How to Use up Your Old Broken China to Make a Unique Mosaic Table

Susan Goode
by Susan Goode
5 Materials
$10
4 Hours
Advanced

I just love recycling old broken china and any old Colourful bits and bobs to create art on functional pieces . Here’s how I use old vintage pieces on an old Plain coffee table.

Plain coffee table
Cover table top with paper


Firstly to enable a clear design process I glue plain paper onto the table top with PVA glue.

Glue paper to table top
Draw design


I pencil draw a face and hair roughly in position I want to mosaic. At this stage I don’t create too much detail and use it as a guide.

Draw design
Cut china pieces


I use eye goggles to protect My eyes and start to Cut tiles In a open outside Space using wheeled tile nippers to shape pieces of broken china. I use whatever I find in charity shops garage sales etc and homeware, cups, saucers And old vases etc. Smashing and cutting china is so therapeutic to do!

Cutting china
Glue pieces onto table


I position pieces Where I think they look good and make a few design choice moves before committing to glueing with PVA. It dries in a few minutes but always there is time 20 mins or so to move around if changes need to happen Before it’s firmed.

Piqueassiette
Grouting


I use ready mix black grout cement to fill in all the gaps and creat a finished protective table top design. Wearing gloves and and using an old credit card to apply it .

Grouting
Grouting
Cleaning grout off


After working all the grout into the gaps and sides it’s time to clean off the mess. I use cleaning wipes and a wet cloth . It takes time to really make it clean but all good things are worth waiting for!

Cleaning grout off
Cleaning grout off tiles

At last the big reveal and I’m so pleased with how she turned out! Super character -as I used a vase with poppy pieces for her mouth I’ve named her Poppy Lips!

Piqueassiette table
Piqueassiette table
Picqueassiette table
Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 7 questions
  • Anna Rua Anna Rua on Aug 12, 2022

    Is the tile table flat?? If it is lumpy, how can you put any object on it?

  • Linda Johnson Linda Johnson on Aug 13, 2022

    What brand of PVA glue did you use?

  • Katii Blood Katii Blood on Aug 14, 2022

    What material are the black, red, etc. colored smoothed top and edges pieces made of?

Comments
Join the conversation
3 of 40 comments
Next