How cool are these mosaic house numbers?! We love how they turned out. And they were so fast and easy to make! We’ll show you how.
The trick is to smear the wooden numbers with black silicone, then just embed the tiles and keys and things. No grout needed! The silicone shows between the tiles and looks like the grout. Here’s a video we made showing how easy it is to mosaic house numbers this way. Follow along then use the step by step instructions below to make your own mosaic house numbers.
Disclosure: This post has some affiliate links for products we think you’ll like. Even if you don’t want to buy the items online, we think it’s helpful to see what they look like, so you can buy them at your local craft store. If you make a purchase from one of these links, we’ll make a small commission. There is no additional cost to you at all, but it helps us a little so we can pay for our web hosting and the tools and materials we use in these videos and blog posts. All opinions are our own from our own personal experience.
How To Make Mosaic House Numbers
Materials To Make One Mosaic House Number
Metal or wood numbers, 9.5″ tall
Black spray paint primer
Mini tiles
Heart and lock charms
Keys
Shank buttons (shanks removed)
Cube beads, 4mm
100% Black Silicone
Putty knife
Hangers
Steps To Make One Mosaic House Number
1. First find your wooden or metal house numbers. We chose numbers that were wide enough to place more than a one tile. That way we got some good real estate to make our mosaic on. Spray paint the numbers black coating the front, the back, and the sides. Let dry.
2. Squeeze out the black silicone onto the surface of a number and spread it out to make a 1/8-inch layer of black silicone all over the front of the number.
We used a putty knife and “frosted” the number with the silicone like we were frosting a cake.
3. Now it’s time to make your mosaic. Press the largest items, for us the keys, into the silicone. Next arrange the buttons and charms. Make sure each tile, key, button, and charm is pressed down into the silicone.
4. After you have placed the special keys and charms and things, arrange the tiles. We made a border with mini tiles (we used all the same color). We skipped over areas where the keys and things poked into the border.
5. Use smaller tiles and beads to fill in the spaces between the keys and buttons and the tile border. Fill in the smallest spaces with the cube beads until most of the black silicone is covered with the mosaic and only “grout lines” show.
We put hangers on the backs of our numbers to hang them up outside. If you have any questions while you’re working on your mosaic house numbers, just leave us a comment and we’ll reply. We’re here to help!
Happy Crafting,
Jennifer & Kitty
Will let Co-worker know..She loves to Sew! 🙂
Awesome! Thanks!
What kind of white silicone do I purchase?
Thanks the numbers are awesome!
Thanks Linda!
Wonderful idea, Thank you
Thanks Sharon!
Thank you so much. Can’t wait to start on something
Go for it, Helen. It’s so much fun!
J&K
Just loved your idea. I’m going to make a bee cluster with flowers using this principle for my patio (on the back wall of my house). Thank you so much
That sounds wonderful Terry!
J&K
This sounds like a good use of all my old buttons, but I didn’t see where you used them. I don’t want to have to buy anything except the numbers. All of my buttons are different shapes and sizes so I don’t know how I would be able to put them together to fill the space as nicely as you did, but I do want to try this with some wood I have here.
Hi Catherine, You can do the whole think with buttons. What a fun idea!! We used the buttons in between the tiles and keys. J&K
I have 2questions. What is an MDF number and also, does the silicone start to harden right away? Do you have to “rush” to put your tiles and trinkets in place?
Hi Sharron, MDF stands for “medium density fiberboard.” Our numbers were not wood, they were made of MDF so in the materials list we wrote them out as “MDF numbers.” You could make the mosaic with wooden numbers or letters too. Yes, the silicone starts to set up within 15 minutes. If you don’t want to be pressed for time, just smear on a little silicone at a time and work in those areas. Hope that helps!
J&K
I think I want to do this on my mail box. It would be unique & totally charming. Meanwhile I’ll gather the supplies & be ready once good weather comes to the north of Michigan. Thank you again for the inspiration.
Great idea! Let us know how it turns out! J&K
LOVE this!!!
Thanks!
Hello,
Just copied your idea for mosaics house numbers. Love the look. My question – did you seal your’s with anything like polyacrylic? ~thank you,
Hi Terri, We didn’t use a sealer since the silicone is waterproof, but you could apply one. Especially if you used any embedments that might need protection. Hope that helps! J&K
Question: Were you able to use the one tube of silicone you show in the supplies for all three numbers? Is there a good rule of thumb for how much silicone you need based on amount of surface you’re covering?
How do you hang the house numbers on a brick house?
We’ve seen hangers that grip onto bricks at hardware stores. They look like this:
http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10951784
Hope that helps! J&K
Love this idea! Will the heat from sun melt silicone? Also, how should I hang numbers on siding?
