Jazz up Shady Areas of Your Garden with Sunflower Mosaics

I am always exploring different ways to brighten shady areas of my garden so with this in mind I decided to create colourful mosaics on stones. This was my first project which I positioned under a small palm.

Once I’d mapped out the design, I used stained glass to create the sunflower. However, you could equally use any substrate which offers the flexibility to cut into shapes.

The most difficult process for me was, and still is, cutting the centre circle for the flower as I am still not proficient cutting anything larger than leaves and flower petals, which I shape using nippers.

Another option for future projects I’ve since considered is to use a round flat pebble which I could paint and then cover with small beads for texture. We will see.

Materials
Stained Glass or similar substrate
Small beads for flower centre (I used beads from an old necklace)
Waterproof clear glue
Paintbrush to apply glue

Create your design: flowers, butterflies, lizard, gecko or whatever and mark out a rough outline on paper to use as a cutting template.
Mark out the template on the stone to make sure the flower is the right size, and the petals are evenly spaced. (or whatever design you choose) It might sound obvious, but the first circle I made was too large and I had to snip off about an inch in diameter so all the petals would fit and were evenly spaced.
Snip the glass to form petals, stem and leaves and glue into position.
Stick the beads to flower centre to add texture to the design.

Voilà!

I am also going to try decoupage for one of my next projects.

Have you got creative using rocks, stones or pebbles. If so what? Please share in comments below and/or link back to your blog post.

Related Posts:

A Great Way to Display Cacti and Succulents in Pots

Mosaic: Tree of Life or Thorn in My Side?

Creative Hobbies in Portugal – Mosaics