Upcycling a Thrift Store Find with Paper Mosaics

A few weeks ago I was cruising my favorite thrift store when I spotted some small framed mirrors. There were six of them, all identical to each other. Their 11 inch square, plain black frames were perfectly flat. Their backs still bore Ikea labels. Surprisingly, they were in very good shape despite having been tossed haphazardly into a bin. I snapped up three of them then and there but now regret not buying the entire lot when I had the chance. At just $1.51 each they were bargains!

From the minute I saw them I knew they'd be ideal candidates for a makeover with paper mosaics. I've just completed the first of the three, shown below:

Paper "tiles" in shades of blue, blue green, violet, and yellow green revive this thrift store mirror. To avoid reflections while photographing it I temporarily covered the mirror area with black card stock.

Will I put it in my Etsy shop or keep it? I haven't decided yet.

A paper mosaic treatment is a great way to update an old, shabby or dated-looking thrift store find. Or that beat up piece of furniture that's been languishing for years in your garage. Whether you call it upcycling, rescuing or rehabbing, the end result is spectacular. All it takes is patience, a variety of papers, decoupage medium, a flat artist's brush, a ruler, scissors or a paper cutter, paper towel or a soft cloth, and a utility knife or X-acto knife.

Here's how, step by step:

1. Clean the surface of the item to be covered to remove all traces of dust and dirt.
2. You may have to scuff a slick surface with sandpaper to provide some "tooth." If so, remove any sanding dust before proceeding.
3. Cut your papers into strips. The strips can be all the same width, as on the mirror above (mine were all one inch wide) or they can be cut to different widths. The length of the strips can vary according to your preference, but it's easier to work with short strips rather than long ones. The length of the longest strip on my mirror was four inches.
4. Try out various color and pattern combinations to see how they look together. You can plan your arrangement out in advance (take a picture with your cell phone to help you remember where things go). Or you can just wing it. I chose to wing it.
5. Apply decoupage medium (my preference was Modge Podge) evenly to the back of a paper strip and press it onto the surface. Smooth out any air bubbles. If excess medium oozes out from underneath, gently blot it up with a slightly dampened cloth or paper towel.
6. Continue adding paper strips as above, positioning them snugly against one another until the surface is completely covered with the paper "tiles." Allow to dry for at least 24 hours (it can take longer in very humid conditions for it to dry completely).
7. Trim excess paper from edges. For the mirror, I placed it face down on a cutting mat and trimmed off excess paper with an X-acto knife with a sharp, brand new blade.
8. Apply another coat of decoupage medium to the surface. Allow to dry thoroughly.
9. Apply one or more coats of acrylic varnish to help protect the surface from dust, fingerprints and scratches. Allow each coat to dry thoroughly before applying the next coat.


Tips:
Use papers of a similar thickness for a nice smooth finish. Text weight papers are easiest to work with.
A paper cutter makes cutting the strips go much easier and faster. Be sure to use a fresh new blade!
For a different but equally appealing look, you can paint the item in a single color first using acrylic or latex paint, then apply the paper strips, leaving small gaps between them.

Text and images ©2014 Lynn Edwards

I've Been Liberated!

Manually cutting teeny tiny pieces of paper, some no wider than an eighth of an inch, is a v-e-r-y time consuming chore. But it's unavoidable when these microscopic bits form the basis for my latest designs, a limited edition collection of mosaic themed jewelry. After hours bent over my worktable with scissors in hand, suffering hand cramps and eye strain, I kept thinking there has to be a better way.

And lo, it turns out there is! I vaguely remembered seeing a collage once in which a square "window" had been made on one of the papers. The description had said something about a paper punch being used to to create the opening. Hmmmm.....With a perfectly square piece of paper I could easily mark off tiny strips from it with precision, then cut them easily with a scissors. So off I went to Michaels, where I snagged a manual paper punch for $6 --- 40 percent off the regular $10 price with a coupon. It makes 1 1/2 inch square paper "tiles."

Let the fun begin! Brought it back to the studio and started punching papers like there was no tomorrow. Hand painted deli papers, stained tissue papers, origami papers, found pages from old catalogs ... the punch turned out dozens perfectly proportioned little "tiles" in just minutes. OMG I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! (I can hear you scrapbookers chortling and rolling on the floor laughing your heads off at my ignorance. You've probably been using these devices since the last Ice Age but this fantastic little gadget is totally new to me!)

Anyway, now a huge pile of little paper squares in all different colors and patterns is sitting on my worktable. It's a heady feeling. Oh, the many, many possibilities! When I look at the mosaic beads I've been making, like the one below, I begin to realize just how much this tool is going to revolutionize my work process.

Without a punch, a bead like this takes me two hours to make. It demands endless measuring to cut each paper strip as straight as possible with a scissors. The punch does away with the most tedious and difficult part, which is cutting the small starter "tiles" with absolutely precise 90 degree angles so all subsequent cuts made from them are straight. Even though I've been using a plastic square to measure, the extremely small scale made it very difficult to get it right. The square would shift slightly or I'd fail to keep the marking pencil pressed firmly against its edge. This resulted in many a do-over. And made it one heckuva slow, inefficient way to make the beads. But now all that has been eliminated. So break open the champagne! Release the balloons! Let's celebrate liberation from drudgery! Let's toast whoever invented the paper punch! Whoo-hoo!!! 

Text and image ©2014 Lynn Edwards

How to Make "Stained Glass" Mosaic Cards

Last week I decided to play with some old magazine pages, using them to make note cards that ended up looking like stained glass mosaics. The combination of patterns and colors on these cards somehow reminds me of the glass seen in cathedral windows.

I started by tearing color photos out of some old magazines, then stamped designs over the photos using  rubber stamps and permanent ink. After the ink was completely dry I cut the photos into pieces of varying sizes to create "tiles.". Then I measured a piece of colored cardstock to fit the front of a blank Strathmore note card, available at most arts and crafts stores. I trimmed the cardstock so that it was slightly smaller than the face of the note card so there would be some visual contrast at the card's edges.

One of several designs I created, prior to being adhered to the blank note cards

Next, I arranged the "tiles" on the cardstock. When I found a composition I liked, I used an Elmer's glue stick to glue them into place. (I prefer the Elmer's brand because it glides on very smoothly, making it easy to get good, even coverage with the glue.) Once all the pieces were stuck down on the cardstock, I placed a clean sheet of wax paper over it and rolled a rubber brayer over the wax paper. Then I removed the wax paper and adhered the cardstock to the front of the note card. The result: a colorful handmade card perfect for sending to that special friend or relative!

All text and images on this page ©2013 Lynn Edwards