Mosaic House Signs: Special Gifts for Friends and Family

A couple of years ago I was hoping to start a mosaic business to supplement my pension income. It started off well. I sold a couple of my creations but alas I had to stop any idea of my hobby turning into a business venture. Caring for my elderly parents took centre stage. Maybe one day I’ll get my creative side hustle back on track.

Recently I’ve made my first mosaic in over a year. My parents are moving from their home of half a century to a bungalow just around the corner for us. and they needed a new door number. I had to oblige. Anyway while doing so I had the idea of a blog post showing some of the house signs that I’ve made over the years. It’s a lovely practical use for my designs.

This was my first, made for my next door neighbour. It’s very different from the ones I make these days and lacks the persona style that I’ve developed. I can see so many faults as I’m my own worst critic but my neighbour loves it. She especially adores the mirror tiles as when the sun comes out our street sparkles. The sign incorporates the house’s name but I’ve cropped that out for privacy. It’s a shame because it was the first time that I’d attempted mosaic lettering. Let me assure you that even though it’s hidden it turned out okay and gave me the confidence to do more.

You might notice that a couple of the tiles seemed to have popped out but that’s intentional. I lift a couple and drill a hole in the backing tile. The finished mosaic is screwed to the wall and then the tiles are replaced and regrouted. It makes for an invisible fixing.

This is one I made for my lovely friend and fellow blogger Aril from Gnat Bottomed Towers. Now I know I’ve broken confidentiality by showing her door number. However I reckon that there’s a fair few houses with fours on their doors so nobody’s going to succeed in hunting her down from just this snippet of evidence. It depicts ear sharing Tinner’s Hares, a motif that’s found in quite a few Devon Churches.

This was the one of the first house signs where I started to develop a specific style. I use random shaped matt ceramic tiles for the backing and sparkly lines of mirror tiles. Black on white lettering or numbering serves a functional purpose. Its clarity helps visitors spot the house, particularly important if the numbers in the street are in a random order or the house has a name instead. Finally I always incorporate a red heart into all my mosaics for, of course, they’re made with love.

Here’s what I mean about developing my particular style. I made this for my hedgehog loving mother in law and it incorporates a lot of the feature’s in Aril’s design. This isn’t the subject matter that I’d choose for myself. However for the sake of stretching myself outside my comfort zone I’m pleased to work on designs that aren’t completely my bag.

I think that this has to be sign that I enjoyed making the most. It’s for a friend who loves cormorants because they were her nana’s favourite birds. Some of my signature features are here, the black on white numbers, the mirror tiles and the lettering but I’ve definitely gone off piste with this one.

I had quite a few issues with the make though. There were practical lessons learned. Different types of PVA glue are not the same beast. I lost so many tiles at the grouting stage as they hadn’t stuck properly. That bargain adhesive made for school children simply wasn’t strong enough. I thought that I was getting a bargain but it turned out to be a false economy. It’s been more expensive builders glue for me ever since.

I thought that I’d show one in its making stage. This graced the porch of my Mum and Dad’s old Southend home. Mum wanted to bring it with her but I’d done that invisible fixing trick so getting it off the wall would have been difficult. Their house number had changed too so I made this new one.

I llike the solitary bee better and love the pinky glass tiles that I chose for his wings.

Of course I’ve made one for my own home. However I don’t feel comfortable showing and telling it because my house has a name and not a number. Maybe it’s not so wise to announce to all and sundry where I live. But I’m happy to provide a picture of my matching ‘Welcome’ sign.

Even though I’m not in the professional mosaic making market at the moment I’m still happy to make for friends and family. In fact there’s a ‘commission’ in the offing and the moment. Again it’s one where I wouldn’t have chosen the subject material myself. I’m happy to have been given another chance to develop my making skills.