What do you do when a favorite vase breaks?

If you're like me and you hate to part with a favorite item -- you turn it into something equally useful. It's the right time, especially now that the weather is also turning a tad cooler. I was pretty sad to see that this beautiful vase had been damaged. It's special to me, because my daughter, Miori, and grandsons picked it out for me for Mother's Day a few years ago. 

At first I thought I could drop it again and take the glass pieces and make a special mosaic, but when I turned to see the actual break...I realized that I could still utilize it.

I turned it around and added a clear candle holder and lit it... Keeping this vase illuminated maintains the special memento that it once held for me. 

And speaking of mosaics...last week I attended a glass tile mosaic class at CAFAM in Los Angeles...what fun!

Here are samples of art work from those sitting at my table...

Mosaic by Raleigh 

This mosaic was made for a couple that just got married...
Mosaic by Jill

 And here are my two attempts at Mosaic art...

I decided I would grout with sand at home...so I did and here's what happened. I used 2 methods with 2 completely different results...

1)..for this mosaic I added sand to white glue and smudged it all over

2) ...then wiped it off.

3) Once completely cleaned off...it didn't look too bad. But then the second mosaic took a different turn..

1) This time I added white glue to all the areas needing to be covered and then poured sand on it..

2) When it dried, I shook the excess sand off and the result was a smoother cleaner look.

 I think, at a later date, I'll put each one in a frame and pour some resin over it. Maybe, I'll add a few words on top or perhaps add numbers of someone's address and give it away as a gift to hang on the front door of their house. I haven't decided, but it is sure to be a nice thought sooner or later.

Good night my craft pals! Tonight, I'll practice my conversational Italian language!