Mosaic table

One look at Gaudi's extraordinary mosaic sculptures in Park Guell, Barcelona, or a stumble across a 1930s tiled courtyard in the Californian or Mexican desert, and you'll want to know how to mosaic. It's a timeless craft that you can make as modern or as traditional as the materials and patterns that you choose

A table is a good place to start. It's a contained area (and therefore easy to plan) and a little like doing a jigsaw puzzle at Christmas, only you're making the pieces to fit. It's fun to do with friends or family and the finished design, with all its quirks, will bear the 'signature' of the makers - a physical reminder of time spent creating, gossiping and bonding with loved ones. My mother, however, who worked with me until the early hours on a few nights on this particular table, may beg to differ on these points.

As a table requires a flat surface, you will need to use the indirect method. This means that you will create the design in reverse on some brown paper and then transfer it onto the tabletop. This method has advantages over sticking the tiles straight on: you'll see the pattern develop as you go along (giving you more time to rectify mistakes), and the final surface will be completely flat - a necessity if you ever want to place a glass on it.

Start by finding a table to mosaic on - perhaps revive a piece you already have - the only requirement is a smallish flat surface. Then work out a design. As long as you steer clear of the usual motifs, such as anything you see in DIY shops, mosaic is perfect for making a statement piece. Think of things you'd like in your garden - insects, tropical fish, birds of paradise or an abstract pattern - but don't rush the design process.

I used a table that my mother had bought years ago. We spent months discussing a Missoni-like zigzag but never got round to buying the tiles. Two years passed and she decided on a dragonfly. Then my father produced a book of jungle scenes by Henri Rousseau. Perfect for adding punchy colours to my parents' increasingly tropical-looking conservatory. Half the fun is enjoying the natural pace of the creative process, so don't just go with your initial idea.

This table took us three days. We worked at quite a pace and my normally genteel mother swore fruitily on three occasions. So, if this is your first attempt, choose a simpler design or an abstract pattern using mainly whole tiles, for example - or use a smaller table.

On the subject of size, large projects don't require more skill, but they take longer and are marginally more complicated when fixing the tiles to the adhesive, as you need to cut the pattern into pieces, because the tiles will be too heavy to flip over in one.

You will need...