How To Make A Mosaic Snail

 Adding your own mosaic work to your garden is a great way of giving it personality & life, and what better way to do this than with some cute little creatures like this snail. It's a fun project that can be completed in a few days by all; you could even get some older children involved to share the fun!

Project Instructions  

Materials

• Garden Snail
• A selection of mosaic tiles
• Glass Gems for eyes x 1 packet
• Adhesive - A waterproof cement based adhesive
• Brown grout
• Grout Sealer
• Glass Tile Cutters
• Grout additive

Directions

1. Seal your base, as teracotta is porous you will need to seal the base to prevent the adhesive and grout from drying out. You could use grout additive for this purpose (it has a dual role) or diluted PVA adhesive. It is recommended that you apply 3 coats of sealer, allowing the coat to dry completely before applying the next.

2. Nip the tiles into the following the required shapes

3. Gluing your tiles to the snail - We have used a waterproof cement based adhesive.

• I started with the upper shell and used rectangular tiles to create a brickwork pattern.
• Next was the shell, which is formed using the tiles you've cut into square, four different colours. The centre of the snail's shell was created using a 2 cm tile nipped into a circle shape.
• The bottom of the snail was created using the triangular tiles laid in an irregular pattern.
• Lastly the head & neck of the snail was laid using triangles, larger triangles at the bottom and smaller triangles on the top of the head.
• Two opaque back mini glass gems were used for the eyes.

Note: you may need to do some additional cutting of the tiles in this step to get them to fit your pattern. Once complete allow the adhesive to full cure for 24 hours before grouting.

4. Grouting

Brown grout colour + grout additive

Mix Grout and spread over the snail, wipe away any excess as you go. Allow to dry until a haze appears which you wipe away with a soft cloth.

Grout additive is available from hardware or tiling specialists. It is added to grout to help improve its flexibilty and stop the grout from cracking.

Apply a grout sealer to assist with weather proofing (optional).

Go to our 'Beginners Guide to Grouting' for more guidance.