How to Make a Mosaic Mirror (Broken Mirror Wall Art)

Steps

1. 1. Gather Your Base and Supplies

   Start with a flat base. A small artist's canvas works well and gives you clean edges, but a piece of MDF, thin plywood, or even stiff cardboard does the job too.

   Tip: Watch this step Tile nippers give you far more control than smashing the mirror with a hammer, and they let you shape the odd piece to fit a gap.

   

2. 2. Glue the Back of Each Shard

   Take one mirror shard and run a bead of craft glue across the back of the piece, not the canvas. Coating each shard as you go keeps the glue exactly where you want it and stops the surface of the canvas turning into a slippery mess under the next few pieces.

   Tip: Watch this step Use a small dab, not a flood. Too much glue squeezes up between the shards and gets in the way when you grout later.

   

3. 3. Lay the Shards on the Canvas

   Press each glued shard onto the canvas and hold it down for a second so it grabs. There's no set pattern to follow, so drop pieces wherever they look right to you.

   Tip: Watch this step Lay out a few pieces dry first before you commit with glue. It's easier to nudge the spacing while nothing is stuck down.

   

4. 4. Cover the Canvas and Let It Set

   Keep gluing shards until the entire canvas is filled. Work outward from the middle and slot smaller pieces into the gaps around the bigger ones so you don't leave awkward bald patches.

   Tip: Watch this step Tape the canvas edges with painter's tape before you grout. It keeps the sides clean and gives you a crisp border to peel away later.

   

5. 5. Mix the Grout

   Put a little water in a small bowl, then add grout powder a bit at a time, stirring with a spatula as you go. Adding powder to water, rather than the other way around, keeps it from clumping.

   Tip: Watch this step Mix a small batch. Grout starts to stiffen once it's wet, so it's better to make more later than to race a big bowl before it sets.

   

6. 6. Spread Grout Over the Mosaic

   Scoop the grout onto the mosaic and spread it across the mirror pieces with your spatula. Work it in every direction so it packs down into the gaps between the shards.

   Tip: Watch this step Hold the spatula at a low angle and drag it across the seams from a few directions. That works the grout deeper than pushing it straight down.

   

7. 7. Scrape Off Excess and Wipe Clean

   Once the whole surface is grouted, scrape the excess off with the edge of the spatula. Work back over the piece to fill any thin spots or gaps you missed the first time around.

   Tip: Watch this step Wring the sponge out well so it's just damp, not wet. A soaking sponge pulls grout back out of the seams you just filled.

   

8. 8. Dry, Seal, and Hang

   Leave the piece to cure for a couple of hours, or overnight to be safe. Once it's dry, buff the mirror shards with a clean, dry cloth to clear off the last of the grout haze so they shine again.

   Tip: Watch this step Stick self-adhesive hanging strips or a sawtooth hanger to the back of the canvas. Mosaic adds real weight, so use a fixing rated above what the piece weighs.