Mosaic Birdhouse

By: Jeanne Baruth for Diamond Tech

Give birds a taste of the finer things in life with this Mosaic Birdhouse. Mosaic tile patterns like these have been used decoratively for hundreds of years, and now you can take advantage of their style and simplicity with this easy project from Diamond Tech.

Materials:

2 pkgs. – Antiquity Mosaics™ Golden Travertine
1 pkg. - Jennifer’s Mosaics™ Variety Stained Glass
2 pkg. - Jennifer’s Mosaics™ Blue Stained Glass
½ oz. - Fuseworks™ Milliefiori
Jennifer’s Mosaics™ Wheeled Glass Nippers
Jennifer’s Mosaic™ White Grout
1 Bead (for doorknob)
Green Stained Glass scraps for leaves
1 - ¾ x ¾ Mirror Tile
Silicone or Mosaic Adhesive
Latex Glove
Safety Glasses
Mixing Spoon
Paper
Scrubby or Soft Cloth
Disposable or Plastic Bowl
Fine Sand Paper

Instructions:

Start with a wooden birdhouse. Lightly sand it with fine sand paper. Wipe off all debris with a clean dry cloth and paint with a primer. Allow to dry.
Because birdhouses will vary in size, start by creating a paper template of each side, you will use this to layout your tiles before gluing them to the surface.
Start with the sides. Nip blue stained glass chips in half with wheeled nippers.
Place rectangles in a brick pattern. To do so start across the bottom of the template horizontally. Leave 1/8” space between all glass pieces, for grout lines.
Center the first rectangle of the second row over the first and second rectangle of the first row. Place the second rectangle over second and third rectangle of the first row. Nip glass to fit where necessary. Continue alternating the position of the glass to form the faux brick façade of your birdhouse). Do this for both sides and back of house.
Once tile has been arranged on the template, place a bit of glue on the back of each piece and glue it to the side of the birdhouse. Complete all three sides and allow to dry.
Next, use the template created for the front of the house and position the window and door pattern on the template.
To create the window, place one mirror tile to the right of the door. Nip a white chip in half and place each piece on either side of the mirror for shutters. For the window box, nip two marble Antiquity Mosaics™ tiles in half. Place the halves parallel and just below the mirror tile. Position the remaining two halves on top of them to form a flower box.
Randomly arrange milliefiori and thin nipped strips of green stained glass just above the window box.
To create the door, nip 4 white glass tiles in half. Place 3 halves vertically side by side, centered at the bottom of the template. Place one and a half rectangles horizontally on top, positioning a metal bead in the same row. Finish by placing the remaining 3 chips vertically across the top. Remember to always leave 1/8” between the rows and the glass pieces.
Nip white glass chips into quarters to create ½” x ½” squares, enough to circle around the opening of the birdhouse. Nip blue stained glass chips into thirds and layout the same as sides in step 3.
Our birdhouse had a flat perch at the bottom, which we covered in nipped yellow chips to create a stoop.
Once everything is laid out as you like, pick each piece up and glue it to the front of the birdhouse.
We embellished the stoop with a tiny mailbox made from polymer clay.
Place Antiquity Mosaic ™ Golden Travertine diagonally on the roof template. Allow the tiles to extend over the side and bottom edges of the roof but not the top. Nip top tips off of tile to make a straight line.
Nip marble tiles into quarters and use them to finish the edges of the roof.
When you are happy with the design, it is time to transfer the tile to the surface of the birdhouse and glue into place
Once glue has dried mix two cups of white grout, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Wearing latex glove, spread grout on to the surface of the birdhouse. Press grout into all the spaces between the glass and marble pieces. Wait about 15 minutes for grout to set.
Gently wipe away excess grout using a scrubby, taking care not to pull away grout from between glass pieces. It is very important to remove any grout on tile surfaces before grout is completely dry.
Use a soft cloth to buff glass to a clean shine. Allow 24 hours for mosaic piece to dry thoroughly.