How to Make Your Own Mosaic Patio Table
The creation of your very own custom tabletop can be a fun and rewarding experience. Planning out your own mosaic design ensures a perfect match in color and theme to your established décor and can provide a wonderfully functional conversation piece while entertaining friends and loved ones.
Items Needed:
- Mosaic tiles in your desired colors
- Tile cutters
- Tracing paper
- Sandpaper
- Tile adhesive
- Sponge
- Bucket of water
- Grout
- Coloring books or design books
- Pencil
- Grout float
- Plan Your Design: Go through either a child’s coloring books or dedicated design books such as those provided for stained glass and pick a design. The key here is to pick a design that has a collection of simple shapes that you can fill and shade with tiles. The Internet can provide a host of ideas as well.
- Sketch The Design: If you’ve found the perfect design, but need to make it bigger, scan it in to your computer and use any paint or photo program to resize the image, then print it out and tape it together. Once done, transfer your image over to your tracing paper. You will want to make two copies of this transfer.
- Dry Run: Set the first image transfer next to your work area and fill it with the tiles. Use your tile cutter and sandpaper to cut and smooth any tiles that need special shapes. Leave these tiles in place and move them to your table as needed.
- On The Table: Place your second pattern transfer down on your table and poke through the paper with your pencil tip to transfer an outline to the table. Darken the outline as needed when done. Apply a thin layer of tile adhesive to a small area of the design and lay in the tiles. Once you have one area filled in, work in another until the entire design is complete. Allow to rest 24 hours and cover with grout using a grout float. Work the grout into all cracks and joins, wiping excess away with a damp sponge.