Mosaic Project

My friend, Stacy, and I are the art docents in Hayley's sixth grade class.  We were recently asked to coordinate a class project to be put into the school on-line auction.  Stacy and I have always wanted to try a mosaic project, so we decided to tackle a stained glass mosaic top coffee table with this group of sixth graders.  Wow... we had sooooo much fun with this and were so pleased with the final result, but we certainly did not know what we were getting in for!  It took about 7 hours alone of prep time (we cut up all of the stained glass) and Stacy drew the design on the table.

We had each of the 30 kids work on the table.  We did this over a period of four 2-hour sessions.  It was so neat to see how all of the kids got in to this project!  They were all very serious about puzzle piecing in just the right stained glass.  They definitely took a lot of pride in this project!  Some of the kids even gave up their recess time to continue the work!

Stacy and I did have to put in approximately 2 more hours of this on our own... there just wasn't enough time to get in another session with the kids.

It was so neat to see the progress made each day.  I think at this point, Stacy and I both knew that this was going to turn out beautifully!  In the photo below, you can see the how Stacy mapped out the pattern with lines and the names of what color goes where.

Stacy and I decided to leave the grouting to the grown-ups.  We were concerned about possible cuts happening with this process.

Aerial view of the completed table...

Side view of coffee table...

Close-up view of the pattern with the grouting...

Well, I think Stacy and I would both agree that this was a most enjoyable project.  Even when working with crazy sixth grade kids, this was a very relaxing craft!  We are both going to get together and do another project in the near future.