How To Make Stunning Mosaic Crafts With Carol Duvall's Tips

Carol Duvall, popularly known as the "Queen of Crafts," provided creative people with tons of helpful tips and tricks for making various crafts during her 56 years on television. Sadly, the author and star of HGTV's "The Carol Duvall Show" passed away on July 31, but her helpful advice and kind disposition will continue to inspire crafters for years to come. Take, for example, her how-to tips on mosaic crafts.

On one episode of her show from 1999, Duvall demonstrated to her audience how to create beautiful faux stained glass with mosaics, with advice from Mimi Huszer Fagnant from The Beadery, a craft retailer. Fagnant explained that it's important to choose a simple pattern before starting. The mosaic pattern doesn't have to be specifically designed for stained glass but could come from a coloring book, quilt book, or anywhere that sparks inspiration. From there, you can use acrylic mosaic tiles to create your own faux stained glass piece.

With tips from Carol Duvall, you, too, can create unique mosaic crafts to decorate the home or to give as a gift. As noted, it all starts with the pattern and choosing one you believe you can handle as a beginner. With each subsequent project, you can then try more advanced techniques and designs.

Once you choose your pattern, lay it under a piece of glass and trace it with black dimensional paint, creating a border for your mosaic. If you get any paint in a spot where it shouldn't be, quickly wipe it off with a Q-tip. After your border is dry, you can fill the area with paint that either matches your mosaic tiles or that dries clear. Place your tiles onto the wet paint, and once it dries, it'll hold them in place. If you don't want to use acrylic pieces for the background, try spreading your paint over the area in a circular motion, which will create a gorgeous swirling pattern.

If you're looking to add some color to a plain glass vase or bowl, the gilded glass mosaic portion of Duvall's show is perfect (see above). Sponge adhesive over the areas of glass you'd like to decorate, allow it to start to dry and press gold foil over the glue. Once your gold is in place, dab liquid silicone on top and stick on your tiles.

These techniques for crafting with mosaics can also be used to create mobiles for your nursery, but for such a craft, you'll want to use thin plastic rather than glass. Cut out shapes from the plastic for your mobile design and cover the area in glitter glue. Press your mosaics into the glue, allow them to dry, and make a hole in the top with a tack for hanging.