How To Make A Square Border Using A Round Plate

Have you heard the saying, "You can't fit a square peg into a round hole"? Well, that may be true, but I am here to tell you that you can take a round plate and create a square or rectangle border. It's all in the chipping...

Many mosaic projects need borders, and plates are great for that because their edges are finished. I often use plates to border picture frames, mirrors, boxes, tables, and signs. I am currently working on a sign and I decided to take some photos and show you how I chipped up some plates to create a border for my sign. Below is a photo of the sign and some of the plates I used:

Here is a glimpse of what the border will look like (pre-grouted) after you follow the steps below:

Step 1

First chip your plate in half. I like to use wheeled nippers. They are more consistent than straight-edge nippers with the different densities of plates and china.

Step 2
Next, chip your halves in half, and those in half again, until you have pieces that are around 2 inches wide. Try to chip your pieces as straight as possible through the decorative edge to avoid harsh angles.

Step 3
Now we need to chip off the decorative edge part from the rest of the plate. You want to use the flat part of the edge, so chip it off just before it starts to dip down to the center of the plate.

Step 4

After you chip up your plates you will use for your border you should have something like this to work with. We'll call these "edge pieces":

Step 5
Placing the pieces you have created along the edge of the sign is pretty straightforward. Just make sure they all are about the same length and width as each other. Also, if any do have slanted sides, chip them straight so you can place them close side-by-side along the edge of your sign. Using these edge pieces to create a corner is the tricky part (see 2nd photo from the top for an example of a corner). Corners are most successful if the edge pieces you use are square (the same width and length).  You will need two edge pieces that are square to create one corner. In the photo below, you see one of the edge pieces:

Step 6
Align your nippers to create an imaginary line from one corner to the opposite corner and then chip. You should have a nice obtuse triangle with pointed corners (the triangle with the finished edge is the one you will use. Discard or scrap the other):

Step 7
Place that piece so the finished edge is along the edge of your sign.

Step 8

Next, grab the other edge piece you set aside for this corner, and chip it along the opposite diagonal you chipped your first piece. For example, chip with finished edge facing to the right the first time and then the second piece, with the finished edge facing to the left when you chip along the diagonal. Your piece should fit in the spot like a puzzle piece. Make sure you have pointed corners on your triangles and as straight a cut as possible to ensure a close fit.

Here is what my sign looks like with a completed border:

A tip is to create your corners first and then put in the pieces along the edges. The reason for this is because, as I said in step 5, corners are most successful if they are square, but your edge pieces along the sides of your sign do not have to be square- they can be rectangular. You can have a rectangular corner, but one triangle will be long and obtuse and the other will be short and acute. If you look closely at my last photo here, the bottom left corner is a rectangle rather than a square and I had to get creative to make it look right. I think it adds character to my shabby chic-style sign.

In case you were wondering, along the sides of my sign I am placing 3/4" wide tile I recently bought at a discount building supply for $1 a sheet! And, I plan on filling in the rest of the top of the sign with white or something floral..not sure yet. If you want to see the finished product, check out my Flickr page (you can find a link just under my blog's main title) in a couple weeks...Thanks for reading, and, happy chipping!