If you’re a regular Dollar Store shopper (and aren’t most DIYers?), you know about those little “gems” in the floral aisle. They’re purpose is to hold your flower stems straight in a vase but there’s so much more you can do with them.
There are two different kinds of gems - one with a flat back and one that looks like a marble. I used the one with a flat back.
The area I wanted to cover was 24”x10” so three bags would be enough.
This is our basement bathroom. It’s right inside a door to the outside, where our pool is located. It gets used pretty hard in the summer (obviously) and the wall behind the sink gets pretty gross with all the handwashing. There is a little backsplash that is attached to the vanity but...
So I went to the Dollar Store and purchased three bags of gems that came in assorted colors - clear, light blue, dark blue, and green. These would be perfect colors for this room.
They were pretty dusty so after I sorted them, I washed them with blue Dawn and rinsed them well.
I don’t know if you can see the difference between the before picture and after. They’re much brighter.
B-I then drew lines from the edge of the sink to the line under the mirror, just so I had a reference line.
Because this is near a sink and will be exposed to water, I wanted to make sure it was done properly.
I bought Mastic which is an adhesive. This container was more than enough for this little project.
I also bought this little notched scraper for 99 cents. This is what I used to adhear the mastic on the wall.
Before I began, I used painter’s tape to tape off the top of the vanity.
A-Using my notched scraper, I applied a thin layer of mastic using the flat edge in a small area
B-I then turned the scraper to the smallest notch edge and made grooves in the mastic
E-And continued to place the gems until I had completely filled in my marked off space.
While the mastic dried, I mixed up grout. This bag was much more than I needed. You can buy already mixed grout but it more expensive than dry.
B-Then I added 1/4 cup of water and mixed. It didn’t seem to be enough water, so I mixed in another 1/4 cup of water. The ration was then 1:1/2.
According to the directions on the grout bag, you should let the grout sit for 30 minutes, stir it and then let it sit an additional 30 minutes.
A-There is a tool to apply grout but I used a magic eraser which worked well.
D-Once I had grouted the entire wall, I went over it again to make sure there weren’t any gems covered with a lot of mastic.
One cup of grout + 1/2 cup of water was the perfect amount for my area which was 24” x 10”
According to the bag, allow the grout to set for 30 minutes & check to see if it’s dry.
C-Then I ran the sponge over the gems, removing any grout that on top of the gems.
I changed my water several times to make sure that I was using clean water to clean off the grout.
B-Some of it was stuck under the grout so I used a utility knife to cut it out.
I love the way it turned out. And I learned a new skill. I had never worked with mastic and grout and I was pleased at how good everything looked.
Here’s a closer picture. I like the unevenness of the sides. It doesn’t look chopped off.
The project was $20 because I purchased large containers of mastic and grout. I would estimate that for the materials that I used, the entire project cost $6.
Here’s a closer picture. I like the unevenness of the sides. It doesn’t look chopped off.
The project was $20 because I purchased large containers of mastic and grout. I would estimate that for the materials that I used, the entire project cost $6.
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Prices updated as of March 17, 2018 11:09 PM - More info
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Original article and pictures take cdn.hometalk.com site
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