Class Project for Auction: Clay Mosaic Mirrors

Colorful mirror frame featuring a mosaic of painted, raised circles creating a vibrant, rainbow-like border effect.
Every year my students and I create artworks for our school’s auction. If you look here, you can see some of the auction artworks from previous years. This year, each student in grades K-8 made textured clay circle tiles. We glued them on to several mirrors.

Two rectangular mirrors with colorful, circular patterns around the borders, reflecting a room with windows, designed for a class project. A colorful, decorated mirror framed with a border of variously sized and textured, vibrant buttons. A rectangular mirror with a wooden frame decorated with colorful, textured circular designs, resembling a clay mosaic. A rectangular mirror framed with a colorful, circular mosaic pattern made from variously designed clay circles.

A mirror framed with colorful, textured circular designs in a wooden frame on a white surface.

A decorative mirror framed with colorful, handcrafted clay tiles of various patterns and designs, creating a stunning mosaic effect.

The process to make the clay circle tiles is quite simple, yet it teaches the kids several important skills for working with clay.

Wood-framed mirror decorated with an array of colorful, patterned circular clay mosaic pieces in various sizes and designs.

Colorful, circular clay art pieces with various designs are displayed on a wooden frame as part of a class project.

First, roll out a flat piece of clay (called a “slab”). Then, use clay texture rollers or stamps to press texture into the clay. Then, use circle cookie cutters to cut out the circles in different sizes. (Amazon affiliate links are used in this post.)

A pile of circular clay pieces with various textured designs arranged on a table as part of a class project.

After the clay circles are completely dry, fire in a kiln. Afterwards, use watercolor paints to paint the clay circle tiles. We used Faber Castell Watercolor Paints. Then, coat the circles with Mod Podge.

A collection of colorful, textured clay discs, some with designs or faces, arranged on a white surface. This vibrant display could be part of an engaging class project or admired at an auction.

The kids made so many beautiful tiles! Some of these were turned into magnets and others were glued on to the wooden mirrors. We used Tacky Glue to adhere them. I bought the wooden mirror frames from Blick Art.

Colorful circular clay pieces with various designs and textures are scattered on a flat surface, creating a vibrant display. This could be part of a class project or an exciting collection for an upcoming auction.

A colorful assortment of round, decorated clay pieces arranged in a gradient from red and yellow to blue and purple, part of a class project showcasing clay mosaic mirrors.

Colorful clay circles with various patterns and designs, scattered across a white background, create an engaging class project display.

A variety of colorful, textured clay buttons scattered on a surface, resembling pieces for a class project.

Colorful handmade clay tokens with various patterns and designs are spread out on a surface.

Colorful handmade clay coins on a white surface with various designs, including a spider, star, and face. These unique pieces could be part of a class project or featured in an auction.