Cinderella Castle shines brighter than ever during “The World’s Most Magical Celebration.” Yet, just as beautiful and inspirational as the castle beaming at the end of Main Street, USA, is the sparkling mosaic located at the entry of Cinderella Castle.
This mosaic depicts Cinderella’s story, as told through hundreds of colorful tiles. I love the gold tiles — highlighting features of the characters and details in the scenery.
Walt Disney Imagineer, Dorothea Redmon, designed the mural and Hanns-Joachim Scharff and his team assembled the mosaic. According to Walt Disney Archives, the mosaic spans five fifteen-by-ten-foot panels “realized in a million pieces of hand-cut, multicolored Italian glass, real silver, and 14-karat gold.”
Cinderella Castle’s mesmerizing mosaic inspired my family and I to create our very own castle collage with cut construction paper to reflect the tile work, and I encourage you and your family to create your own! Here’s how:
- Collect your supplies, including scissors, various colors of construction paper, and glue.
- Use scissors to carefully cut construction paper into tiny ‘tile’ shapes.
- Glue large shapes first to create the “structure” of your castle.
- Add tinier, detail pieces close together, but not touching, to give the mosaic-feel to your collage.
- Proudly display your mosaic-inspired masterpiece!
While creating, consider:
- Placing your pieces before gluing down
- Discussing art terms such as contrast, scale, and abstraction to make for a fun art education lesson.
- Use alternative materials, such as tissue paper, or a larger project scale, like whole sheets of paper placed on the floor or outside (to be removed and not glued down, of course).
As the 50th anniversary sparks beauty and energy throughout the parks, don’t forget to let the original parks’ masterpieces inspire you to create!
-Tiera
Tiera Tanner lives her life spreading pixie dust. Whether creating art in her studio, or raising her two young sons, Tiera is inspired by the magic of Disney, and is always encouraging her husband to plan their next trip to the parks.
