Cut Paper Mosaic: Make a durable mosaic on the cheap with paper and glue

“Maybe it was the wall-to-wall green shag, or the fact that the previous owner had housed 14 cats there, but my charming 1930s bungalow was a steal. The place purportedly had gorgeous hardwood floors throughout, and, mostly, it did, but ripping up that smelly-cat carpeting had revealed one 8’x10′ expanse of ugly pine boards—raw, uneven, and studded with rusty nail heads—smack in the middle of my living room. Turns out that leaving such unfinished business was pretty common back then; nice wood is expensive, and most people had area rugs anyway. Rather than spend a fortune on refinishing or carpeting, I would do as the Romans did. A nod to Pompeii and my precious pooch, this durable ‘Beware of Dog’ mosaic on-the-cheap is tiled with paper, not marble, and held together with glue, not grout.”