How I make my mosaics and are they worth it. - Part 1

Hello and welcome to my blog. I can't believe how long it was since my last post! Well I've come along way since I've posted last. I have loved polymer clay but have found a new love! I've always loved mosaics in one way or another but I have found a way to combine a new gift ideas with up-cycling broken plates to make something new for your home.

Also with a lot of discussion on handmade and how to cost your work, I thought I would write a post on the process of how I make a small item and how I cost it. You will find it interesting and maybe look again at why handmade products are a wee bit more expensive than mass produced things.

First I source some vintage plates. You can pick them up from charity shops and other places. You can see I have quite a selection that I have cut up using my tile nippers and a hammer! I also use letter, glass and other beads to create texture and I can create some nice sentimental sayings too.

I also Have some good bits of MDF wood which I was given which keeps costs down. I use my dads drill to make holes to be able to hang them up. I also sand them down and round off the corners.




You can get all kinds of shapes of wood blanks. I like using the heart ones and I got a few butterfly ones. You can pick them up from 50p upwards. The butterflies cost me about £1 each. Most items come with the hole drilled in them.

I've used my tile knippers to cut out focal flowers for my mosaic. I mostly use the no nails glue to stick things on. I get the tubes out of the £1 shop because I've found it to be the best value for money with other shops selling the same product for double the price!

Next I add beads to the edge of the butterfly then leave this to dry before I fill in with other mosaic pieces.

So so far I would say its cost me £1 for the butterfly itself which I got online. The difficult thing is how do you calculate the cost of the other parts? Say maybe another 40p. Then take into factor the time it cost to surf the net, source the items and your postage costs. That is part of the fun in making something though but you get the picture.

In my next post I will give you the next steps.

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♥Hope you enjoyed the post. See you soon!♥