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More Easy Homemade Gifts:

Sculpey Clay Mosaic Tray

Document Frame Tray

Glass Marble Mosaic Tray

Decoupaged Gift Wrap Tray

Botanical Print Serving Tray

Stained Glass Mosaic Tray

This craft project gives you a chance to work with stained glass, without the need for complicated cutting and fitting. Just arrange the glass pieces in a pleasing mosaic, and secure with grout.

Copyright © 1999-2010 Susan Spatone All rights reserved.
Published with permission from CraftAtHome.com

Stained Glass Mosaic Tray
Craft Supplies:

Wood Tray

Stained Glass or any glass pieces of your choice

Gesso or Wood Sealer

Gloss Varnish

Household Goop or E6000 Glue

Tile Grout

Acrylic Paint (White and Yellow)

Sandpaper 220 Grit and 600 Grit

Crumble Resistant Sponge

Foam Paintbrush

Grout Sealer (optional)

Stained Glass Mosaic Tray
Craft Project Instructions:

Begin by sanding your tray with 220 sandpaper to a clean smooth finish and apply one coat of gesso to entire tray with the exception of the bottom inside where you will be placing your glass pieces.

Lay your stained glass along the inside bottom of tray to cover entire surface (you can begin without first placing your pieces, but if you're new at this, lay them out first).

Now that you're happy with your pattern, begin to glue your pieces of glass in place. You don't need a lot of glue on each piece, just enough to hold the piece in place. Once you have finished gluing all your pieces in place, prepare your grout mixture as instructed on the package. If you are using ready mixed grout, add a little water (a few drops at a time) to make spreading the grout easier.

Once your pieces are secure and no longer move (this takes less than an hour), spread your grout over the entire top of the glass and gently press the grout into all the seams, making sure there are no air pockets below the grout.

Allow tray to sit for about 10 minutes, do not wait longer or you will have a much more difficult time removing the excess grout.

With a damp sponge, gently wipe away any excess grout from the surface, rinsing your sponge constantly. Be sure to wipe away any grout that has made its way onto the wood surface. Wipe all grout from glass now, as you will have a terrible time trying to remove it if you wait until later.

Allow your grout to dry overnight without disturbing it. Now, just paint your tray with a couple of coats of paint. I used white on the inside as this colour improves the appearance of the mosaics and yellow on the outside.

Allow each coat of paint to dry completely before applying the next and finish your tray off with a final coat of gloss varnish. Using gloss varnish rather than semi-gloss or matte is much prettier as the glass has the high gloss finish and will reflect off of the gloss paint finish.

Finally, to help protect your grout from staining use a grout sealer (available at home improvement centers), following manufacturer's instructions.