We haven’t had any trouble with the heat outside affecting the silicone. We used Command Strips for outdoors. Hope that helps! J&K
Love these!! What a creative duo you two are! I was thinking that a letter for a child’s room or doing my last name initial in a wall grouping would be gorgeous too. Years ago my grandmother made a Christmas tree on black velvet. She laid a base of broken mirror pieces on top of the velvet in the shape of a Christmas tree and then glued on broken earrings, broaches, etc. We put it in a frame and hung it to spark up the wall at Christmas. Wouldn’t your idea be beautiful using the tiles and jewelry for a Christmas tree?!! Thank you for this great idea!
Love it! We can’t wait to make our own Christmas version. And we love the kid’s room and initial idea! Thank you for your great ideas! J&K
Interesting project with house numbers. Now I know what to do with all those old keys !
We love finding uses for old keys. So fun! J&K
Mary Pat Higley – nice work. Great way to use stuff from the ‘junk drawer’
I love it – Mary Pat Higley – nice work. Great way to use stuff from the ‘junk drawer’
Thanks so much!
Great house number
Thanks Rosalie!
Love this idea for the mosaic house numbers.
Questions; how do you hang the numbers onto brick and for high wind areas?
Thanks
Thanks Jaye! We’ve seen hangers that grip onto bricks at the hardware store. They look like this:
http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10951784
Not sure how best to secure the numbers in high wind areas. maybe the helpful folks at the hardware store could give you some ideas.
Hope that helps! J&K
This is a great project for me to have fun with. Thanks
Hi Sharon, It is super fun! J&K
I’d like to see your mosaic heart please!
How to make also?
Hi Deb,
Here’s our Mosaic Garden Heart with the How-To and Video: http://runningwithsisters.com/bejeweled-mosaic-garden-heart/
We also have a Broken China Mosaic Heart that you might like to see. http://runningwithsisters.com/diy-mosaic-broken-china-heart-mosaic/
And remember if you have any questions, you can leave us a comment. We’d love to help!
Jennifer & Kitty
Love your ideas and can’t wait to see more!
Thanks Irene!
Love the mosaic look. Have some large tree stumps, thanks to Hurricane Irma. I think I will start doing some mosaic stumps!
What a fun idea!! J&K
I really like the mosaic numbers. It would make a beautiful gift and it’s easy and doesn’t take a long time. I’m 70 yrs old, love to craft but don’t like projects that take to long and are very messy. Plus I like the idea that they aren’t very speedy to make?
Thanks Bonnie!
Once these numbers are complete, how do you mount them on the wall. I notice there are no holes in the numbers for screwing into place. Do you mount them onto wood?
Hi Sylvia, How you hang the numbers depends on what you want to hang them on. For wood, you can attach D-rings on the back and attach them to the wall with picture hanging nail hooks. If you want to attach them to brick, you can get brick hangers at the hardware store. Attach D-rings to the backs of the numbers and hang on the brick hangers. http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10951784
Hope that helps!
Jennifer & Kitty
Love these, could you do the same with white silicone?
Thanks
Yes! We have another no-grout mosaic project where we used white silicone. Here it is:
http://runningwithsisters.com/bejeweled-mosaic-garden-heart/
We have this sea glass sign too:
http://runningwithsisters.com/easy-mosaic-project-seaglass-mosaic-sign/
Hope that helps!
J&K
The Mosaic House Numbers look Great!!
Thanks Cynthia!
Hi my grandson n I want to do a mosaic retaining wall but I don’t know how to get started.
That sounds like a fun project Lorrie. We’d recommend doing a smaller project to get your feet wet. We have some mosaics that use grout which is better for a wall. Here’s a link to a good beginner project:
http://runningwithsisters.com/how-to-make-mosaic-garden-rocks/
Have fun!
Jennifer & Kitty
Love the idea of house numbers mosaic. I’m want to garden items y’all made please
Thanks Bobbie!
Great job! Can hardly wait to give it a try.
Thanks Cheryl!
Where do you buy the silicone
Beautiful. Do you know if these with stand below zero temps
Hmmm…that’s a good question Judie. We have no idea. Maybe you could make a little mosaic and test it out before you invest your good materials and time in bigger house numbers. Let us know what you find out!
J&K
I just love this house number sign and yes, making something like this in a heart pattern would be great and I am going to try and do both of these…the numbers for my house and the heart for my little shred…thank you so much. This is so easy..
Yay! They are really fun to make!
J&K
How long to dry the mosaic house numbers?
Hi Diane,
This silicone dries pretty quickly! It starts setting up in 15 minutes. Fully dry in less than an hour.
Hope that helps!
