Ruby Red Globe Ornament

This Ruby Red Globe Ornament from Diamond Tech will look absolutely stunning hanging from your tree this holiday season.  Made with beautiful ruby red mosaic pieces, this homemade Christmas decoration is classic and elegant.  Round pieces can be difficult to mosaic, so this is a project for those who have some experience working with these little glass pieces.  If you're a beginner, never fear!  Just take your time and soon you'll be a mosiac all-star!

Materials:

• 3 1/4” Glass or Plastic Ornament
• Glass Adhesive
• 1/3 Cup Mosaic Sanded Grout White
• 3 Tablespoons Russet or Brown Acrylic Paint
• Wheeled Glass Nippers
• Mixing Spoon
• Soft Cloth
• Marker
• Sponge
• Bowl
• Disposable Glove
• Safety glasses
• Pattern

Instructions:

1. To protect work area, cover with newspaper.
    
2. Collect all supplies needed for the project and place them on your surface.
    
3. Make two copies of the holly leaf and berry pattern. If using a larger diameter ornament, enlarge pattern size so leaf tip extends down to the middle of the ornament. Cut around the outer edge of one of the patterns. Tape or hold the pattern to the top of the ornament. Trace around the outline of this pattern with a semi-permanent marker.
    
4. Repeat this pattern two more times, evenly spacing the design around the top edge of the ornament.
    
5. Place the second pattern on the work surface. This will act as your template for glass placement. Place safety glasses on, now you are ready to nip your glass.
    
6. To create the yellow holly berry, place the berry pattern on a single yellow stained glass square and trace around the outline of the pattern.
    
7. Hold the yellow glass square in your fingers. Take the wheeled glass nippers in the opposite hand, open the jaws and place the yellow glass square between the blades of nippers. Squeeze nippers closed to nip glass, nip away at the edge of the glass along the outline of the pattern. To remove any rough edges from the circle, use a fingernail file and buff. Place glass berry on the template.
    
8. The holly leaves are made of dark and light green glass squares nipped into various sizes and shapes. When nipping the glass for this area remember, unevenness and variations are a part of the charm of mosaics, so don’t try to be exact.
    
9. Nip narrow rectangles to create the vertical leaf veins, glue into place. Fill in the leaf body with horizontal pieces. When arranging the glass on the pattern, leave at 1/16” - 1/8” space between the pieces.
    
10. Starting at the bottom of the ornament, mark the center of the ornament with a marker. The body of the ornament is made of 3/8” red glass squares. To create these small squares, nip a 3/4” glass square in half to creating two rectangles. Nip both rectangles in half again to form four 3/8” glass squares. Continue to quarter a supply of the glass squares for use in covering the ornament. Glue a single small red square to the bottom center of the ornament. Glue a circle of red squares around the center tile, nipping where needed to insure a proper fit. Continue to glue squares in horizontal circles around ornament until you reach the leaf area. Fill in around the leaves using small nipped pieces of the red glass to fit, glue into place. Allow glue to dry overnight before grouting.
     
11. Mix 1/3 cup of grout and 3 tablespoons of paint until a fudge-like consistency is achieved. If grout appears to dry, a small amount of water may be added to the mixture, 1 teaspoon at a time. With gloved hands, press grout between all gaps in glass over the entire surface. Let set for 10 minutes; remove excess grout with damp sponge, rinse sponge several times and wipe surface until it is free of grout.
     
12. When grout is thoroughly dry, use a soft cloth to polish the glass surface.