Materials
» Design sketch
» Ruler and T square
» Pencil
» Tape measure
» Marker or colored pencil
» Painter’s tape
» Lightweight poster board, junk mail
envelopes, or magazine pages in
black, white, red, gray, and cream
» Paper cutter and scissors
» Jars, cigar boxes or other containers
» Latex or acrylic paint
» Chip brush
» Small paintbrushes
» Elmer’s glue
» Small bucket or plastic tub
» Dax window glazing or other filler
product that can expand and contract
with temperature changes
» Putty knife
» Small, handheld vacuum cleaner
» Envirotex Lite pour-on resin finish
» Rubbing alcohol
» Flat-bottomed bucket
» Paint stir sticks and squeegee
» Hair dryer
» Plastic tarp at least 4mils thick
» Wooden screen molding
» Hammer and small handsaw
» Finishing nails
» Wood stain (optional)
» Friends especially those who owe
you big
» The patience of Job
Before You Start
Not much of a dog person? Almost any simple, bold
line art will work well for a cut paper mosaic, so find
a design you love. And for those with perfectly pristine wood floors? Create a stand-alone mosaic on
a large sheet of plywood for wall mounting instead.
The size of your mosaic will dictate the amount
of paper and other supplies you’ll need. Measure
the area’s length and width, and then multiply these
numbers to obtain your square footage. Now you
can collect the right amount of lightweight poster
board and other potential tiling materials.
You’ll also need to purchase enough Envirotex
sealant to complete the job. One 8-ounce package
of the two-part, glossy finish coats up to 4 square
feet. My 80-square-foot project required 3 gallons
of the stuff. One coat of Envirotex equals nearly 50
coats of traditional varnish.
1. Cut and sort your paper.
While you won’t need to amass boxes of heavy tiles,
you’ll need to cut hundreds and hundreds of tiny
paper squares. Depending on the size of your paper
cutter, you may need to fold your poster board in
half to fit under the cutting arm.
1a. Fold your large poster board in half, and place it
in the paper cutter with the folded edge closest to
you. Make a ¼" or ½" cut, stopping about 1" above
the fold. Move the sheet to the right and continue
to make a series of long, attached strips.
When you’ve reached the end of the sheet, rotate
the piece (which will look a bit like a clunky grass
skirt) so that the fold is to your left. Bring the cutting blade down hard at ¼" or ½" intervals to create
multiple tiny squares. Once you get to the end, you’ll
have just the leftover, folded area. It will be too small
to safely cut with the paper cutter, so you may want
to use scissors to cut this part into squares.
1b. Because tiles of white and cream paper can
look similar, be sure to put these and other colors
in separate, labeled containers as you go.
2. Prepare the area.
2a. Use painter’s tape to mask off the outer edge
of the area to be tiled.
2b. Apply a coat of light-gray latex or acrylic paint
over the entire work surface. This color will show
between the tiles you place. Let dry completely.
2c. Use a putty knife to apply Dax window glazing
to any large cracks or holes in the work surface.
Removing any excess as you go, smooth the filler
material flush with your floor. Allow 2– 3 hours for
the glazing to set up (it won’t harden completely).
3. Transfer your sketch.
