Mirror Makeover using thrifty materials and some ingenuity!

Sometimes you just can't find that perfect item in a store, and it is up to you to make your vision come true! I had been searching and searching for just the right mirror to hang above our newly refinished dresser in the dining room. This area is right by the front door, so it is the perfect place for that last quick check before you run out of the house. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything that I really liked for this spot, not even something that was out of my price range. I finally decided I would have to rise to the occasion and make them myself.

I picked up two rectangular mirrors (about the size of a piece of computer paper) at the dollar store, along with some puffy scrapbook stickers. I wasn't sure exactly what I would do with them, so I took them home and decided to mull it over for a while. I considered feathers, leaves, shell pieces, and yarn. None of that seemed right. So, I let them sit for a week or so, and eventually I knew what I wanted to do with them.

I had a midnight blue craft paint that would work as the base coat, and a metallic craft paint that I could use to give the mirror edges some extra sparkle. The puffy stickers would add a little bit of detail and interest, and hung together the mirrors would look like they were meant to be a set.

Here's the step by step process that I used.

These are the dollar store mirrors, the border around the mirrors is some kind of matte paper-like stuff.

I taped off the area of the mirror closest to the border with masking tape, and gave them both a coat of the midnight blue paint. Craft paint dries really fast, so I was able to go do the dishes, and then come back for the next coat.

I took a paintbrush and dipped just a little part of it into the metallic paint. Then, I brushed it over the newspaper till it was all mostly gone, and then brushed it over the blue paint in a haphazard irregular pattern.

While that dried I painted the stickers in the same blue paint, then highlighted the details with the metallic paint.

Once all the paint had dried and the mirrors were de-masking taped, I placed a little sticker in the lower corners of the mirrors. Here is where I got a lucky break. I felt like they weren't quite right, with the stickers all at the bottom of the mirrors. Then I realized that one of the mirrors was upside down, and in order to hang them correctly, the stickers would be in the top corners! And it just looked so much better that way.

Hanging them on the wall was a cinch, and I love how they look above the dresser and the little fall decorations beneath them. I love that they were so cheap and yet they are exactly what I wanted!

Linked to Metamorphosis Monday, check out all the other projects!