Desert Rose

When I was growing up, my mother had Franciscan stoneware--Desert Rose pattern. It made a beautiful table setting. After she passed away, my sister inherited the dishes. A few years ago, she told me that the dishes were badly chipped, missing pieces, stained, etc. But she was able to get a complete set that was in much better condition and she was getting rid of the older ones. I told her not to get rid of them because there was probably something we could do with them. For Christmas that year, I got a box filled with the old dishes as well as a cute patio table. Cindy suggested I make a mosaic with the dishes for it.

I loved the idea but it seemed like a daunting project so I put it off--for a year and a half! This summer, Cindy came over and we began. The first thing I did was give the table a good coat of paint.

Then we began breaking dishes. We were laughing, wondering if mom was saying, "girls! what are you doing to my dishes?" or if she was getting a kick out of the fact that they were still being useful.

Next we began putting a pattern together. We found that we could break the dishes in such a way to get the color of pieces we wanted rather than just random breaks.

As we began laying more and more fragments on the table, we realized that the table wasn't going to support the weight without reinforcement. Cindy took the table home for her husband to look at. When she brought it back a few weeks later, he had added some decorative support. I love the new look. So once again, we began laying out the pieces.

This week, I grouted it and now it's ready for use.

I think mom would be pleased.