Then, just when I had given up, my dad offered me a rather, uhm, interesting bronze-y, gothic-y, filigree-y mirror my parents received as a wedding gift 35 YEARS AGO! It's been collecting dust in their basement for years. My response to him was a very enthousiastic, "Yeh, I'd love to take it off your hands!". Followed by a hesitant, "…that is, if you don’t mind me going at it with a can of spray paint”. Thankfully, my dad has always been a fan of my rather *creative* decorating solutions and didn’t have a problem with the mirror getting a facelift.
Here’s the mirror before (a tad too Liberace for my taste):
I used Rust-Oleum Paint for Plastics in Shell White for this project. Because it's meant for outdoor patio furniture, I got to skip the primer step...it's an all-in-one product that has great coverage. I also did some glazing on it to bring out some of the details.
Next I made myself a monogram (inspired by this post at The DIY Showoff). To create a stencil, I printed off the letters I wanted on plain paper, traced it onto sheets of window cling I had hanging around, and cut the letters out with an exacto knife. I placed the stencil on the mirror and sprayed them with Krylon Frosted Glass Finish. My first attempt = epic fail. The window cling shrunk when the frosting touched it, smearing the frosting spray across the surface. Not. Good. The second time around I made a stencil from cardstock, sprayed it with readjustable stencil spray and placed it on the mirror. This, too, was a miserable failure, the frosting seemed to pool around the edges and formed this yucky crust and the adhesive spray left a sticky mess all over the mirror which I had to attempt to remove using nail polish remover and a q-tip...not fun. Finally, I made a stencil from, of all things, shelf contact paper and it worked like a charm! SUCCESS!
I am so happy to be able to use this mirror in my foyer. It's a great connection to my parents and I can't wait for them to see it.
Isn’t it fantastic?!
Here is the breakdown of costs for this project:
$ 0 for the mirror
$ 7 for spray paint
$ 0 for frosting (leftovers I found in my craft cart - go figure)
$ 11 for stencil adhesive
$ 0 for glaze
$ 1 for contact paper (gotta love the dollar store!)
Total Cost = $19
This project was featured at:
4 comments:
I love it! I was skeptical about the plastic paint but it turned out really well! I love how it lets the gold peak through, without it looking gold. And the paint looks metallicy (or is that just me?). Your DIY link doesn't work (ironic, yes?) but how did you create the outline of the stencil, or was that a bit of a fluke? It looks like ribbon, almost. Seriously, it's fantastic. You've done such a great job with everything, Mel. Your house (and pictures) looks like it's from a magazine.
Do my house next! Please!!!!
Thanks! That paint is seriously awesome! Definitely a stand-by for future projects. It goes on so well. The link should work now...fingers crossed.
To create the stencil I cut the contact paper to a standard (8 1/2 x 11) sheet of paper, and printed the letters off on that. Then I cut them out with an exacto knife.
Hi Melodie! WOW! First, I love that it has sentimental value and second - I love that you rescued it. The paint technique really turned it into something gorgeous and I love your monogram! Thanks for the shout out too ~ I'll be sharing this with my readers. ;)
Off to check out more of your blog! I'm a new follower!
Roeshel
I love love love that mirror!! I actually liked it before (ha!) but then I liked the after even better! I'm going to be on the lookout for one of my own!
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