The faux finish tied all these pieces together.

Before and after

The combination of stencil and freehand worked well, we thought!

Faux finishes can really show off a space!

My husband had made a bird bath when we first moved in…closer to five years ago than four.  I had always wanted to dress it up, but just never got around to it.

Artists save things.  We save them because someday we will NEED them.  Yes.  NEEEEEEDDDDDD them.  Like all these tiles I have moved probably three times.  Aren’t they delicious???

Once it was all filled in, I went to grout it.  This is where I broke a cardinal rule of big projects: never try out a new material!  The Home Depot guy suggested nonsanded grout because of the glass tiles.  I had a few other things waiting to grout, so I did them too.  Like this little treasure chest.

The chest came out ok, but the nonsanded grout was more like playing with toothpaste than what sanded grout feels like (more like mud). 

On my other small projects, it cracked.

Here is the finished bird bath.

From another angle.

Some of the grout wiped away when I cleaned the tiles–I think it was because the glass is so much more shallow than regular ceramic tiles.  There wasn’t much thickness to work with.

I am thrilled that it is done, and I get to see such lovely colors and sparkles of light everyday.  I wish the grouting had gone a little better, but I have to remember half of this will be underwater, and I am pretty sure the birds will be fine with it!