Are your kitchen walls a little boring? Jazz them up with a simple-to-make fried egg mosaic that even a glass-cutting novice can whip up in a single afternoon.
Keep reading to get the supply list for this project and get tips that will help you whip up your own version of this project quickly and without hassles.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Materials Needed for a Fried Egg Mosaic
- White and yellow stained glass scraps (I used a mix of iridized and plain, opaque glass)
- Well Bond glue (a small bottle is fine as you won’t need much)
- Small, CLEAN skillet with minimal scratching (I scored mine for a couple of dollars at Goodwill)
- Sharpie or white fine-tip paint marker
- Painter’s tape
- Scrap fabric or felt big enough to cover the back of the skillet where it will rub up against the wall once it’s hung up
- Sandpaper
- White grout (plus a paper cup, popsicle stick, and a little water for mixing it up)
- Yellow grout colorant (optional)
- Slightly damp paper towel (plus extra dry paper towels for buffing)
Fried Egg Mosaic Instructions
Step 1: Prep your surface
Start with a clean skillet. Wash it twice if you have to. Make sure there isn’t any grease left. The surface needs to be free of any oils to ensure the Well Bond works the way it’s meant to.
Then, after you’ve dried it completely, use your sandpaper to lightly scuff the area where you plan to add your fried egg mosaic. Leave the rest of the skillet unscratched (that will look better aesthetically).
Step 2: Draw two wavy Circles in the center of your pan
Using a Sharpie or a white fine-tip paint marker, create an outline as a guide for where to put your white and yellow glass tiles.
Step 3: Tape Off the Inside of Your Skillet
Following the lines you drew, tape off the area inside your skillet where you will NOT be adhering your glass.
Note: I decided to use painter’s tape to cover my entire skillet since I’m a messy grouter. I wanted to keep the entire thing clean, even the handle. If you are tidy when you grout, though, you really only need to tape the area around where your forthcoming fried egg mosaic will live.
Step 4: Create Your Fried Egg’s Yolk
Cut your yellow stained glass scraps into small tumbler-shaped tiles to fill in the curved, innermost area of your fried egg mosaic to make its faux yolk. Glue the angled tiles down using your Well Bond. This technique is called keystoning, and here’s a video on YouTube that’s a great primer on how to make keystone mosaic cuts. Consider watching it if you’re unfamiliar and want to watch a quick backgrounder from a pro.
Step 5: Fill in Your Egg’s White
Same as you did with your yellow glass, now cut your white scraps into small tumbler-shaped tiles then glue them down to fill in the outer circle area. When you’re done, you’ll have an almost-ready-to-be-grouted fried glass mosaic … surrounded by painter’s tape.
Step 6: Wait 24 hours
Well Bond takes 24 hours to fully cure so give your new piece of art time to fully dry before grouting.
Step 6: Grout Your Fried Egg Mosaic
You can use all white for your fried egg mosaic, or you can do your grouting in two steps like I did. I made white grout for the outer part of the egg and yellow for its yolk. If you do two colors, I’d recommend adding the yellow grout first.
Then, grout as normal and buff until it looks good. When you’re all done, you can remove the painter’s tape.
Step 7: Add Protective Backing Fabric or Felt
Trace the back of your skillet onto a piece of fabric or felt. Then, cut that circle out and glue it to the back of the skillet. Once it’s dried, you’re ready to hang your new masterpiece.
Where Did the Fried Egg Mosaic Idea Come From?
All credit goes to Nancy Keating.
That’s because, all things, considered, I’m still very much a mosaics-making newbie. I’ve only been creating mosaic art for about three years.
I got started making glass mosaics just before COVID-19 changed our way of life, and I owe everything to Nancy. At the first “mosaics and wine” class I attended, she saw something in me and went out of her way to encourage me from day one, and I’m so grateful.
Even during the lockdown, she managed to keep me supplied with glass, leaving supplies for me at the top of her driveway for pick-up.
Nancy has made a lot of cool things, but I think about her retro glass-covered toaster series all the time. Each one is classy, creative, and one-of-a-kind, just like her. If you live near central Indiana and want to expand your mosaic skills, I highly recommend her workshops.
From Toasters to … Skillets & More!
As my budget allows, I continue to attend new workshops to improve my skills because YouTube tutorials just don’t seem to cut it. Once you’ve been taught by the best, it’s hard to be satisfied with simple videos.
I made a fun Pac-Man ghost mosaic earlier this year, inspired by Invader the artist. It’s an even easier and faster project because there’s no glass-cutting or grouting required. You can check out my instructions for making the ghost mosaic by going here (there’s even a downloadable pdf with a chart for tile placement).
If you make a fried egg mosaic, I’d love to see your interpretation of this project if you post your work on social media. Give me a tag! I’m @joyoliviamiller on Instagram. Have fun!
