Posts tagged ‘tile mosaic’

Or, Part 2 of “Green Up Your Garden Decor”.

Okay! Did you have a great 24 hours?? I did here in my desert paradise. Are you ready to grout? It’s messy, so lay out a bunch of newspaper outside somewhere. Make sure you have gloves if you’re using colored grout; it stains. You can use any ol’ latex or neoprene gloves, but I like my purple ones.

You’re going to want to have a large container of water, as opposed to running your hose. (When you’re all done make sure to dump the water on a thirsty tree, okay?) A couple of sponges. See the big one with the black rubber on one side? That is a sponge specifically for grouting, but it’s not really necessary for a small project like this.

I like the latex grout for small projects and for garden art. It holds up well outside. Sanded grout is okay, if it’s all you’ve got. After you do a few projects, you’ll find your own way with it. It’s a bit rough to gauge how much you’ll need, so start with a small amount. You can always mix a little more as needed (I did for this project. The initial mix wasn’t quite enough).

Make a little well in the center of your grout. Make it about a quarter to a third of the volume of the dry mix.

Add water a little at a time. It’s much easier to mix in additional water if it needs more than it is to add the dry. Mix well, as the water is absorbed into the lumps it will get wetter than you think. Also it always seems to get lumpier and require a lot more mixing when you have to add more dry. Also when that happens you always seem to end up with more than you can use. We hate waste!

I think this photo shows the consistency pretty well. It’s about the consistency of cake frosting or maybe a little thicker than custard, (but not as smooth, of course!)

You can scoop up some grout on a sponge and begin pressing it in and on your pot, but it’s a little awkward on something this small, so I usually just use my hands. Press the grout firmly and make sure to fully fill all the spaces. Press down and toward the center of the individual tiles so that the grout goes underneath them a bit, too.

After you have the tile fully covered, use the foam “brush” or a small sponge to smooth and push the grout in some more.

 
Use the sponge brush to remove some of the excess grout, too.
 

Before you begin to wipe, wring the large sponge out very well! Wipe, rinse, wring; repeat. You don’t want to use too much water, it will just wash the grout out from between the spaces.

If you are using sanded grout, too much water will also make your grout grainy looking and will wash out the color and make it cloudy looking. Too much water (or too sloppy of a consistency) can make your grout crack as it dries. Bad news! Get it reasonably clean, but don’t worry about leaving a haze of color on the surface of the tiles. It will wipe off easily when the grout is dry. Focus more on making your grout lines smooth and consistent, especially along the edges.

How cool is that?! The grout will take about 24 hours to dry. Don’t sit the piece in the sun, it will dry too fast. If you have tiled something that is in the sun already; some piece of permanent or too heavy to move yard art, drape a cloth over it and mist it with a spray bottle periodically to allow the grout to dry slowly and evenly and to prevent cracking. When the grout is fully dry, buff it with a soft cloth to remove the haze and any excess grout on the surface of the tiles, then seal your tile and grout with any tile and grout sealant.

See? Who needs “new” stuff? Upcycle your old stuff into new art that is perfectly your style! Check back in with me here in Thorne’s World for more recycled art How-Tos. Coming up soon: Yard art Mosaic Bowling Balls (scroll down to #6). You can also see some of my tile mosaic and broken tile mosaic about halfway down this page of things that make me happy!

Back to Part 1: Green Up Your Garden Decor Questions in comments are welcome. I’ll try my best to answer and advise. I’d love to see your creative projects, too, so leave me a link!

Peace, out!

13 Recycled Things to Use in Art Mosaics

1) Old Tile, Pool Tile, and Mini Tile

2) China, dinnerware and pottery

3) Glass and Tumbled Glass

4) Marbles

5) Glass Globs

6) Broken Mirror

7) Costume Jewelry

8) Beads n Baubles

9) Buttons

10) Bottle Caps

11) Rusty Hardware

12) Old Silverware

13) Stones, Shells and Bones

(Okay, so these are natural items that one doesn’t think of as “recycled”, but there are tons of junk tourist items and mass produced “souvenirs” covered in stones and shells that can be reused. You know even when they’re atrocious you hate throwing them away!)

That’s my TT!

Visit Thursday Thirteen Hub for more great lists. Thanks for stopping by! I’m off to visit now!

Peace, out.

