Tilano

Tilano gives average non-crafty (is that a word?) people like me the opportunity to make amazing items for their own home or gifts for others. After developing a process for making old world fresco tiles that didn’t involve the use of harsh chemicals, Tilano Decorative Products founder Randy Orr began giving people gifts of photos transferred on the tiles. After numerous requests of, “How did you do this?” Randy developed the first Tilano kit in 2001. I am not a hands-on creative person – I shy away from projects like this and leave them to the professionals.

When given the opportunity to review a Tilano Fresco Tile Kit, I was terrified! Honestly, I kept putting it off and even tried convincing my husband to do it for me but the days went by and I knew I had to get it done. And so, the process began! After printing my chosen images on the supplied sheets in the kit, I set to work preparing the tiles. The first steps were to add the Crackle effect and then the Mud.
The crackle result looked great – the tile on the right had way more crackle than the one on the left though. The next step was to use Antiquing Glaze to give the tile an authentic antiqued effect and then it was time to seal the image and the tile. A few steps along the way, like this one, had me a little confused. As I said to my husband, “I wish they told you why you have to do each step,” and he, being the guy who is the one putting all our toys and household items together with instructions all the time, laughed at me and said, “No, they don’t tell you why, you just do it!” I think it’s a female thing, we need to know whyyyyyy! I transferred the images onto the tile next and then it was time for the big reveal!I should note that this process took me days. The first few steps require some drying time (either 20 mins in the oven or 8 hours overnight). Other steps required 2-3 hrs of drying time. The product occupied a space on my kitchen counter and now that space holds two Tilano Fresco tiles with pictures of my kids on them. I describe this product to my husband as a pass/fail (my own doing entirely, not the fault of the kit).
My daughter’s picture on the right looks great (some paper stuck to the edges but that’s ok, it adds to the look!) but my son’s picture features a little guy with what looks like scars on his face. Of all the places for some ridges from the tile underneath to show up, it was on his face in the picture. I didn’t notice any ridges on the tile before I transferred the photo onto it but it’s probably because I was rushed to get the project done and didn’t pay close attention. From further away it’s not noticeable (my husband didn’t notice it immediately until I pointed it out) so if I were to display these on a high shelf my big whoops may not be noticed.Other kits available from Tilano include Marble Coasters, and Ornamento Magnets among others. Buy these kits ahead of time to make special gifts for family members or purchase the kits to give as gifts to friends and family who love working with photos (scrapbookers would probably really enjoy this) or have an artistic flair. Or, surprise a regular-mom like me with this and see what she is capable of creating. Maybe she will end up displaying her work on a high shelf like me, but in the end she’ll be really proud of her work. 😉
1 reader is going to win a Fresco Tile Kit from Tilano! To enter, just go to Tilano and leave me a comment here telling me which other kit you’d love to try.

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Please ensure your profile is public or leave me your email address in your comment. This giveaway will end on December 12th at 9:00pm CT. I will use Random.org to choose the winners, email the winners, and post the win here. Giveaway is open to Canadian and US addresses.