Friday, October 17, 2008

Craft:Tile Picture



Hello Folks--


My sister called me tonight and said "You need to post something, I am tired of looking at that turkey!" So, here goes. She also wanted to see all my projects from my Craft Day but I haven't finished them all, in fact this is the only one that is really finished. This looks like a kitchen tile that has had a painting put on it...it is the coolest thing. Its probably been around in Utah for years but we are a little far from Utah and it takes a few years for those cutting edge crafts to come out way.
This is a picture I took out of a calendar that I bought at Half Price Books last week. I will probably pic up this calendar in a few months and wonder what ever happened to November, since it is now missing! Anyway, this was a calendar of French cities and paintings and I have many French pictures and such hanging in my house. We went to France on our honeymoon so it hold a special place in our hearts.
While this project is easy, it is time consuming and does require measuring. I am typically not a big measurer when it comes to crafts, I kind of wing it, but this one takes some exactness so that the lines on your picture line up.
I will have to see if I can find instructions online on how to do this. first you take a board and you saw the "grout" looking grooves into the board. Then, paint the grooves whatever color you want, I chose black which is no big surprise. Then basically, you find a picture you like...we had all sorts...pictured of Families, Christ, Flowers, Calendar pictures, etc...and you cut it out just like the size of each square (yes, you have to measure each square) and you glue it on the board with a plain old glue stick. Its really important to make sure the corners are down well. Then, you pour a large amount of epoxy over it and smooth it out, blow out any bubbles, and then let it sit. Come back every 20-30 minutes and blow out bubbles and look over epoxy. After a while (depends on the humidity) it will start to harden a little, when it does this, you take a Popsicle stick and you drag it through those grout grooves to give the "tile" look of each square. Let it dry over night and you are done. It is shiny and so pretty and looks so classy!
Now I just have to figure out if this really is a Christmas gift or if it is going on my wall!
Put something beautiful in your house...it already has you, so just add to that beauty!

Beautiful Basics

Life is about a journey, and you are the only one who can make yours... So, embrace life: the good, the bad, and the ugly...it is the only one you've got.

Here's to being Beautiful, inside and out!