I think you should have posted this on the stained glass and mosaics forum

I realize that, and I will but a lot of them are really into it and do pay a hefty price for their tile. I'll post it on the t2t forum as well. But I thought posting it on the junk forum, where there are a lot of very resourceful and creative people, might save me some money! LOL! I'm trying to think outside the box here and find a way to use junk to create my mosaics.

R.

Hi, Robin.

A few ideas for free or inexpensive "skinny stuff": Buttons, shells and beach glass. I checked out a book from the library in which the author used paper as mosaic material. Talk about cheap and thin! You could use bits of newspaper to make a subdued, semi-asian-looking design, or colorful, glossy magazine photographs for something bolder. You can tear up the paper into little teeny bits for extremely complex patterns, or use larger pieces for simple geometric shapes and the like.

I'm sure you'll get a ton of good ideas from this creative crew of folks.

Have fun!

Rain

Hi Robin. I wanted to start doing mosaic things too, I bought a lot of tiles off eBay. I'd suggest browsing there and see what all is available and the prices.

hugs, Karen

All great questions, Robin! It is hard to buy glass tiles in stores. I have gotten some outstanding tiles at Delphiglass.com. It is a lot cheaper than what you can get at Michaels but it is the same type of tile - they just have a lot bigger selection.

You can mosaic with just about anything - from costume jewelry to macaroni! I have seen some cool mosaics done with bits of twigs or seashells on picture frames. Using paper a la decoupage is a great idea too. Quilting is basically a mosaic done with fabric.

Regarding the rounded pieces of dishes, I have seen artists glue bowls whole with curved part sticking out. It added dimension to the mosaic piece. I have also seen the thick ridges of plates and bowls used in designs as circles or frames. People have done some very cool things with cup handles too.

You can also used stained glass. It's gorgeous. Costs less than tiles and is relatively thin so it doesn't bulk up your piece. You can get different colors, textures and patterns. Check it out at the Delphiglass.com site.

Hiya!

I just started doing mosaics for my garden junk finds- and am hooked! I have gotten a lot of my supplies from Freecycle (china and broken stuff), Craigslist and eBay (stained glass tiles and tools). You might search Stained Glass and Mosaic forum as well- I am sure that they have other sites to offer. Our local Lowe's store offers 5 gallon buckets of broken tile for $5. If you have a stained glass store in your area, chances are that they have a broken/bulk bin for smaller pieces...

You can be really creative with stuff you probably already have, so look around and see what you can find. You would be surprised what might work. Yard sale season is upon us- so keep an eye out for interesting shapes and textures in unexpected (and cheap!) places...

The FAQ section on the SG and M board is good, and the people on the board are great for inspiration. There are plenty of newbies, too, so be sure to speak up if you have any questions (but do a search before you ask- there are a lot of threads about common questions like yours!). There is another link below that I found helpful...

For book inspiration, try these- I have had them out of the library forever:

Creative garden mosaics : dazzling projects & innovative techniques / Jill MacKay

Mixed-media mosaics : techniques and projects using polymer clay tiles, beads and other embellishments / Laurie Mika

Re: your china question- sometimes the uneveness can be pretty (edges and such), but if you want to make it really "finished", you should use thinset (with acrylic additive) as your adhesive. It provides bulk and allows the more awkward pieces to lay flat. You can also remove the plate ring by sanding it down- but I haven't tried it myself, so am not sure how to do it.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Mosaic FAQs

Wonderful answers everyone.. I like using mixed media. So I buy plates at thrift stores yardsales what ever. Then use thinset (make sure it's ok for outside use), and GE Silicone glue for attaching the pieces. I do not like weldbond glue which some people use. It's not for outside it doesn't hold up if it gets wet. I had a totem come apart and some wonderful pieces broke!!! I also have some stained glass pieces Hobby Lobby has theirs 50%off or you can print the coupon on line for 40% off. I buy the sheets and break it. The grout and sealer has to be good for outside as well. Check out the mosaic forum they are wonderful and helpful. Alot of them hang out here too. Beautiful pieces posted over there.

Sure wish my lowe's would sell broken stuff!

Thank you SO much for all your answers everyone! I did go to Michael's yesterday and bought 4 packages of the small stained glass squares. They were $3.99 per package. I will use those for my first project but I want to find a good online source for more. Luna, I will definitely check out the delphiglass site. And I need to see if there's a stained glass store in the area. The 2 pieces on my immediate to do list I'd really like to use stained glass on, or something equally as thin. Even the little tiles you can get at Michael's are the same thickness as a regular tile. I have a whole big tub of thinset from my backsplash and a huge bag of gray grout. I also have caulks in both white and clear, some for interior or exterior use. I have tile nippers as well, would those work okay for the stained glass? I'll try it today.

We live in a somewhat rural area and it takes me about 20 minutes to get into the town I visit most frequently. And with gas prices and my gas guzzling Wrangler, I'm trying to cut back on how often I go. Our local Freecycle is small...really small. But the one in Charlotte is much busier. And of course, Charlotte is like an hour from me so unless someone wants to meet me somewhere, it would probably be more cost effective to just find the item locally at a TS or YS. I AM getting an old rusty tricycle tommorrow (I hope) from someone on our smaller local Freecycle! YEAH!!! Can't wait to put it out in the garden loaded down with baskets of flowers!

Has anyone else found that gas and food prices are eating into their crafting money? Good grief! My husband makes good money, we have 3 nice cars, a nice house, take nice vacations, gutted and did a complete remodel on our kitchen (and it was a new kitchen just 6 years ago), but these food and gas prices are really starting to hurt! And it's only going to get worse! I don't mind cutting back on the quality of what I eat (although I do mind for my kids) but cut into my craft money and I'm going to whine!;0)

Thanks again everyone. You guys are so nice! And sorry about the long post and my ranting about the economy!

Robin

Hi....I use curved pieces, I just cut them into smaller pieces to make them lay flatter. I have made a few garden junk mosaic pieces, a table that was given to me, which I then gave to my sister. And a birdhouse and a metal watering can, these are all outside and holding up great, I sprayed clear sealer on them, I just have to spray with bleach once a year to clean them. I am still using clear silicone to glue my pieces down before grouting, and so far, so good. Except for the clear beads I glued onto the spout of the watering can...those are falling off. However, this is more likely due to small hands yanking on them asking what's this??!!?? hehe also they get knocked down quite often. Next time I think I will string the beads then glue them down instead of individually placed. I buy plates,bowls, saucers, cups, and little trinket boxes and jewelry boxes at yard sales and thrift stores. The trinket boxes have roses I cut off to decorate them with. I buy candle stands to turn silver plated trays into cake stands, and bird houses at yard sales,too. Also get some from free-cycle. You know you'll get addicted to mosaic, don't you?? lol...just a heads up there :P

This is where I get my tiles.Their prices are reasonable.Hope the link works. If not,you can go to ebay and search mosaic tiles to find their site.

http://stores.ebay.com/Greeneglass

:o)

Hi!We are the store in Brooklyn.If you need mosaic tiles just visit our website www.discobath.com
Any questions about them,feel free..

I've done a lot with things from Mosaics by Maria and recently bought from an ebay store. Links below. MUCH more affordable than Michael's!

Wholesale - ebay: http://stores.ebay.com/Wholesalemosaics
Maria: http://is.gd/dSM9

Don't think you need to pay a hefty price. You should try surfing the web. I came across a site. Glass Tile Oasis and they have something your looking for. Check out the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: pebbels mosaics from Glass Tile Oasis