Ben's Easy Blue Mosaic Bird
Most of the work is done before you begin to glue any mosaic tiles to the board. First, print out the bluebird pattern, below and then cut around the outline of the bird shape.
Trace the bird shape onto your chosen type of mosaic backing. We cut ours from thin plywood, (thank you, Grandpa!), but you may choose concrete backer board because it cuts easily, and comes in 1/4″ and 1/2″ thick sheets. You'll discover the prices of concrete backer boards are inexpensive and easily found at local building supply stores. If you're making a gift you plan to ship later, you'll notice the 1/4" inch concrete backer board is nice and lightweight for shipping.
Watch more of the steps used to create the Blue Bird Mosaic by watching my video on YouTube. The next video shows Benjamin and I first playing with the same type of mosaic tiles to create a rooster. Practicing without a defined shape or using any glue helped to finish the bluebird mosaic much easier. By that time, Ben already suggested, "let's do the edges, first." I was simply seeing if we had enough tiles for the project!
The free downloadable bird pattern is on the next page.
Below, find the Blue Bird Mosaic Pattern to Save and Print with your home printer.
The "bluebird" outline above makes a versatile mosaic pattern to use as a child's mosaic project. The project you make will look different with your chosen mosaics and the shapes you choose. We choose soft-edged "jigsaw" mosaic tiles for our first time using this pattern, as they're great for creating children's soft-edged mosaics. The jigsaw mosaic tiles come in several colors and are really fun to use. There are lots of different mosaic tiles to choose from, and I encourage you to enjoy the process of selecting your favorites.
Benjamin is pictured above holding the second mosaic bird we created by using stained glass pieces I made with a good pair of mosaic nippers. These are sharp-edged! Using tweezers, Ben touched each piece into a bit of glue, and then he used tweezers to position the small pieces as we decided together where to place each piece. I recommend starting on the edges, next fill-in in larger areas, and working towards the center as you go.
I was happy to see Ben quickly understood the project and was able to concentrate on the task. We filled in the edges first and this made the rest of the mosaic easier. His small fingers were very handy for picking up the pieces and sorting them out by colors into different containers. We used items we had around the home, like cupcake tins to separate the colors. When we were done, we used plastic sandwich bags to store the sorted tiles by color.
He quickly learned how to carefully pick up sharper pieces on our second bird. This is definitely a project that demands supervision with young children, but it comes along quickly as you work together. The finished project will last for years!
