Mosaic Christmas Bricks

Mosaic Christmas crafts add a dash of color to anyone's space. Use tiles and plain bricks to create your own homemade Mosaic Christmas Bricks from Heidi Borchers. This is a fun project to make and display in your home or outside. You can also give some to friends as gifts.

Materials:

Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue
Brick (or half thickness brick) available at your local home improvement stores
Tree pattern(s) of your choice and pencil
Mosaic tiles – two colors of your choice plus mirror tile
Wheeled tile nipper
Grout (sanded)
Gloves
Water and sponge in large washable plastic bowl
Cotton swabs
Paper towels
Windex
Optional: Grout sealer (available at home improvement stores), felt, scissors

Instructions:

Trace pattern onto brick with pencil.
Glue pieces of stained glass onto brick top and sides leaving just a small space in between. Let dry completely.
Mix grout according to package directions (it should look like the thickness of peanut butter).
Pick up grout with hands and begin to rub onto the tiles, pressing grout in between tiles taking caution not to cut your fingers on any tile edges. Wipe away excess grout with gloved hands and return excess grout to container.
Dip sponge in water and wring out as much water as you can. The sponge should only be slightly damp. Wipe all tiled surfaces of brick with sponge, returning excess grout to container. Continue to rinse sponge in water and wring out and wipe off excess grout. Leave grout to dry for about 30 minutes until a hazy film forms on top of tiles. (You can speed up this step by drying with a hair dryer until a hazy film forms). Your grout will not be dry, but will be dry enough to wipe off in the next step.
Use cotton swab and paper towels to wipe the hazy film away from tiles. You do not need to get the tiles completely clean in this step. Let dry completely for 24 hours.
Toss excess grout directly into trash and discard water outdoors. Do not pour water down drain!
For the final clean-up, apply Windex to paper towel and clean off all tiles.
If you plan on using your mosaic brick outdoors you will need to apply a grout sealer according to package instructions.
If using your mosaic brick indoors, cut felt to fit back and glue in place. Let glue dry.