In my quest to”de-old-lady” my family room, I decided to try a project I had been dreaming up for a while. I saw this mirror online through Target and fell in love. I love the traditional style, and how it almost looks like a recycled window.
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I wanted something a little larger, white and wasn’t about to pay $69.99. You know you’re cheap when you decide to knock-off something from Target!
I started with 6, Dollar Store mirrors and a piece of 1/4 in plywood a had lying around. You can make this same mirror any size or configuration you’d like. I have plans to make a large, 15 panel one for my living room soon. You don’t have to use plywood. Any lightweight, stiff surface, slightly larger than the mirrors put together would work.
First, I had to pull the mirrors apart. They came in a cheap, plastic frame that was easy to pull apart, exposing just the glass mirror. Then, start by using a square to draw a straight line, horizontally across my plywood.
I then lined up 3 mirrors across, with a strip of small moulding between them and measured to get my width. I then cut a piece of my small trim that length, centered it on my line and glued it to the wood.
The moulding I used was about 5/8 in wide and similar to “half-round” but flat on the top. You can see my “fancy clamping system” I used to hold the moulding down while it dried.
Next, starting on the right edge of my center moulding, I laid down a good amount of wood glue. I used wood glue because the mirrors I used were pretty lightweight and honestly, it’s what I had. It worked great! But next time, I plan on using Liquid Nails, just to be safe.
Then alternate, mirror, trim, mirror, trim, mirror, moving across the wood, keeping everything tight against the center moulding.
Repeat the same process on the other side of the moulding and “clamp” everything down to dry.
After drying for several hours, it was time to add the casing to create a frame. Measuring was easy. I just held a piece of moulding up to the edge of the mirror and using a pencil, ascribed a little mark on the outside edges, giving me my exact width. Then when I went to use my miter saw, I just used those marks as my short point and cut a 45 degree angle.
Using more wood glue, I attached my frame and weighed it down with some more cans to let dry.
I let everything dry over night. The next day I filled all my gaps with caulk. Notice the area where the pieces of small moulding line up? Because of the curved edges, it left a ridge.
I simply filled and smoothed the area with some caulk and it blended the two pieces beautifully.
Next step was to paint. I started by haphazardly brushing on some tan, latex paint I had in the garage.
Then I brushed on some silver acrylic paint, randomly.
Lastly, I coated the entire frame and trim with one coat of a creamy, white, latex paint.
I then distresses the edges with some 100 grit sandpaper to bring through the other colors a bit.
I sealed everything with 2 coats of PAS and I was done!
I like the look of it leaning on top of the bookshelf, but I also bought some picture hanging wire and hooks in case I decide to hang it on the wall sometime down the road.
What do you think? It’s large (approx. 2.5 ft x 3 ft ) and the perfect style to update my family room. Not bad, for around $18!
Piece of 1/4in plywood = FREE (on hand)
6 Dollar Store mirrors = $6
12 ft of door casing @ $0.68/ft = $8.16
7 ft of small trim @ $0.54/ft = $3.78
Paint, caulk, glue = FREE (on hand)
TOTAL: $17.94
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I just inherited a saw and have lots to learn…and this is so going on my list of things I want to make! Thanks for sharing!
Hugs,
Pendra
Thanks for linking up at #thebiggestlinkpartyever! I love your project and am featuring you today on my blog. Hope you have a chance to swing by! http://www.andreaarchambault.blogspot.com/2013/04/link-party-features.html
Wow, what a fantastic job. So clever! You should link this up to our link party, Give Me The Goods Monday {1 party, 5 blogs}. http://www.somuchbetterwithage.com/2013/04/give-me-goods-party-3.html
Jamie @ somuchbetterwithage.com
Oh WOW…now this is one NIFTY THRIFTY idea!!! Thank you for sharing how you made it. Also, thanks for coming by and leaving a comment about my question:)
Blessings,
Linda
I almost forgot to tell you. I was getting a lot of spam too…so I went with the owner approval for my comments and it took care of that ASAP:) You might want to give this a try.
Blessings,
Linda
Very cool mirror and so cheap! The wow-factor is there, that's for sure!
Thanks for sharing with us, and it's always great to see creative minds at work. 🙂
Visiting from Nifty Thrifty Tue@ linda-coastal charm linky party
Smiles,
Suz @MaytagNMom
NW Illinois
~~My Current Project At The Party~~
Hi,
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