Mary, price wise you'll do much better cutting your own and it really won't be that labor intense to cut. The plywood will be fine as long as it's meant for indoors only. If that's true then the kids can use a safe glue like Weldbond... absolutely possible to do before Feb and I love that you are taking this on.

Lots of us here have done projects for fundraisers with great success. Stick around and everyone here will help with any questions you have.

You should be able to get that done by Feb. with lots of hands, hopefully your glass order doesn't take weeks. Mine sometimes do. Get the order in right away if you decide to go that route. Is it for inside? if so...Welbond for the kiddo's for sure. If not you may want to use concrete board
and mortor. The kids will love doing this....and you will too!

Hazie

If you want some more ideas, see Kathy's website:
http://www.thadenmosaics.com/

I don't see any problems with this project. It'll be fun!

Andrea, I was asked to help 2 cousins with one of their 5th graders class make mosaics for their class fund raiser last year. We did 3 projects with the kids. Each one of us had about 5 kids in our group. TOO MANY! We only had one afternoon - NOT ENOUGH TIME!

Here is what I would suggest:
-You need very clear instructions AND good listening students
-Only one or two students work at a time
-YOu will need to include instructions on spacing, following the pattern, glue use, etc.
- Personally, I would start with a very simple pattern such as a cross but that is your decision.
- You could give each child a small wooden item to make their own for a practice. This would be relatively cheap and would really help with instructions and guidance.
-One thing I found is that they wanted to do their own thing rather than follow our predetermined pattern and colors.

I think you could use the very small (3/8" square) vitreous glass tiles easily. I personally prefer www.mosaicartsupply.com. He will match prices and is very dependable.

Keep us posted on your progress.

why did I call you Mary? I'm sorry - ANDREA! Welcome to the forum, we're here to help.

One other issue is that the glass should be tumbled to smooth away the sharp edges... that will make it safer for the kids to handle and insure your finished project has no sharps after grouting too. It can be done just rolling the tiles around in a sealed coffee can with a bit of water. Or if you kjnow someone with a rock polishing set up, they could run everything through for ya.

Oh yeah, the 3/8th vitreous would be perfect, save on cutting, no tumbling... great idea Debbi!

Oooooooo, I like the image on the website, CRACKED, on "The Artist". It's similar and doesn't look so complicated for the kids. Wonderful project, and YES, you can DO this. I agree w/NT on cutting glass yourself to save money, but here's another site for the least expensive vitreous tiles I've found. HAZIE is right on the substrate - if for inside, sealed 3/4" plywood and Weldbond. Plywood does warp, so I recommend the hardibacker and mortar for permanence and can be used outside as well as inside.
full sheets of tiles for less

yeah but that's the bigger ones and they'd need to do more cutting (Andrea, to cut glass tiles it takes wheeled nuppers, not tile nippers just in case you didn't know) I like Debbis idea of the 3/8th - easier to stay in the pattern and get a tighter cleaner look

Here is a link that might be useful: mosaicartsupply

nuppers??? did I really write nuppers? OMG LOL "nippers" DOH!

Thanks all, for the welcome and the wonderful suggestions. I'll check out the site mentioned to find the 3/8" tile. Due to the time constraints, I don't want to cut the tiles myself. If they're precut, do they still need to be tumbled? I was thinking that my adult helpers and I would do all the outlining of each section and start any patterns so that the kids could just follow along and each section would be clearly defined for them.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a simpler pattern along the same lines, or recommended reading for me?

Thanks so much. I'm getting excited about doing this project after reading the forum postings and seeing all the beautiful work that's out there!

Momof3, the 3/8" tiles do not need to be tumbled. I think they would work well for you. I might suggest you and your assistants purchase a few, and practice laying them out so you can see how to work with spacing, etc.

I suggest you check out your library for mosaic books - Martin Cheek, Sonia King, and there are many other authors. You will learn techniques and get loads of ideas.

For a simpler pattern, you might look at coloring books. Look at the ones with large patterns. Also, you could simplify your image, by using one color on the gown (blue), one color on the sleeves (white), background all one color (turquoise), etc. Omit the text or have the adults do that.

Just checked out Kathy Thaden's site...beautiful! Thanks d3bbi, for the suggestions to simplify. I'll look at the library and in coloring books. I would like this to be appropriate for outdoors as well, so slowmedown, is hardiboard the same as cement board? Any recommendations on mortar? Does it come in different colors like grout? I'm guessing this thing is going to be HEAVY, what kind of hanging hardware do you all recommend? I'm getting very excited about this project, but also NERVOUS. Thanks all for the encouragement!
- Andrea

Maria (Shrty411) recently told me about Glass Eye 2000. It's a free software download for 30 days and you get to keep the patterns when your 30 days are up. There are several religious patterns that may work for this project. It's also great because you can resize the pattern as big or small as you like and then print it out (using several sheets of paper)and tape it together for a full size pattern.

Barb

Here is a link that might be useful: Glass Eye 2000

Yes, cement board, hardibacker, backerboard - cement-based and is good for outside. Use a thinset mortar - I use Mapei Ultra Flex 2. Comes in grey or white. You can use colorants to color it cuz I use if for the grout also.