I found this little side table at a thrift store months ago. I knew I wanted to do something with it, so I tried to look past the hideous faux tile.
It wasn't even attached to the base. It had been originally stuck with glue I assume since there is glue residue, but it popped right out.
A couple years ago we had a yard sale with some friends and they were going to try to sell a mirror that they had replaced in one of their bathrooms.
The mirror somehow shattered during the course of the yard sale. As we were cleaning up the pieces it hit me that I'd always wanted a mirror mosaic table. I asked if I could keep the broken pieces... and they have been in our carport ever since.
I have never used grout before, and honestly I didn't even know where to start. I knew I needed a very little amount, and I knew I needed it to be easy. This fit the bill all around. It is adhesive and grout in one.
I put a little bit of adhesive around the edges and on the bottom. I chose to flip the "tile" (that's not really a tile. It's more like glorified cardboard) upside down.
The directions said to let it sit 24 hours, but I was a little impatient. I let it sit about 4 (with some heavy books on it to secure it).
By the way: grout and a new deck aren't a good combination. Shame on me for not putting paper down! It cleaned up well though, but it would have been easier to roll up a drop cloth or newspaper.
Next came the fun part... tiling! I didn't buy any tiling tools for this so I just used a putty knife. I smoothed some grout over the top of the tile and made swirlies in it. I know from the VERY little tile knowledge I have that the notches are supposed to help "grab" the tile.
I didn't actually get any good step by step pictures from laying the broken pieces of mirror. It was basically a trial and error thing. Once I got all the mirror pieces arranged, I slathered a layer of the grout over the top. I did have to build up the edges because I didn't want any sharp pieces poking out making a slice your hand open hazard (insert Bon Qui Qui's famous "I will cuuuuuut you" line). This part was tedious, and I ended up having to put a second layer of grout over the whole thing after the first layer dried. I decided that I was just going to keep adding layers until it was how I wanted. I did add a third layer to the sides to build up those edges.
How sweet is it all done?? I love that the white picks up the white in the rocking chair. And it makes a perfect drink/book side table for the hot summer days! I will eventually have to Oil Rub Bronze the base because there are some places rusting.
Here it is looking from the top down....
Total cost?
Table (from Salvation Army)- $3
Mirror- $Free!
Grout- $9 (I used like 1/8 of the container. It looks like I need to find other grout projects quickly!)
Other tools- Already had.
Not too bad!
No comments :
Post a Comment