How to Make No Days Mosaic Nightlights

Tools & Materials:

• glass base - can be a circle, square, rectangle of plate glass or stained glass (textured stained glass adds a nice look)
• scrap glass, tiles, millefiori, etc.
• mosaic nippers
• circle cutting system (if you're going to cut circles, this is the easiest solution aside from buying them)
• glass grinder
• safety glasses
• No Days Mosaic Adhesive
• standard heat gun or embossing heat tool
• long tweezers
• night light hardware
• sanded grout : container to mix it in, water, gloves, paper towels (You can use No Days Groutless Mosaic Adhesive to skip this step, but you may need to use a different adhesive for gluing the bail, or come up with a creative jig for holding the clip.)

Start by cutting your base piece of glass. If you want to cut circles, here are a couple of videos to help you with that...

How to cut circles using a circle cutter:


I am using plate glass in the video above. However, plate glass can be kind of brittle. If you're having a hard time, you could try using Spectrum's System 96 clear glass; it cuts like butter!

How to cut circles using a the Morton teeny tiny circle cutter:


After you've cut your glass bases, you need to make sure that the edges aren't going to bite anyone. So, get on the grinder and soften them up. Just make sure to get rid of the sharp corners. When grinding glass, you need to use water. If you're unsure of how to do this, find a local stained glass shop and they'll show you what you need to do. They can sell you a grinder or rent you one to use in the shop. If you're really lucky, they'll let you rent it for take home use, but very few shops do this!

The short video above shows my grinder set up. I've got  Mr. Splash that lives behind my grinder to prevent splashing glass dust and water from getting everywhere. I wear safety glasses while grinding, but have often had glass bits fly at my face, so to prevent that I have a sheet of 1/4" plate glass that rests across the top of my splash guard.

Now, you're ready to start building your mosaic. Start by cutting the No Days Mosaic Adhesive to the size of your glass base. Nip various bits of glass or follow a pattern and cover your glass substrate (base). When you've got it filled, you're ready to heat set the No Days Mosaic Adhesive. Make sure you're working on a heat proof surface and that you've made sure that all melt-ables are out of the way. (This includes excess adhesive!)

Using an electric skillet to heat set glass on glass mosaics.

 If you've got an electric skillet or toaster oven, you can use those to heat set the adhesive, as well. Set the temperature to 200º F (93º C) and let them cook for 10-15 minutes.  As the adhesive liquefies, some of the mosaic bits may move around. While the mosaic is still hot, use your tweezers to nudge the pieces into place. Then, let the mosaic cool while you assemble your grouting station:

Grouting can be messy, so I like to grout outside!

Gather your grout, a mixing cup, water, and gloves. When your mosaic has cooled, it's ready to grout. Check out the video below to see the grouting process, starting at minute 4:00...



 Now, you need to glue the nightlight clip on the back of your mosaic. Cut a small length of No Days Mosaic Adhesive, about 2" x 1/4." Place the adhesive film on the back of the nightlight clip and put that on the back of your mosaic where you want it to attach.

Cut a 1/4" strip of No Days Mosaic Adhesive to put
under the night light clip.

Working on the heatproof surface again (I use a square homosote board. Most big box hardware stores carry this in large sizes, but some stained glass shops have this cut into smaller sizes.), turn your heat gun on and have your tweezers out to hold onto the clip while you hit it with heat. It's possible that if you heat too long, your mosaic pieces could fall out. But, I didn't have this problem. You have to heat long enough to get your glass base hot, and I stopped when the grout started to become blacker (that means the adhesive is wet). However, if you attach your clip right after grouting, you won't see this happen, because the grout is still wet.

Use tweezers to hold the clip in place while heat
setting the adhesive.

Again, let your mosaic cool down, so the clip is firmly attached.

I prefer the screw on clip for night lights because you can
really firm up the grip on the nightlight shade.

  Then put your nightlight hardware together and your night light is ready to plug in!

No Days Mosaic Nightlight by Carrie Strope Sohayda

NO Days Q Stik Mosaic Adhesive for Interior Mosaic Mounting

 No Days Q Stik Mosaic Adhesive from Streuter Technologies is a heat set adhesive with an easy peel backing that reveals an industrial strength, pressure sensitive adhesive, ideal for permanently mounting mosaic design elements to interior surfaces, from picture frames, mirrors, mirror frames, and furniture, as well as wall spaces.

