You will need:

In General:

• Tile cutters
• Nippers
• Hammer
• Plastic Bags
• Hardboard (or alternative background)
• Adhesive / Grout (you can buy these as a ready mixed ‘two-in-one’ or separately, or as powder to mix with water, from most tiling shops)
• Spatula, spreader or small piece of cardboard
• Dishcloth
• Scissors
• Bucket or washing up bowl

For mosaicking (any of the following):

• Old crockery
• Wall tiles
• Pennies
• Marbles
• Old keys
• Nuts, screws, nails, bolts etc
• Old CDs (cut up with strong scissors)
• Beads

For building a 3D background (optional):

• Newspaper
• Masking tape
• Foil
• Modroc (bandages soaked in plaster)
• Bowl of warm water

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Directions

Preparing the background

1 You can mosaic onto anything. If the background is smooth, use a craft knife to slash cross-hatchings to make it rough.

2 If you would like to create a 3D background, begin by loosely screwing up newspaper. Tape it onto a piece of hardboard using masking tape.

3 Lay a sheet of foil over the newspaper and mold it to the shape of the newspaper.

4 Cut the modroc into pieces about the size of your hand.

5 Dip a piece of modroc into warm water and lay it over the foil, rubbing the plaster so the holes in the bandage disappear.

6 Dip the next piece of modroc in water and lay it so that it partly overlaps the first piece. Rub it in well.

7 Cover all the foil with modroc, folding it round the edges to take the shape of the board.

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Mosaicking

1 Draw a simple design onto the background, with clear lines as in a children’s colouring book.

2 Prepare your ‘tessarrae’ (pieces to be stuck on):

a. To break up tiles or crockery, put a couple of pieces into two plastic bags and then into a bucket or washing up bowl.

b. Hold the bags closed with one hand and hit the tiles through the bags with a hammer.

c. To break tiles more accurately, place a piece between the tile cutters and hold it inside a plastic bag to prevent pieces from flying.

d. Similarly, use nippers under cover of a bag to break off small corners of crockery.

3 Prepare a good amount of tesserrae before you begin.

4 When you are ready, spread tiling adhesive over a small area of the background, about the size of your hand, about 2mm thick.

5 Press the tesserrae into the adhesive, starting by following the outside lines of the section you are filling so that the design is clearly accentuated. Leave about 1mm between each tile to be filled later with grout.

6 When the outside lines of a section are filled with tesserrae, start to fill in the spaces in the middle, fitting the pieces like a jigsaw.

7 When the whole mosaic is completed, use grout to fill in the spaces between the tiles. This may not be necessary for other media such as marbles, CDs and keys, but smoothes out the effect of mosaicking with tiles and thicker materials. Spread grout with your fingers between the tiles and wipe away the surplus with a cloth.

8 Once the grout is completely dry, scrub the surface of the mosaic with a nailbrush to remove any last traces of grout or adhesive.