to do this and it doesn’t even tell you how to do it
safely even if you have your own tools. The
kit would be fine if the design only used full tiles – easy to sort out I would
think!
Anyway, I couldn’t be bothered to
go and dig all my proper equipment out of the shed just to cut a few plastic
tiles, and wasn’t really sure my ceramic tile nipper would cut tiny plastic
tiles anyway, so I just fudged the design.
** Fudged is a word used by crafters to make something work when it obviously isn’t working. I use it a lot.
Anyway, design fudged and ready to
grout. Again, rubbish instructions –
simple 2:1 powder to water. Which is all
very well and good, but first you must find something to measure the powder
with. I used a teaspoon. Luckily, I know
what kind of consistency of grout works so just added enough water to get me
there. People that don’t might struggle a bit.
And here comes the messy bit smudging
that grout right in between the tiles. I like this bit. It has a certain therapeutic feel about
it. Maybe gloves would be a good idea,
but I don’t mind the feel of the grout.
You
then wait for a few hours until it is dry and wipe off the excess grout with a slightly
damp sponge. This is when the picture
comes to life and looks really good.
I
had also wiped the grout around the edge of the coaster to give it a more
finished look.
Then
I stuck the wooden bobbin on the bottom and my table was complete 😊
Just
need a little cup of tea to go on it now
😊
