Mosiacs

I have a tendency to jump around from one craft to another.  Craft du jour being mosaics!  It all started last year with a groupon to MAKE meaning located in the upper westside (506 Amsterdam Ave 
New York, New York 10024).  What started as a "morning activity" ended up stretching some 7 hours (I even took a 2 hour midday break).  By the end I my only was to finish before the store closed, but I was quite happy with the results.  I free hand sketched the flowers and ladybug, and then tiled away.

Being the ambitious and frugal gal I am, I began to wonder hey I could easily (and cheaply) gather supplies necessary to mosaic at home.  Granted there are some physical limitations to living in a rented apartment--no mosaic backsplashes in the kitchen or bathrooms quite yet in my future.  

But I ordered a few supplies from JoAnn.com (glue, grout, tile snippers and several wooden items to decorate) and tiles from a seller on ebay.  TIP 1: check measurements.  When a seller says the tiles are 1/2 inch, one should take out a ruler and remind oneself just how small half an inch is.  Needless to say I was slightly surprised and ended up having little use for the snippers (to come in handy next time when I order larger tiles).  But I purchased a good assortment of colors ended up making a tray for my cousin (a red fish for Little Fish).  I free handed the design, only really planning ahead the fish in the middle.  In retrospect this was probably a bit risky, but the tiles were small enough for me to make small adjustments to avoid gaping holes.  Here is the end result:

Next up photo frames and jewelry boxes.