Mosaics are enjoying a renewed popularity these days but today's projects were a twist on the more familiar. These were made with paper and punches giving them a familiar but still a very new look. Because all of the "tiles" were punched from paper they had no weight so even another piece of paper or paper mache box or cardboard frame or foam wig stand could serve as a background. No grouting required! Here is a project that is easy enough for the youngsters to try yet challenging enough for any adult.
Materials:
newspaper, magazine pages, gift-wrap paper, card stock, etc.
item to cover - use cardboard brame, foam wig stand, paper mache box, etc.
paper punches - square, circle, triangle, heart
acrylic medium for adhesive and protective coating
brush for applying medium
small scissors
Steps:
- Gather the papers you will be using for the "tiles" and punch many, many squares plus any other shapes you might wish to use. Cutting the various shapes in half will give you many more shapes.
- Paint the item you will be covering. This will be the color of the "grout". When the paint is dry brush a small area with the acrylic medium and apply some of the punched out pieces. The medium dries very quickly so only cover a small area at a time. If you will be making a design it is best to apply those pieces first and fill in the background afterward exactly as you would do if making a standard mosaic.
- When all of the tiles are in place brush over the entire area with one or two coats of the medium.
Items Shown . . . Small paper mache box painted black and decorated with "tiles" punched from brightly colored card stock. Several free form flowers were the main pattern. All were punched using hearts, triangles and circles. Many were cut in half to give different shapes. The background tiles were all squares.
. . . Punched paper pieces glued to a piece of paper to make a picture. All pieces were punched from newspaper and magazine pages as well as gift wrap. Triangles, squares, circles and hearts were used. Many were also cut in half.
. . . A foam wig stand which was purchased at a wig store for $2.50 was the basis for another mosaic. The foam was first covered with torn pieces of a brown paper grocery bag applied like paper mache using a water and flour paste. The paper was not painted but left in its natural state. The hair was made entirely of square pieces in different shades of black and brown punched from magazine pages. The face was also made with squares and the jewelry and facial features were all punched circles, triangles and hearts.
The two picture frames from Mixed Nuts were square with a square area in the center that can be pushed all of the way out, partially out or left in place. On one frame the center was covered with a young girl's face and the crown above it was composed of various punched out paper pieces then enhanced further with photos of the royal family plus brightly colored glass "jewels" from the craft store. A row of beaded fringe was wrapped around the outside border of the frame
The final frame featured a beach scene, which was a photo taken on the crafter's (Pamela Toache) family vacation in Cancun. It covered the center area of the frame and was pushed forward in relief. The remaining portion of the frame was turned into a mosaic beach scene with all of the paper squares cut from a Cancun brochure. A few starfish on the beach were made with a star punch and the fish in the ocean were also from the brochure.
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