How To Draw A Mosaic Slime

If yous're looking for an outdoor projection that's a chip off the beaten path, a pebble mosaic will give your yard, garden, or walkway a unique and unexpected focal signal. Though the materials to build it are pretty basic—flat pebbles or cobbles from a rock yard (or ordered online); physical mix, gravel, and stone dust for the base of operations—your blueprint can be anything but.

This Onetime House senior technical editor Marking Powers used two- and 3-inch polished stones from Rock Decorative to create this spiral-pattern mosaic, which tin can be scaled up or down depending on the size of your site and the stones y'all select. "Only be sure to lay the stones on edge for added strength and stability," he says.

Pebble Mosaic Overview

Project Timeline

Fri: Sort the stones and lay out the pattern

Saturday: Lay the base, set the stones, and let the concrete brainstorm to cure

Sunday: Grout the stones into identify

How to Make a Pebble Mosaic

1. Prep and Sort the Stones

Spread out the stones near your projection area. Rinse off dirt and grit, then sort stones of similar color and size into piles or buckets.

2. Lay Out the Mosaic

Spread the sand to a depth of iii inches in a sandbox made from scrap plywood or on a plastic tarp or sheeting.
Lay the stones upright in the sand in a pattern and shape you like; the sand volition hold the stones in place equally you work. The stones should be packed together tightly, with parallel stones touching each other in their middles. Don't lay all the stones parallel, though—varying their management will go along them from shifting out of identify. (We created a double- spiral pattern, with one fix of stones laid perpendicular to the other.) When y'all're happy with your mosaic, take a photo of it and annotation its size and shape for later reference.

3. Prep the Projection Site

Person Preps Pebble Mosaic Site On Stone Dust

The mosaic should sit level with or slightly higher than the surrounding ground and so that water won't collect on tiptop of it; accept this into account when selecting your project site.

Dig out an area at to the lowest degree 1 pes larger than your mosaic on all sides to a depth of 6 to viii inches. (This will ensure proper drainage of the base and create plenty space around the mosaic to add together edging.)
Tamp 6 inches of paver base and a 1-inch layer of stone dust into the excavated area.
Pour dry concrete mix into the middle of the installation spot, and use a 2x4 to screed the mix to an even 2-inch layer that extends 2 inches beyond the mosaic'due south footprint on all sides.

iv. Dampen the Concrete Mix

Using a garden sprayer or a hose with a fine-mist attachment, lightly mist the concrete mix until its texture changes from a loose pulverisation to a crumbly, dirt-like consistency.

5. Mark the Mosaic's Shape

For a round mosaic, tie a large nail to each finish of a piece of string cut to the length of the circumvolve'due south radius.
Push i blast into the middle of the installation spot, pull the string taut, and draw a circumvolve in the mix with the second nail. Draw a second circle at half the radius for an boosted visual guide.

Tip: One bag of concrete mix will exist enough to create a mosaic that'southward about 10 foursquare feet.

6. Place the Heart Stones

Person Places Center Stone For Pebble Mosaic

To brand the mosaic sturdy, outset bury the lesser third of the stones in the concrete mix. (Later, when all the stones are in place, you'll add a finer topping mix between the joints; encounter step 10.)
Starting in the eye, use a garden spade to dig a shallow hole in the damp concrete mix.
Place the outset rock on border in the hole and pack physical around it, holding information technology upright with your fingers.

7. Lay Stones Alongside the Center Stone

Person Lays Stones Along Center Stone Of Pebble Mosaic

Using the spade, dig shallow holes in the concrete mix next to the apartment sides of the center stone.
Ready the 2nd and third stones in place next to the showtime stone. Once more, use your fingers to pack the mix tightly around them.

eight. Fill in the Pattern

Working from the center outward, continue laying stones as described in stride 7. The joints between the stones should be tight, and the stones should touch each other in their middles. (It helps to place stones of similar size next to each other and to introduce smaller or larger stones gradually, as your pattern dictates.) Try to keep the tiptop of the stones even as yous lay them.

9. Set the Remaining Stones

Person Places Lumber Across Pebble Mosaic To Level It

When you lot're finished laying a small section, place a 4x4 across it and strike it with a rubber mallet to set and level the stones. (Don't exist tempted to substitute a 2x4 here—it may bounce or bow when you lot strike it.)
When the mosaic is consummate, lay edging or a field of pavers, bricks, or bluestones around it to hold the design together.
Fill any big gaps in the mosaic with a chip of extra concrete mix, so mist the mosaic to fully saturate the concrete below the stones, and cover it with a plastic tarp. Let cure overnight.

10. Spread the Topping Mix

Person Spreads Topping Mix Over Pebble Mosaic

Uncover the mosaic and brand sure the stones are dry.
Scatter topping mix onto the stones, working on a small section at a fourth dimension, and use a paint brush to spread the mix into the joints betwixt stones. Leave a reveal if y'all like; it should be no more one-third of the stones' summit.

Tip: The more than topping mix you add together, the harder the mosaic volition set. In high-traffic areas, fill the joints until the mix sits close to or flush with the tops of the stones.

11. Saturate and Shape the Mix

Person Brushes Pebble Mosaic After Saturating And Shaping The Mix

Lightly mist the topping mix until it's fully saturated. (You can add more mix at this indicate if the get-go layer settled too much afterward you misted information technology.)
Allow the mix to absorb the water, then allow information technology cure for xxx to 60 minutes. Apply a strong-bristled brush to dress and shape the joints to your liking.

12. Let the Mosaic Cure

Person Lays Plastic Tarp Over Pebble Mosaic To Hold In Moisture While It Cures

Cover the mosaic with the plastic tarp to concur in moisture while it cures. For a harder cure, uncover the mosaic and mist information technology a few times over the class of a day or two every bit it begins to set. Full curing may take a couple of weeks, depending on the weather condition.
When it'southward complete, vitrify the stones with a damp cloth to remove concrete residue.