Streuter’s heat set adhesive offers the convenience of being able to quickly cure tiles in place for immediate grouting, as well as the freedom of being able to remove or reposition tiles easily if you change your mind or the design. The thickness of the heat set adhesive allows it to fully conform even around contours of thick, porous or uneven tiles creating a strong bond. The addition of the pressure sensitive adhesive allows for even more flexibility in using the heat set adhesive, including working on glass surfaces such as mirror without worry of thermal shock, or the ability to vertically mount tile without using  silcone, thinset or mortar.

Creating Glass on Glass Mosaics with NO Days Mosaic Adhesive

Glass on Glass with No Days Mosaic Adhesive

Using NO Days Mosaic Adhesive to create glass on glass mosaics is a quick and easy way to finish a stained glass window without having to worry about lead or solder.


Begin by cutting all of your glass pieces to fit your pattern.


Place the NO Days Mosaic Adhesive on your glass substrate, cut to size and begin building your mosaic. When all of your glass pieces are in place, you’re ready to heat set the adhesive.

Quick & Easy Mosaics with NO Days Groutless Mosaic Adhesive

No Days Groutless Mosaic Adhesive


No Days Groutless Mosaic Adhesive from Streuter Technologies is a non-toxic adhesive film that allows you to both glue  and “grout” in one step, eliminating the mess and wait time of traditional adhesives and grout! 


Before beginning any large project with new materials or techniques, it’s always helpful to create a small sample piece so you’ll have a better idea of how much adhesive you’ll need to use for particular projects. 

Creating a Vertical Mount Mosaic Using NO Days Mosaic Mesh

NO Days Mosaic Mesh for “indirect” mosaic application


No Days Mosaic Mesh is a fiberglass mesh coated with NO Days Mosaic Adhesive that allows you to build your mosaic on a flat surface and then mount it horizontally or vertically to your substrate using ThinSet, Mortar, Cement or Mastic.  


Begin by creating your pattern template. You can trace your design directly on the mesh using a permanent marker.  No Days Mosaic Mesh can be easily trimmed to size using scissors or a craft blade. If you need to, you can stitch the mesh together.  Place it on your template and cut to size. You can also temporarily hold it together with scotch tape on the back side. Alternatively, you can overlap mesh pieces and heat set them together to build custom shapes and sizes, allowing you to secure your design in large or small sections.

How to Create an Outdoor Stepping Stone Mosaic with No Days Adhesive

No Days Mosaic Stepping Stone

Tools & Materials:
-Paving Stone from home improvement store
-No Days Mosaic Adhesive Film (2 layers)
-heat gun
-sheets of stained glass
-tweezers
-glass cutting tools
-sanded grout


Approximate Time Start to Finish: 60-90 minutes depending upon size of stone, and skill level

Creating a Collage Mosaic with No Days Adhesive

Materials & Tools:
-mosaic tiles
-wooden substrate
-No Days Mosaic Adhesive Film
-standard heat gun
-tweezers
-scissors
-sanded grout
-container for mixing grout
-gloves
-water
-tape for masking edges of frame

Approximate Time: 2-3 hours

Creating Faux Gold Leaf Mosaics with glueFOIL

Creating Faux Gold Leaf Mosaics with glueFOIL

Using glueFOIL from Strueter Technologies with clear textured stained glass is a great way to add sparkle to your mosaic and is much less expensive than using dichroic or specialty glasses.


Materials:
wooden Butterfly plaque -available from various online sites or at your local craft store
GlueFoil in assorted colors
No Days Mosaic Adhesive Film
Scrap Clear Stained Glass in a Variety of Textures available at your local stained glass studio
Stamping Pad or marker
sanded grout
rubber gloves
paper for pattern making
(optional: graphite paper)


Tools:
standard heat gun or embossing tool
scissors or razor blade
cutting mat
heat proof work surface
pen

"Queen Of Bees Throne" by Leigh Adams

April 2011 Featured Artist - Leigh Adams of Glass Art Designs

Leigh Adams emits an energy and exuberance brighter than the purple in her hair! She loves sharing her knowledge of mosaic with students of all ages, but especially enjoys working with children to create public art. Although most of her work is done in the Pasadena California area, Leigh has traveled and worked with children in Mexico, China and Central America for many years.

Whether teaching folk arts, language or life skills, Leigh believes that cooperative learning, achieving consensus and building new skills which can result in public acknowledgement are some of the greatest gifts we can give our children and our society.

Leigh Adams of Leigh Adams Glass Art Designs