Do-It-Yourself Framed Mirror

One of my favorite projects this summer has been creating two different decorative frames to really give a “face lift” two somewhat boring objects in my house! They were both ideas that I have had in the back of my head for quite some time, and when I finally got around to completing the projects I couldn’t believe how easy they were! I should have done these AGES ago! The first “boring object” was my bathroom mirror. We have a huge mirror that hangs over the sink in our main bathroom. There was no frame around the mirror – it was just a large, rectangular (boring) mirror. I wanted to frame it to make it look fancier, so I bought a piece of decorative wood molding at Lowe’s – you can get any kind, and they vary in cost – this was probably $10 and it was more detailed than some of the others. I wanted it to look like a somewhat ornate picture frame, so I was going for detail! I also bought a can of silver spray paint and some Liquid Nails – make sure to get the kind for mirrors – we had to run back to the store to get the right kind! I measured the mirror and wrote down the lengths that I wanted for the top, bottom & sides of the frame. Then, I was lucky enough to be able to pass that piece of paper on to my Dad who cut everything to size for me! If you do not have that convenience available to you, you can get a miter box and saw to make the angled cuts yourself, or you may try going to your local home improvement store and ask if they will cut the molding for you (which they may, if you have purchased it from them!). After the pieces were cut to size, I sanded them down a little and then spray painted them with the silver paint – make sure to do it outside or in a well-ventilated area. I gave them another light sanding after the first coat dried, wiped off the dust and spray painted them a second time. Once they were dry, we used the Liquid Nails for Mirrors and carefully adhered the pieces to the mirror. It looks fabulous, if I do say so myself!

This is a super easy, super inexpensive way to re-purpose an old mirror for your child’s room – maybe you have an old mirror lying around, or picked something up at a garage sale and you want to fix it up for your child’s room. You can use any type of paint color to match your child’s room – pink, if you have a little girl, blue for a boy, something metallic for a teenager… Or let them paint it themselves! If you are particular about matching room colors, then provide them with only the paint colors that you “approve” of. Or, how cute would it be to use smooth molding and let your child paint their hands and put their hand-prints all over it? The possibilities are endless!

Stay tuned – next I’ll show you my other fabulous frame idea! I love this even more than the mirror!