Thrifty Find - Garden Stones

I ran into my sister's in law sister at Home Depot some time ago. We got to chatting about yard work and such and she mentioned that she had these "things" in her yard that were really heavy, flat and kind of round but she thought they were ugly and wanted to get rid of them. I assumed they were garden stones. Whatever they were, they were free so I told her I would be happy to take them off of her hands. That weekend I sent my son over to her house to pick them up and this is what he brought back.

She was right about the ugly part. I have to admit I have never seen anything like them and I'm not sure what to do with them. I'm thinking either a mosaic, or paint them bright colors. I even thought about painting them with glow in the dark paint. I'm planning on doing some landscaping this year and will use them somehow but am not am not sure exactly where. 

I love mosaics so I am thinking about going this route. Using a single tile color for each one that follows the shape of the stepping stone is a thought. It would be easy to do and be a little more fun than just paint. I would love to get some ideas because I am stumped. 

If anyone has an idea of what I can do with them I would love to hear it. Please help.

Cheers!!

Barbara

Mosaic Pot 2

I wrote last week about my first mosaic pot. The second pot I made is a little different. Just as before I began by sealing the pot with a mixture of white glue and water. After drying I used high gloss black paint around the rim making sure to also paint the inside of the rim because you will see the inside of the pot. Next I smashed bright red ceramic tile for the body of the pot and used small white pebbles as an accent. I also added a row of black tile across the bottom and the top underneath the rim. As with the first pot I used construction adhesive for outdoor projects to glue the pieces because it's very secure. 

Next wearing a rubber glove I used sanded grout to fill in all the spaces. I used a sponge to spread the grout all around the pot and began to wipe down the tile making sure to rinse out the sponge several times.  Remember, do not pour the dirty water down the drain because you will damage your pipes. You will need to pour it outside. I followed with a damp cloth to clean off the tile.  

Once the grout dried I cleaned any residue off the tiles and as much as I could off the pebbles. The next day after the grout was completely dried  I touched up the rim of the pot with high gloss black paint. I finished by adding sealer to the grout lines and  spray paint sealer along the rim.

Here is the pot after cleaning up the grout and touching up the paint. 

I had fun making the pots but now it's time to start another mosaic project. Since summer is almost over I may turn my sites to something different. 

Mosaic Pot 1

I am pretty much into all things creative. One of my recent interests is mosaics. I don't know when or why I became interested in mosaics but I think it was because of how it related to my love of quilts. A lot of the same principles of quilting can be found with mosaics. In designing a mosaic you have to choose a medium such as glass tile, broken dishes, ceramics or less common materials like mirror or wood. You have to decide how to lay it out, how to construct or adhere it, what colors to use, how big to make it and what you will use it for. These are all considerations used when making a quilt. What I like most about mosaics is that precision isn't necessary unless you want it to be. I personally prefer the randomness of most mosaics and the fact that they are not always perfect which makes them one of a kind. 

I began making mosaic stepping stones which I have scattered throughout the yard. The daisies were made using a combination of golden broken dishes for the background, glass mosaic tile for the stems and leaves, white ceramic wall tile for the petals and glass pebbles for the center. The second stepping stone was white ceramic and colored mosaic wall tile. 

                                         

 The Blue stepping stone was made out of broken dishes and blue ceramic wall tile.

The last two were made with stained glass mosaic tile using classic Nine Patch and Trip Around the World quilt patterns.  

Lately I've had a thing for mosaic flower pots. The fist few I made were horrible and were promptly tossed into the trash but I have since improved. Unfortunately the photos I have showing how I pieced them together are missing so I will have to describe it. 

Before I started I painted the rim with two coats of green acrylic paint. On the inside of the pot I created a sealer by mixing white glue with a little water. There are all kinds of sealers on the market you can use but glue and water should work fine.  I like to have a top and a bottom and fill in the middle so I added a row of black cermaic tile along the bottom and underneath the rim. Next I drew the flowers on the pot in random order and size so that I would have a guide for placing the tiles. I chose to make the first pot out of 4 x 4  glazed ceramic wall tile. Using a floor tile cutter I cut strips of white and beige tile and then cut them in random lengths.  Next I nipped the tiles to taper it on one end and round it on the other. I used glass pebbles to make the center of the flowers. Next I glued down the petals and then filled in with dark and light blue broken tiles. I will share with you what I learned about breaking tile another day. I prefer to use construction adhesive made especially for out door projects because once it dries the tile won't budge. Once tile has set for a day I filled in the spaces with premixed grout. First tip: If you are going to do a lot of pots it's worth it to mix your own. The premixed is more expensive and one small tub will only grout about three large pots. 

Here is a picture of the pot before adding the grout.

Wearing rubber gloves to protect my hands I grabbed a handful of grout and spread it all over the pot working the grout into all the crevices.

Next I took a wet sponge and wiped all round the pot rinsing the sponge often. Second tip: I used sanded grout but next time I will try un-sanded. The sanded is messier and harder to clean. 

After the grout has dried I used a damp towel and continued to wipe the grout off the tiles. Last tip: DO NOT POUR THE USED WATER DOWN THE DRAIN. You Have to pour it outside because you will damage your pipes.

Once the grout has set and cured for a couple of days I used grout sealer to seal it and used spray paint sealer to protect the painted rim.

That's all there is to it. This is the first mosaic pot I made (successfully) and I am quite proud of it. I am in the middle of another which I will show once finished. 

Pot number two coming soon.