Bring Past To Present With Millefiori

Millefiori is a popular glasswork technique used to create distinctive, colourful and decorative patterns on glassware, ranging from handmade jewellery and fashion items to ornamental decor for the home.

It’s estimated that the technique originated in Ancient Roman times, with evidence of millefiori tiles traced back to as early as the 7th century. The technical knowledge required to create the canes used for cutting the tiles was lost by the eighteenth century and was not revived until the nineteenth, when its popularity surged and millefiori became a renowned fine glass art form all across Europe.

As bright splashes of colour and large, oversized accents are core trends for the spring and summer months this year, both in terms of fashion and home decor; millefiori mosaic crafts are an ideal way to channel the trends in an entirely unique and creative way.

Home Decor:

In terms of home decor, the options for creating with millefiori are endless.

If you have a plain glass vase, bowl, dish, candle holder or even a set of wine glasses, you can easily incorporate millefiori into these items to give them a complete update; taking pride of place in your home as an on-trend art work rather than hiding in the back of the kitchen cabinets.

When millefiori resurged in the nineteenth century, creating glass paperweights was the most popular method of incorporating this technique into everyday use. Glassware such as this, which is most often seen as nothing more than a practical addition to the home, can be replaced with millefiori ornaments to create a much more stylish and welcoming environment.

Jewellery and Accessories:

A pop of colour is easy to achieve with a few key pieces of millefiori jewellery. Plus, as fashion is all about being unique and showing your personality; by wearing a millefiori piece you have made yourself, you can make a style statement all of your own.

Create necklace pendants from scratch by simply drilling a hole in your creation and looping through some rope, or purchase ring, pendant, earring or bracelet blanks upon which you can mount your designs.

Millefiori techniques can also be applied to everything from watches and belt buckles, to barettes and bobby pins; so why not let your imagination run wild and make a true fashion statement this year?

Unique Gifts:

If you’re on the lookout for a unique gift for a friend or relative, why not consider creating a millefiori design? Keyrings, bag charms, mirror compacts and even bottle stoppers can incorporate this technique, and will undoubtedly be better-received than a store-bought present.

Millefiori at Hobby Island:

At Hobby Island we only offer our customers genuine mosaic craft tiles, all of which are manufactured using high-quality materials to ensure their longevity and performance, whatever your project.

Whether you’re looking for a mix of various colours or would prefer to stick to a particular colour scheme, we can provide the ideal selection to suit your needs. Our millefiori tiles are available with various effects, including flowers, stars, moons and abstract shapes in opaque and translucent designs, so you can be sure of finding exactly what you need here at Hobby Island.