You're a Rock Star!
Transform these river stones into mosaic masterpieces with just a few simple supplies! Sue Gerdes, of Flea2Fab, her garden art craft business, shows you how to do a brilliant and colorful new project in her usual, delightful way. These garden stone crafts make unique and sparkly outdoor decorations that will endure all the elements.
Sue says, “If you like the paisley style design, above, look for a flat rock without a lot of ridges. If you want to make the heart design look for a flat and almost heart shape rock with out ridges. Lastly, if looking to make a flower rock design, look for a round mound like rock without…you got it …ridges.”
GLUE: any kind that is strong that will glue metal to metal or wood to metal. I use whatever I have and today I have GE II Rain ready Sun/freeze proof Silicone.
GLASS and BEADS: a assortment of size and color. Use up your collection.
GROUT: Use unsanded grout
“Draw your design on the rocks with a pencil. The sky is the limit on this in fact my next one might be a fish. After you decide what your design is, lets start gluing!”
“Glue: I lay a long thin line of glue onto my pencil mark outline.
Bead: Then I place my beads one at a time or you can string them and line them up on your glue line then pull the string out once the beads are where you want them.
While doing this do not breath or answer the phone…just joking…
Make sure you pat the beads down so they are embedded into the glue. The trick is how much glue, …not too much because you will have a mess and not to little or they won’t stick well. After you have done it once you will figure it out.”
“The next step is fun. You can use so many things to fill in the design, …I chose to use broken stained glass and old beads in this one. Lay down your glue and design as you go. The broken stained glass fits like a puzzle, glue down then drop in your glass.
Cure: Let it set and cure for several hours or depending on humidity ( test to see if dry by pulling on the beads).”
“Ok lets grout! Mix up your grout like cookie dough and push into the beads and glass. My grout doesn’t go past the beads, some artist do so they can cover mistakes of to much glue. Looks like a mess huh?
Wipe: Ok, now take a rag and polish it, wiping it off and making sure you don’t dig into the design.
Wait: Let it dry 24 hours and put a outside sealer (read direction on how many coats) on it if it is for outdoors. And there you go! Wasn’t that easy?”
Sydney Minor is attempting a stained glass rock with a dragonfly. She says, “I’m working on a mosaic bowling ball with many mirror pieces, creating as I go, and as I chip away at the larger pieces, I make many smaller pieces just right for the smaller rocks. I’ve decided, too, that little mirror pieces would be just right for dragon fly wings. Sydney Minor says, After this, I’ll be putting some on my mosaic bowling ball, too!”
Stained glass pieces from Amazon: Click photo…
GE II Silicone for exterior windows, in clear. Click to buy from Amazon. Momentive is the same thing…
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View Comments
What is the brand of outdoor sealer that you used on the rocks?
Just ask at your paint store or hardware store for one they suggest....they're all about the same IF they are meant for outdoors.
I am just embarking on the mosaic journey. I loved your tip about stringing small beads and then laying them on the glue. So helpful! I tried it on a piece I am doing on an old window. Worked like a charm! I have a question about the adhesive. I am using a clear indoor/outdoor silicone glue that is working very well. However, I am looking for a weatherproof clear glue that will "float" a little more. I'm looking to fill small spaces between stained class pieces with loose seed beads. The silicone is a little too thick and messy for this purpose. Any suggestions? Meanwhile, thanks so much for this tutorial. Very inspiring!
Christine, I messaged Sue Gerdes and this is what she said:
"I use the silicone for small beads also. I squeeze out a little on a paper plate then use a toothpick. I load it onto the tip and down the side of the pick , then lead it into the area. If at first it doesn't fill enough redo until it's as much as you like. Then I sprinkle the beads on top and lightly push them into the silicone. Good luck!"
~~ Sue L.
Great tip - thanks so much!
Absolutely love your work Sue. Heading out to get some supplies this weekend. Tools can be expensive. LOL excited to try this out. I have some great rocks & cool ideas. Thanks for everything.
Thank you for the very inspiring post, I am so excited to give it a try. I have two questions.
(1)Does the silicone have any odor?.... I have chemical sensitivities and can not use any product that has harmful odors.
(2) Please tell me more about the grout.... what is it called? where can it be purchased? Is there any odor?
Both the glue and grout may have a mild odor. You might work outside where you won't notice it. Once dry there's no odor at all! Yea!
The grout comes in many colors,...take your tile pieces with you, or use neutral light grey of the rock color. Get unsanded grout. Show us your result on the FB page when you finish!
Love your tutorial! Do you put any grout on your dragonfly tail or just use the silicone?
My Spanish II students are studying the Spanish architect Gaudi and he is famous for animal mosaics. I'd like to adapt your mosaic rocks into a project for my class, making turtle and lizard mosaic designs on rocks. My problem is that I only have 1 class period to do the project. Is there any "quick dry" glue we could use so that the kids could apply the grout in class right after laying the beads/glass?
Jennifer, the GE II Silicone is pretty fast drying, however, you might do a dry run using contact cement. Either that, or skip the grout and use fine craft sand as grout between the tiles. Just an idea...but do let us know on our Facebook page, how your kids do. I'll share your experience with the group! This is one of our most fun and popular projects!
What do you use for outdoor sealer?
In the hardware store, look for an exterior spray sealer. Easy!
I’m very inspired by your beautiful mosaic rocks, thanks for the instructions and tips. Can you please explain why you recommend grout without sand, as I’ve had someone else say to get grout with sand although not necessarily just for mosaic rocks but mosaics in general.
Thanks
The blue butterfly you made that looks like a dragonfly has some sort of jewelry in the center. Can you please tell me if you seal it so it doesn't tarnish outside or what is acceptable to use? Also it doesn't look like it has been grouted. Can you skip that step? Thank you so much!
Brenda, use exterior grade polyurethane. Some are grouted, some are not...