Mosaics take us back to Roman times, but today these seem to have made a comeback and are pretty fashionable. This is quite an interesting form of art and many people use it in their homes for a variety of things.

Do I need many tools for this? Well, you will need your subject to decorate, PVA or a water soluble glue, grout, mosaic tiles, brown paper, sponge, squeegee, pencil, chalk, goggles, face mask, nippers or a hammer and hardie.

What other items can be used? The answer to that is plenty really! You can paint your own tiling with porcelain paint or, as an example, how about trying anything from the following list. Marbles, shells, glass nuggets or even beads, mosaic tiles, pebbles off the beach, mirrored glass, or even old crocks, if you smash them up!

With tiles, when you buy them, they have a backing of brown paper. This being the case, you need to release the paper by letting them soak in warm water first. Rinse your tiles and leave them to dry. If you use the tiles straight from the paper you can use what is called an indirect method.

Use a sheet of brown paper for this by gluing your tiles into place upside down with an adhesive which is water soluble. If you do this, you will maintain a good smooth surface.

You then need to take a rapid drying tile cement and prepare your item with it and then put your tiles on to the wet cement. Do not worry about the brown paper now. Later, when it is dry, wipe the paper over with a wet sponge to get it off.

This is only the same as you would do if you were tiling a kitchen or bathroom. Use the squeegee to make sure all the cracks and crevices are filled in. Cleaning the grouting off with a wet sponge. It has to dry before you can start polishing it and finish the surface you have been creating.

What about your designs? Geometric patterns are quite a good choice for starters! With time and practice you can get more ambitious and try circles and curves even. Often you will find that you actually need to shape tiles for the pattern you have chosen, so you may need the direct method, with two ways to doing this, using the direct method.

The first method is not so easy and needs some practice with a few spare tiles. This is the old hammer and hardie method, whereby the hardie is held over your tile. Then you tap the hammer so that it cuts into your tile, therefore it moves the tile to get the required shape.

Personally, I would say, try the second way with the nippers! These will cut the tiles into halves or even quarters, gradually taking bits away to give you your needed shape. Never worry about the funny bits that remain, you are sure to be able to include these somewhere!

From the safety angle I would recommend that you wear the face mask and goggles. Use a hoover or dustpan and a brush to clear up any fragments of glass, crockery etc. It is quite a good idea to prepare your tiles in a clear polythene bag as this will keep any fragments and dust contained.