Buahahaha!
Okay, it’s true. I’m starting to come back to who I am. I know at least a few of you wondered, and some of you might even have known, (We won’t mention any names, BILLIE!! Hee hee) that sooner or later Thorne would, if not “heal”, then at least “heal over”, and it would only be a matter of time before I was up to my old mischief and mayhem around the blogosphere.

It’s true, I do indeed feel a snark coming on.  Well, I may have already started a bit of shit (just a bit of the old Thornieshness coming out), but I’m not sure.  The thing is, it’s still Only the Good Friday, and I am committed to keeping to its precepts of optimism and snarklessness. (And besides, my comments are still in moderation, which makes it difficult to share with you all).

Sometimes it’s lonely being a night-owlish blogger.  Just when I’m feeling feisty and like getting into a lil dialogue ya’ll are… I dunno.  Sleeping?  Fucking?  Watching TV? Prolly.

Muahahaha.

So I decided to divert myself with a bit of fun and I grabbed my camera and ran around the house taking pics of a few things that make me happy to share with you all, (In keeping with the OtGF concept).

Getting Desperate Healthy Parrot Soak

Okay.  This is a pretty high one on the Makes Thorne Happy List

Reasonably healthy food for my parrots when I am desperately broke.  Some people might say I spoil my parrots because I cook for them.  They are not spoiled; they are taken care of and provided for to the very best of my ability.  A parrot’s nutritional needs far exceed a seed diet.

They get some variation of “Birdy Bread” (original recipe from Bobbi Brinker, but mine is so far from that as to be nearly unrecognizable) for breakfast alternating with scrambled “cousin” (yep.  eggses), and hot cereal (usually a mixture of oatmeal with a bit of dried or fresh fruit).  They are allowed a few seeds throughout the day- a handful or so each, various fresh raw fruits and veggies that the garden, friends and the supermarket (if I must) provides, the occasional organic dog biscuit, quinoa pasta or large nuts (almonds, filberts, walnuts, etc.) and for dinner they usually get a sampling of what we are having if it’s healthy enough, (and doesn’t include any ingredients they can’t have such as onions and avacados) or in the least a mixture of steamed veggies and grains.

Right now we are pretty broke.  We are eating some less than optimum foods, (for our own health as well as birdy health). So, I was really happy to find the popcorn, hemp and safflower seeds in the freezer.  I added some roasted soy beans and some macaroni (just plain old mac.-  I’m out of vegetable pasta, and they love their pasta so much, I decided a lil of the cheap processed crap wouldn’t kill um)  I soaked it overnight, boiled it a bit today and then I’ll freeze some of this, but it makes for healthy birdy dinners which makes my heart VERY happy!

Home Grown Garlic

This is the end of our last year garlic harvest.  It’s all heirloom stuff.  No gene spliced, pesticide injected crap.  It’s starting to go over, get a lil yellow and a bit of mold here n there, so I’m really glad that we’ve managed to use most of it up.  Home grown garlic makes me happy. (So does the shape and form of this basket!)

Coffee Cups That Make Me Happy

Truth be told, Thorni is a woman of simple pleasures.  Really cool coffee cups make me super happy.  I have quite a few from which I will allow no one else to drink, simply because I know that if they broke them I might do murder.  I also have a number, like these two, that make me want to see them in someone’s hand.  I will serve them to my family and friends and guests (if they are clean) just for the simple joy of seeing them.  That they come as a gift from the lovely e., only adds to my happiness.

Kitchen Counter Tile Work Section

Kitchen Counter- Detail 1

Pool Tile and Cup Handle in the Kitchen

And in closing, (Grrr… still 3 hours away from Saturday Snark); my kitchen tile.  The first images show a small section that I gave a quick wipe (the kitchen is currently a disaster area) to.  It’s about 3 years old and the grout is ready for another serious cleaning.  Not all of this tile is recycled tile.  I bought some of the more colorful tiles on sale.  (Like the Gold that I use to kinda unify the whole design)

The second image is a detail section.  I cut a few of those flower shapes to add a bit of interest, and placed them in places where it’s not critical to have a perfectly level surface.

(When I clean the counter I’ll show you some of my other favorite sections)

The 3rd image shows an embellishment above the window.  The previous tenant who took care of the property before I moved back to the desert decided that the level drop celiling was too low, so removed it.  In order to add a bit of interest to the canted ceiling I used this triangle motif.  It steps up in size above each window.  It’s made of pool/jacuzzi tile.  The deep windows are also tiled.  The broken cup handle makes a great place to hang herbs.

Happy pics from Thornesworld!

Peace out!