Hello Everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful, creative, weekend.
I did ...wonderful, that is...not creative, though.
We took my FIL and MIL to see Tucson, and Tombstone(AZ). They are visiting from South Africa, for those of you who are new to my blog.
Look at this beautiful Tucson sunset photo taken by Wonderhusband!
At least I caught up on some long lost sleep, because I could not craft or blog, and had to go to bed at a decent hour with the rest of my company.
I was so well rested by the time we got home this afternoon, that I decided to tackle and finish a long overdue project....my patio coffee table.
Inspired by a lovely mosaic mural in Mexico I saw a couple of years ago, I started to mosaic the glass top of this generic little outdoor table.
My friend had recently done hers right on the glass, and it came out fine, so I decided to do the same.
I wanted a different, artsy look, not a balanced , formal look where all the pieces are the same size, etc.
I have been saving broken pieces of pottery and china for a while now ( I think since I saw that wall in Mexico, to be honest), and I probably have enough to cover the outside of a small house by now..
I started by gluing on the pieces, making sure to "build in" some coasters so that a glass or coffee cup can stand without tipping over, since this a favorite place to have our morning coffee.
(See the coffee rings on the tiles? I'm not kidding.)
Do you see the cup on its side with the black "coffee" spilling out?
That was my favorite part of the whole table.Yes, I said "was".
After gluing on all the pieces, I applied the grout, and wiped off the excess so that all the tile pieces were visible. Then I got the brainwave to tilt the table to get rid of all the grains and dust....
Bad idea!! The whole piece of glass slipped off onto the floor...
Duh! I guess I was lucky that the only things that broke were the two whole (half) cups, and not the whole piece of glass..
(OK, I realize that last sentence is very confusing, but you're still with me, right?)
And that is why the table has been standing on my patio half finished since June....
Tonight I decided to finish it ..one way or another. I did not replace the cups, but just filled in the holes with other tiles, and added some
more grout to even it out.
I don't know if I'm just sick of this project, but I did not like the end result. (I have to admit, this picture look way nice now..)
So I got out my Behr Glaze in black, and painted some on, then wiped it off.
And now I like it even less..Ack!
Maybe this table is doomed for the curb..
I don't know. I'm sick of it, and have been miraculously cured of the "mosaic-itch" .....
Two days later......
After seeing the pictures and your comments, I decided to re-apply more white grout over the black, and this is the end result.
Little happier now, but still done with mosaic for a while...
I am linking this post to:
beautiful work!!!
ReplyDeleteI think it is really cute. But, to be honest, I'm not as much a fan of the black glaze. Then again, it could grow on me -- it does go with the black trim. :)
ReplyDeleteOkay, I have to admit it you had me going with this project for awhile, but now I'm not so sure. I liked it before the black paint. Does it need more black to darken it down, or refinish with another color.....maybe beige? Sometimes when I'm doing a project and come up with one more thing to do to it, it turns out to be an OOPPPPS PROJECT. I have to tell myself, know when to stop!!!!! Laughing with you.
ReplyDeleteIt was beautiful with white grout! Can u re-grout over the black??? Just thinking......
ReplyDeleteLoved the layout!
REPLY: Thanks for the comments! I have decided to put another layer of white grout over the black, and see how it turns out. Not now, though...need another break from it first. :)
ReplyDeleteI will show a pic when I'm done.
I think it looks really cool. It's probably way to heavy to take the legs off the table and hang on the wall as a piece of art, but if I look at the last picture sideways that's what I see...a work of art~
ReplyDeleteI think it turned out beautiful! Yes, I'm mourning the half coffee mug's demise, but we all have fails under our belts; you took yours back to triumph. Bravo.
ReplyDeleteI found you over at It's So Very Cheri.
Oh no, all the hard work you put in this, please don't toss it to the curb. I personally like the glaze much better than the white, erghh, I know after you redo it yet again. I just think the white washes everything out, and your beautiful art doesn't pop enough. Maybe if you did a colored grout, or can you paint the grout. Anything just don't get rid of it. I think it's really cool, and would LOVE if you shared this awesome project at my NEW party. Come on girl, come link up. I think its fabulous. BElla :)
ReplyDeleteYour table is so pretty. I am your newest follower- i found you on Crafty Soiree. Hope you will come and follow me too.
ReplyDeleteHaai, Suzanne, hierdie blog van jou - en die projekte wat jy doen - is just taking off, jong. Dis uitstekend, en alhoewel ek ook jammer is dat die koppies in die slag gebly het, dink ek steeds dis baie mooi. Was ook nie mal oor die swart glaze nie. Ek mail tans van my werk se e-pos af, want ons rekenaar is steeds op die koffie. Gaan 'n lekker lang mail stuur met 'n paar foto's as ek net eers weer op dreef kom. Ek dink jou werk is pragtig en ek is in awe dat jou blog so vinnig navolgers optel. Wonderlik! Waar kry jy tyd vir alles??? xx
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame about those half-cups! They looked cool. I totally understand how that would dishearten you.. the final photo with white grout re-applied looks lovely though, I think you saved it - you just need to fall back in love with it now :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for another great link up at A Crafty Soiree! I really like your table and I prefer the white too. I think the idea to include spots to set cups was really clever and great thinking ahead. Mosiacs is one thing I've always wanted to try but have yet to do so I'm always excited to see how other people's creations have turned out.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bella up there, I didn't like the white grout for some reason. It's like it diminished your work. Set the table aside for a bit (of course it's been a few weeks now) then see if the table grows on you. If not why not get a NEW piece of glass and start over now that you know what to and what not to do?
ReplyDelete