Jennifer & Kitty
LOVE this! a great “housewarming gift”!
Great idea Christine!
LOVE IT!!
Thanks for the inspiration!!
Thanks Jan!
What a Darling Idea! i LOVE quick and fast, yet COOL crafts! Thank you!
Thanks Christine!
Where did you purchase your tiles?
Hi Regina,
We got our tiles from MosaicTraderUSA.com
She has wonderful mosaic supplies and great prices! Tell her Kitty and Jennifer sent you!
J&K
excelente idea me pondre a trabajar en ello, pero vere que material uso
muchas gracias por sus aportaciones
Gracias!
Very cute. I really like this idea but don’t know if I would have enough patience to actually do it but very good idea!
Ha Vera! Mosaic does require some patience. But it is also relaxing.
We have to be in the mood though!
J&K
If I made numbers for my mailbox, how should I fasten to the msilbox?
Hi Jackie,
For a mailbox, you might want to use screws from the inside of the mailbox going into the back of the numbers.
Hope that helps,
J&K
Love your numbers, anxious to see your other projects!
Thanks Kay!
J&K
I just love the house number mosaic.
Thanks Margaret!!
Jennifer & Kitty
Very nice. I might just try it.
Thanks Marion. You should try it! It’s fun!!
J&K
Love these numbers, thanks!
Thanks Marcia!
J&K
I totally love it. I want to do this after my house renovating. Thanks.
Thanks so much!
J&K
I Absolutely love the mosiac house numbers. I’m not crafty, but I’m going to try to make these. Wish me luck.
Thanks Vickie! Go for it! You can totally make these!
J&K
Muy bonito ???
Gracias!
Re: address sign. Totally amazing project; this is exactly what I have been looking for! I need a highly visual yet still pleasing sign to put in my front yard!! Good Job!!
Thanks Julie!!
Where do you buy the mosaic tile at?
And what size did you use?
Absolutely love it
Thanks so much! We get a lot of our mosaic tiles from Mosaic Trader. https://www.mosaictraderusa.com/
Great colors and styles! We used tiles that were 3/8″.
Hope that helps!
J&K
Love your creative ideas… can’t wait to try as well as what else you come up with ?
—- try to be crafty (hehehe)
Candy
Address Tile project
VERY cool! I would like to know where you got the numbers themselves, please.
We bought the numbers from Amazon. Here’s a link: https://amzn.to/2vN1V1q
Hope that helps!
J&K
I want ur newsletter.
OK Dawn. We will sign you up! Yay!
J&K
You are all subscribed, Dawn!
J&K
Been trying to come up with something for house numbers for awhile and REALLY loved this idea! Similar to other comments, I’ve a couple questions since the letters will be subject to New England’s temperature extremes / changes:
How do I hang them on a house that is vinyl sided?
I presume exterior silicone is desired? I was hoping for a red “grout” background versus black and I don’t think silicone comes in that color. But silicone is the best medium for this application? And I need to be ready so I’ve placed everything within 15 minutes with the silicone, correct?
Will adding a seal or top coat cause an issue / create a haze / change the colors or finish on the project? If no, are you aware of finish/seal/top coat that would glow in the dark?
I’m super excited to try this! I hope to get material to have on hand for a rainy day project and to get the letters up before the weather turns. Thanks for the kick start on the idea!
Great questions! To hang them on a vinyl sided house, you might check at the hardware store. We have Command Strips here which have a very strong adhesive. Here’s a sample project where they used Command Strips outside. https://www.command.com/3M/en_US/command/projects/all-projects/bloom-outdoor-sign/
We’ve never seen red silicone. Just black, white, almond, and clear. It is made to withstand high and low temperatures and moisture. (It’s used to seal bathroom fixtures and showers!) The wooden or MDF numbers, however, are not weatherproof on their own. You can seal your numbers before you grout and mosaic with a spray paint sealer. Once you have the numbers grouted and mosaiced you may be able to seal them again with a clear top coat. A clear spray paint top coat shouldn’t create a haze.
We hung out numbers under the eave of the house to keep them out of direct weather. We have a lot of sun in the summer and rain in the winter. So we hung them where they are mostly shaded and don’t get direct rain.
Hope that helps! Good luck and have fun!
Jennifer & Kitty
Hi! Great idea. What size are the “mini” tiles you use?
Hi Lisa, The tiles we used are about 3/8″ square. Most came from Mosaic Trader USA: https://www.mosaictraderusa.com/mini-tile.html
Highly recommend her mosaic materials!
Cheers,
Jennifer & Kitty
This is pretty great. I think NOT having grout ADDED something to it … an organicness or something. You’ve inspired me to not use grout on my next mosaic.
So glad you liked it!
Jennifer & Kitty