[IMG1 L]	Turn broken plates or cups into art as a decorative frame for a mirror

If you don't have any broken crockery, you'll find plenty of cheap, colourful items in second-hand shops or at garage sales.

You'll need:
Materials
350mm x 350mm plywood (17mm thick)
Coloured glass in dark blue and light blue (or use glass or ceramic mosaic tiles)
China in patterned blue tones
Small blue-green glass beads, 20 long, 20 short Large, flat beads in dark blue and light blue
Small amount of gold china
Large gold beads
Multi-purpose tile adhesive
Yellow grout
Yellow paint
Frame hanger hook
160mm x 160mm mirror
4 small swivel latches

Tools
Pencil
Ruler
Drill
Jigsaw
Router (optional)
Sharp chisel
Goggles and mask
Tile nippers
Mixing containers
Palette knife
Rubber gloves
Sponges
Rags or cloths
Brush

Here's how:

Preparation

1. Cut a hole in the plywood to accommodate the mirror. Use a pencil and ruler and draw a 150mm x 150mm square in the centre of the piece of plywood (or draw the square to fit the size of your mirror).

2. Drill a hole in the centre of the plywood square, large enough for a jigsaw blade to fit in, and use the jigsaw to cut out a square, following the marked lines.

3. To create a ledge for the mirror to sit on, run a 5mm rebate routing bit on the back of the frame, around the inside frame area. Use a sharp chisel to square off the rounded corners. If you don't have a router, draw a line 5mm in from the internal edge and, with a sharp chisel, remove wood to the depth of 5mm.

4. Wearing goggles and a mask, cut the pieces of glass and china into irregularly sized triangular shapes (these smaller pieces of china or tile are called tesserae). As it's difficult to estimate how many tesserae you'll need, cut enough pieces to start work and then cut more as you need them.

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5. Lay out a section of the design on the frame to get an idea of the overall effect. We used larger pieces of dark blue glass around the outside edge, the broken china in the centre, and the light blue glass and glass beads around the inside of the frame. Keeping to one or two colours helps to unify the design.

Fixing the tesserae

6. Using the palette knife, apply tile adhesive along one side of the frame and stick the pieces of dark blue glass around the outer border. Complete all four sides in this manner.

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7. Stick the small glass beads around the inner edge of the frame, alternating the two sizes of beads. Spread the adhesive in a thin line on one side, stick on the beads, and then start work on the next side. Add a row of small pieces of light blue glass around the beads.

8. Following the photograph as a guide, add in the two flat beads in the corners of the frame: the four dark blue beads are placed on the outer corners and the light blue beads are placed on the inner corners.

9. Loosely fill in the remaining area with pieces of china. Use small pieces of gold tesserae (these were cut from a gold plate) and gold-coloured beads to highlight the design and fill in any small spaces.

10. When the surface of the frame is complete, allow the adhesive to set for 1-2 hours.

11. Cut small pieces of glass to be used around the inner and outer edges of the frame. Use rectangular pieces of dark blue glass for the outer edge, and small squares of light blue for the inner edge. Spread the adhesive on one side of the frame at a time and stick the glass tesserae in place. When working on the inner edge, be careful that the glass tesserae do not protrude into the rebated edge, as this is where the mirror will sit. Allow 24 hours for the adhesive to dry thoroughly before grouting.

Finishing

12. Mix the yellow grout according to the manufacturer's instructions. Wearing rubber gloves, apply the grout with your hands (take care not to cut your hands on the uneven edges), ensuring it fills all the gaps between the tesserae.

13. Wipe off the excess grout with a damp sponge, rinsing the sponge as you work. You will need to go over the surface several times to ensure all the grout is removed. Allow to dry for 24 hours.

14. A light film of residual grout will be left on the surface once it dries - polish it off with a clean, dry rag.

15. Paint the back of the frame with yellow paint to protect the plywood. Add the frame hanger hooks.

16. Insert the mirror into the frame. Hold the mirror in place by fitting four small swivel latches.

Source: Mosaics (Murdoch Books)