Mosaic: What I learned the hard way

I have a new respect for all you mosaic artist out there. I was out at a yard sale this weekend and found this great Cart to use in my studio. I decided I would mosaic the top for some extra character since I had been wanting to do it for a while. My sister (thanks Lisa) had given me some tile a couple years ago. I have some advice for those of you who want to try it. It takes at least double the time to make it than you think it will. The grouting process is very messy and much more time consuming wiping and rinsing and wiping and rinsing and wiping and rinsing and wiping and rinsing…you get the picture. I also used black grout so I had black everywhere. I started with gloves but since they were to big and kept falling off I just took them off. So now I have black in every crack and crease of my hands not to mention in my fingernails and cuticles…I even scrubbed with a brush and it is still there. So here are some things not to do when mosaicing that I learned the hard way:
Don’t think you can hurry up and do it plan on the whole day depending on size.
Don’t mix the grout with your hands if your not wearing gloves (especially if the grout is black)
Don’t use a towel when wiping down of the grout instead of a sponge as this will take twice as long and hold to much water and keep wetting the surface just smearing the grout all over where you just wiped.
Don’t rub your bare hand over the surface trying to get grout in the cracks, as you will find all the shape points in all that tile you just smashed up with a hammer.
Don’t wear clothes you plan on wearing again!