Mosaic Rose Trivet From Two Antique Plates

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I admit that I have a large collection of antique china from England although I'm not one of those people who store away their collections and never use them. I love to host tea parties and luncheons when I have time and when I do I usually take out my fine china. However, I'm not in the habit of cracking my china just to make mosaics. They are hands off when it comes to art and craft.

Having said that, I have quite a few pieces that are old with chips and cracks. Also, sometimes when I purchase them online, a few pieces get broken during delivery without proper packaging. I used to get upset when they get broken because it is such a waste but I've recently taken up recycling them by using them in my mosaics.

I've started quite a few projects but the one pictured above is my first finished one. For this I've used two Swinnertons Staffordshire 'Nestor Vellum' plates that had seen better days (I think they date from the 1950s). They were heavily crazed although it's not as noticable when made into mosaics.

This was how I made this teapot trivet.

1. Take a plate and put it between two layers of newspapers. Use something heavy such as a pestle and hit the plate. You need to be strategic when hitting the plate. Don't bash them all over the place as you'll end up with a million tiny pieces. Just crack where you want the plate to break. If you have glass cutters then use it to cut where you want the pieces to break. I actually used a glass cutter to cut it into amaller pieces.

2. Take a wooden trivet (from a craft outlet) and arrange the cracked pieces from the plate much like a jigsaw puzzle. Keep rearranging the pieces until you are pleased with the way they fit together. Remember to leave gaps between each piece. Glue them into place using craft glue.

3. Mix the grout in the colour of your choice until a paste is formed. Spread this over the mosaic, making sure you push the grout into all the cracks and around the edge. Wipe off excess. Let dry completely for 24 hours.

4. Sandpaper all the edges of the china pieces to make sure that they're not sharp. Clean the surface of the china and wood by wiping with a damp cloth. Take paint in your choice of colour and paint the side of the wooden trivet. Let dry. You might need another to paint another coat.

Pictures 5, 6 and 7 are of the finished product.

8. Enjoy your mosaic rose trivet.