Paint Chip Mosaic - Tutorial Tuesday

Okay, I'm back with the promised Mosaic Tutorial after being preempted by the World's Biggest Slip and Slide last week! So, here we go...

I have had the idea for this Paint Chip Mosaic on the back burner since we painted our house, over a year ago. As with most things, I went a little overboard while collecting paint chips for our project. I got a lot of chips. A. Lot.

I held onto them, because soon after that we painted our ski condo and have recently been planning to paint the boys' rooms. So, all these projects yield a lot MORE paint chips that I can't seem to toss. Some of them were used to make notepads, using this method but the nice square chips hung around, waiting.

I found inspiration in this mosaic print from Ballard Designs catalog,


But $279 is a little pricey for my budget.

Kimba came up with an awesome alternative in her Tile Artwork tutorial


But grout and tile adhesive were a little too adventurous for me this summer.

I decided to put those little paint chips to work to create my own inexpensive, quick, and easy

Paint Chip Mosaic Artwork.

Supplies:

Plywood or a pine panel (my board is 20x20 inches)
Paint chips
Spray adhesive
Acrylic paint
Mod Podge Matte-Mat
Stain

Instructions:

I began by painting the sides and edges of my board black. I used a pine panel, because I had it cut out to use for a frame already, but plywood or MDF would also work. (For some reason, I began this project at nightfall, so the photos are on the dark side.)



Here is my paint chip collection, but you could easily cut squares of scrapbook paper for a similar effect. To get the randomness right, I simply shuffled the chips several times like a deck of cards:



I laid out the cards to get an idea of spacing:



The next step is to simply spray a line of adhesive and stick on the paint chip squares. Now repeat, again, and again:



See? All finished! Now, let this dry well. Go over it once in awhile to smooth any edges that might begin to come unstuck.



Once the adhesive was dry, I touched up any sticky spots on the painted edges with more paint to even out the color.

Now, apply 3 coats of Matte Mod Podge to get a nice smooth surface.



Let dry overnight, then rub stain over the whole piece with a rag. Make sure to really get it into all the cracks and seams so they look darker and defined.



Layered behind the photograph on my mantle, it gave the punch of color and textural interest I was looking for. And, for $10 total, the price was right, too!



Do you have a tutorial for me? It can be a recipe, a tip about cleaning wood floors, how you house trained your puppy, I'm not picky! Grab a button and link up tomorrow for fun and prizes!



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**Edited to join Fireflies and Jellybeans party!