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Aunt Annie's Crafts
Paper Mosaic
What you will make -
Learn how to make paper mosaics to decorate crafts and give as gifts, while recycling the paper scraps from other projects. As an introduction to mosaics, this project takes you through the steps of making a paper mosaic plaque. The finished plaque can be hung on the wall, with or without a frame. Make a mosaic of you own design or base one on a favorite image or photograph. Moms will enjoy receiving a mosaic for Mother's Day! Once you learn this decorative technique, use your creativity to apply it to other purposes and crafts.
This project is great for family, classroom or group craft time. It requires no patterns and uses simple materials. With a little preparation by the adult or teen leader this project is easy and fun for children.
Here's what you need -
- White cardstock or construction paper
- Colorful paper scraps
- Ruler or paper trimmer (for adult prep)
- Optional: wax paper, acrylic sealer (Mod Podge), clear Contac paper, picture frame
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Glue stick
This project is rated VERY EASY to EASY to do.
How To Make Paper Mosaics
Read all of the steps before starting.
- Step 1: Project Preparation
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Cut white cardstock or white construction paper as mosaic bases. Squares of 8 to 9 inches or rectangles 9 inches by 12 inches work well. Precut strips of colored paper in 1 inch and ½ inch widths. The children will cut the strips to make square, rectangle and triangle pieces.
- Step 2: Create Design
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Create a design for your mosaic on a piece of scratch paper. When creating a design, it is important to make it strong, clear and simple – flowers, birds, fish, and fruit work well. Remember that the empty spaces of a design are just as important as the drawn objects. Sketch your design to size on the mosaic base of white cardstock or white construction paper.
- Step 3: Cut Tiles
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Sort through the precut paper strips, selecting colors that fit with your design and make pleasing color combinations. Cut tiles from the paper strips in squares, rectangles, triangles, and diamonds, as needed.
- Step 4: Glue Tiles
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Glue the tiles to the paper to fill in the design. Place the tiles close together with white showing between the tiles like grout. It's best to work in small areas. Apply glue with a glue stick to a small area of the paper and then carefully place the paper tiles.
- Step 5: Finish Mosaic
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The mosaic can be used as is, or you may want to seal it, frame it, and/or mount it. For an easy frame, glue it to a larger sheet of colored construction paper. You could sandwich the mosaic between two sheets of clear Contac paper—cut the sheets 1 inch larger than the mosaic to create a ½ inch border. The mosaic could also be sealed with one or two coats of acrylic sealer (Mod Podge) and mounted on a board.
Before you start -
- Make a place to work.
- Read all the directions.
- Get everything you need to do the project.
- Think about the project. Imagine how it will look and what you will do with it.
Are you ready?
Okay, get started!!!
Tip: Spell out a word in block letters.
Tip: Geometric mosaics are also fun to create. Cut squares, rectangles, diamonds and/or triangles from two or more colors. Starting from a center point, arrange the tiles in a geometric shape. Add a row of tiles in another color around this shape. Continue adding rows until you have completed a pleasing design or filled the paper.
Tip: For the background, draw a ½-inch grid very lightly in pencil then fill it in with hatch marks using a colored pencil.