From starfish to palm trees and beyond, miniature mosaic murals add interest and wonder to practically any project. Liven up your kitchen backsplash. Give a tabletop some flair. Add a spark of whimsy to a shower or pool floor or wall. Wherever your imagination takes you, you'll likely find a place for mini mosaic murals. Buying them can be expensive, but making them yourself is downright cheap and much easier than you might think! Just follow the steps below and you'll have everything you need to craft beautiful and creative murals for your home and garden.



Materials Needed:

One full sheet of mesh-mounted glass mosaic tiles that match the surrounding tiled area plus,

?Weldbond

?Leponitt glass mosaic cutter

?Plastic wrap (Glad Wrap, Saran Wrap, etc.)

?Assortment of colored glass mosaic tiles

Preparation & Idea Generation

Your glass mosaic tiles will come mesh mounted on a sheet. Remove a section of tiles from the center of the sheet. We recommend a 6? by 6? area (6 tiles by 6 tiles). You'll be creating your mini mosaic in this zone. By keeping the surrounding tiles in place you're ensuring your mural will be the correct overall size.

Decide what you want your mural to be. You might choose to use your favorite search engine to look for images online. This is an easy way to create a pattern because you can right click on the images, save them to your desktop and resize or print them later. You could also look through magazines or books or visit your local library to get ideas. Popular pictures for mini murals include tropical fish, flowers, palm trees and other small, non-complex images.

You can also download free mini-mosaic murals from our site at http://www.wholesalersusainc.com/mosaic-tiles-mosaic-templates-c-23_173.html.

If you've found an image online and saved it to your desktop, you may be able to manipulate it on your computer if you have image-editing software. If you don't have image-editing software, I'll explain other ways you can create a pattern. Open the image and resize it so it fits inside the available 6 x 6 area. Be sure to leave some extra room around the edges (about the width of one tile or slightly less). Print your resized image. Don't worry if you can't resize the image on your computer. It's very simple to free sketch it.

Now you need to create an outline of your mural and identify areas for the differently colored tiles. Using the printed copy from the previous step, trace the image onto a blank sheet of paper. (HINT: If you have a glass table you can backlight the image to make tracing easier.) An alternative approach is to free sketch the image you're going to create or - if you have access to a copier - reduce or enlarge the image to size using the copying machine. Make an outline and identify areas where colors will change.

Using a high quality glass tile cutter, such as a Leponitt, start cutting pieces of tiles for your mini mural and place them on the sketch you've created. Do not glue or attach your tiles to the paper. This step is only for creating the layout. Using simple shapes such as right angles, triangles, small squares and rectangles result in a mural that has good flow and eye appeal. You can, however, cut the tiles in any manner you like. This is where your artistic flavor shows. You have the freedom to create a mini mural that is uniquely your own.

Once you have cut all the tiles and have a design you want to keep, you'll need to glue the tiles to the mesh backing in the center of your tile sheet. To do this, place your paper sketch on a tabletop. Next place plastic wrap over the sketch and then position your sheet of tiles over the plastic-wrapped image. This will help to keep the adhesive from sticking to the surface of your work area and image.

Using a small bit of Weldbond on the back of each of your tiles, adhere your tiles to the mesh backing within the square created on your tile sheet. Once you're finished, allow the Weldbond to set before moving your new mini mural. Once it has cured, remove the plastic wrap from the back of the sheet.

Your mini mosaic is now ready for use! Install it with the rest of your tiles when tiling your surround, wall, table or other project. You'll amaze your family and friends with your creative abilities!