How to Make a Yard Art Heart From Old China and Slate.
Trying different ways to cheer up the mood, bring love, colour and cheer to life as well as the garden is always a passion of mine, so when I saw these lovely natural grey thick flat slate hearts i thought they could do with a bit of something extra to bring them to life!
I already had some only vintage broken china so started thinking which pieces to cut and smooth and what design. A decide on a simple flower printed template that I found online which seemed to fit .
I use PVA glue to stick the printed paper template onto the slate.
I make sure it is central on the slate and allow to dry. Then using a pair of wheeled tile nippers I cut some pieces of old broken crockery that seem to have interesting colours and patterns. I shape them into petals and a centre piece round and two leaves.
I decide to smooth the edges of the china crockery petals and leaves with a mini hand drill with a carbide grinding stone attachment that just whizzes the rough bits to be smooth and pretty.
The pieces come together and look how I want to display them and I do choose some plain pieces of china to blend with the florals.
I stick into place around the template with PVA glue.
I keep filling in the flower with the lovely china pieces and try and make sure I choose pieces that are similar heights. it begins to come together nicely. Choosing textures and colours to compliment is the fun bit.
I cut and stick the china leaves and stem which I chose from a green patterned plate. I put it all to one side to dry after checking and wiping off carefully the residue glue.
Next onto grouting the centre. It is a little messy to do but needs a bit of fixing and tidying so the paper template and gaps don’t show. I use ready mix black grout and work into the centre gaps then wipe off excess with wet wipes and leave to dry.
I’m so happy with the results!
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Can you Please give me more info on the mini hand drill with grinding stone wheel that you show partly in one of your pictures. I've googled and can't seem to find one. Thank you
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Hi sure I use an grinder like a dremel a mini rotary drill with a sanding carbide stone attachment for sanding amazon will have many brands and it’s personal preference if you’d like a 1-1 video tutorial I do these by video call please email me direct via Etsy or my site Susan goode designs and happy to do a tutorial session to start you off
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So pretty!!
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Thanks
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So cool! What tool did you use for sand the edge of a break mosaic?
I would love to start this project of making items out of broken pieces. Can you tell me exactly what I need to get started besides those three items you already have listed. I met a lady years ago that did this and made beautiful jewelry with the broken bits. Thanks a bunch.