Safety Precautions
You should always wear safety glasses when breaking up materials to be used in the creation of mosaics. The sharp edges of flying chips could damage your eyes. Also you should wear a dust mask to avoid inhaling dust from broken ceramic materials. Also ensure that you have access to plasters and clean water incase you are cut by any sharp edges.
Background
Mosaics have been a popular art form for thousands of years and can range from small simple designs to large elaborate works such as those of ancient Rome.
House Number
This guide will show you how to create your own mosaic house number.
Mosaic pieces
You can obtain pieces of pottery suitable for making your own mosaics by breaking up old bathroom tiles. You could wrap the tile in a piece of thick cloth and then hit it with a hammer until you had sufficient small pieces of ceramic material for your needs. Alternatively you could obtain better results by using tile cutters. By using different coloured tiles for the mosaic pieces you should be able to create an attractive pattern.
Base board
Because this mosaic will need to be able to withstand exposure to the elements out of doors, it is necessary to use a base board that is weatherproof. Score the board with a craft knife to make a hatching effect of criss crossed lines and prime it with a weak solution of white craft glue. The scoring and priming makes the surface hold mosaic pieces in place better. Drill holes which will be used to hang up the finished number and draw an outline of the number onto the base board.