Making Art and Saving Broken Bits

I was cleaning out my craft cupboard the other day. Well trying to any way 😀 and came across some bits of pottery that I’d been saving up for a mosaic project. I  have no idea what happened. Some of the pieces had cracked (I probably didn’t bake them long enough) and others had broken. One little piece even had some glue all over it  🙁 I had to find a way to either give them a new lease on life or chuck them.

I’m a  bit of a hoarder so the thought of throwing them away only lasted about a millisecond 8)  A few of the bits looked like they could make an interesting something. So I grabbed some felt, wire, glue, and a pallet block from the craft cupboard and abandoned my clean-up effort. Does that happen to you too?

Okay, before I show you how to turn broken pottery bits into art, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!

How to Turn Broken Bits Into Art

Trace the outline of the pottery bits onto a piece of paper to create a pattern.

Use the paper pattern pieces to cut the shapes out of felt. The felt needs to be trimmed slightly to make it smaller than the piece of pottery. Cut some wire and place it on the back of the pottery piece and glue it down with Gorilla glue.

Lay the piece of felt down over the wire and glue down firmly. Trim any excess away if need be.

Once the glue dries, play around with all the wired-up pottery bits. It helps to get a sense of how to position the bits. Use the basic design principle of odd numbers to try to create a more dynamic layout. Add visual interest by staggering the bits. Often the easiest but most powerful layouts use one strong visual combined with the same alignment and consistent use of color. I decided to make the larger broken face my focal point. The smaller hearts and faces were used to add balance.

Once I was happy with the general layout I cut the wire. To display the broken pottery I choose to use a block of wood, that had been sanded smooth and given a clear coat of wax.

We drilled 5 small holes in the pallet block and pushed the wired pottery bits into the holes. You may need to trim the wire again and move things around.

I love the look of raw wood, cracks and all. Its rough simplicity compliments the broken pottery bits perfectly. Once happy, remove the wire and put a small dollop of glue on the tip. Insert the wire into their holes again.

I’m really happy with how it turned out. The Floating Heads statue makes a really nice statement in our lounge.

I would love to know what you think? Have you made a work of art using broken bits?

If you like the idea of using broken bits to make art, don’t forget to pin it for later.

Oh and if you’re looking for some of the things we used we’ve got you covered. Disclosure: Clicking on the links below, means we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us make more amazing crafts to share with you 😉

And if you prefer to buy rather than DIY, then maybe these beauties will appeal.

And as always, wishing you a wonderful, crafty week filled with lots of love. Thank you for popping in for a visit.