Asked on Aug 10, 2018

How to mosaic my rusted through bird bath?

Liz Lewinger
by Liz Lewinger

I live in southern Mississippi where the salt air rusts and can ruin metal in no time! No need for those nifty tips on aging and putting on a patina here! I have two iron bird baths, one is in decent shape the other has some thin metal spots and holes in bird tub (that’s what I’ll call it, lol). I would like to mosaic both of them, give them a new paint job and make them look appealing to all my feathered friends. Adding personality to our yard is an added plus! How’s the best way to tackle this project?

You can see base is in good shape just in need of some “TLC”


Peek a boo......see the grass through the holes?

  7 answers
    • Liz Lewinger Liz Lewinger on Aug 11, 2018

      Thank You, that helped with the rust problem and I have seen lots of mosaic ideas too! 😊

  • Mosaics is very easy to do, the trick is to keep you bits of broken glass/tiles on the smallish side and use a spacer so the the gaps between the pieces is the same, I use the end of a chop stick as a great guide, use a mould free grouting mixture and don’t forget to use a sealant once you have finished and your project is completely dry,

  • I love to make mosaics with broken china. You can find plenty of chipped plates at tag sales and thrift shops for next to nothing.

    • See 1 previous
    • I go around to shops that sell tiles etc as they quite often have bins of broken tiles that the give away for free, you can over any surface or bendy surface if you keep you pieces small, I have covered cement balls of different sizes with broken mirror, tiles crockery and mirror can be sharp, with very sharp pieces use form fitting gloves, warning!!! Mosaics are addictive, I drive around looking at curb side rubbish especially coffee table to do, lol lol



  • Jokarva Jokarva on Aug 11, 2018

    Broken china is probably your best bet, you should be able to find curved bowls and cups that will follow the curves of your bird bath walls. Please use non toxic materials if this is actually meant for birds to use, and good luck!

  • Liz Lewinger Liz Lewinger on Aug 13, 2018

    I have some dishes that I love and we’re damaged from Katrina ....they will be perfect! Thanks for reminding me 😊

  • Sally Alter Sally Alter on Sep 10, 2018

    Thanks so much, you have really inspired me to create a masterpiece with my old, chipped birdbath instead of just throwing it away. I have just completed a Dollar Tree backsplash with various colored marbles in my bathroom and absolutely love the way it turned out. So why don't I do the same thing for the birds??? I shall just stick the marbles in Mastik as before and grout them in place. Voila! Thanks again.

  • Deb K Deb K on Jan 08, 2024

    Hi Liz, hope this helps you. You will need to find something to fill those holes with and to give the tiles something to stick to. A mesh patch and fiberglass repair kit will suffice for this. Then you can follow the instruction on this video

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziDFI5wcU0E