Mosaic Made Easy: Bunting

This is a special treat for all our crafty community members! New Holland Publishing, who provided the recent knitting pattern for Little Boy Blue, are publishing Mosaic Made Easy and are giving Starts at 60 exclusive access to two sets of instructions.

For beginners, there are instructions for making simple drink coasters (I think even two left hands me could manage these) and for the more advanced mosaicist, there are instructions for making bunting.

Today we will be looking at the advanced bunting.

Bunting

Bunting is an ever popular decoration for the home and garden and I absolutely love it. I have stepped away from the more traditional fabric and paper bunting with this idea. I wanted to create a stunning design that will last for summer after summer, and party after party. The combination of neutral tones, pottery, mirror tiles and a dash of glitter make these a winner. All you need to string them together is some pretty ribbon.

You will need

• Wooden triangle, 12 x 15 cm (4¾ x 6 in) long, with two holes at the top
• 10 iridescent beige tiles
• 4 mirror tiles
• 3 pink glitter tiles
• 5 iridescent pink tiles
• China, cut into small rough triangles

Instructions

1) Draw a line of glue across the top of the triangle, between the two holes. Place a beige tile in the centre, then add tiles to each side until you reach the holes.

2) Now put a blob of glue in each top corner. Cut a beige tile in half diagonally to make two triangles. Place them so that the right angle of the triangle forms the top edge of the bunting.

3) Working down the shape row by row, the next is made up of mirror tiles. Cut three mirror tiles into quarters. Add a line of glue beneath the beige tiles. Start in the middle, placing one mirror quarter in thecentre. Working outward, place a tile at each side until you reach the edge.

4) Cut the pink glitter tiles into long quarters. Apply another line of glue. Again start in the middle, but this time place two tiles so that the gap in between them is central. Place another tile on each side. You will be left with a gap at each side. To fill the gaps, trim a glitter long quarter to fit, ensuring to angle it slightly at the end so it fits the shape.

5) A thick stripe of china sits beneath. Cut your china into small triangles roughly the same size and 1–1.5 cm (3/8–5/8 in) across. Apply a band of glue to the wood, 3 cm (1¼ in) deep. Start at the centre top of the area, stick on the triangles so that a straight edge of china meets the straight edge of the glitter tiles. Now make a similar line at the bottom of the stripe. Fill in the gaps with more broken china pieces, cutting them to fit if necessary.

6) Next place a row of whole pink iridescent tiles, placing the central tile first. To complete the row, you will need to make slanted cuts in the tiles.

7) Add a row of glitter tile 8ths beneath, then a row of mirror tiles quarters, followed by a row of beige tile halves.

8) Now working from the point of the heart upward, you will need one mirror tile 8th, one pink glitter tile 8th, one pink iridescent tile and some small pieces of china. Take the pink iridescent tile and cut off a corner. This will form the point at the bottom of the bunting. Stick it into place. Above this, stick the pink glitter tile, followed by the mirror tile. The space left is to be filled with china. Using the same method as before, fill in a stripe of china. Now set the bunting aside to dry.

9) Grout the heart. Don’t worry about covering the holes. Broken pottery may be slightly thicker than mosaic tiles, so the excess grout will need to be removed before it dries. Use your bare finger to do this, or wrap it in a piece of soft damp shammy leather. Set aside to dry then use a ‘cross-head’ screwdriver to gently screw through the grout to make the holes appear.

If you want more, this book is available via Booktopia for $21.25

Are you already a mosaic artist? we would love to see your version of these projects or other work you have done. Please share your work with Starts at 60.