Ornate Mirror Makeover
The Navage Patch is finally back up and running, and this time with our new web hosting company, we’ll be serving up posts faster than ever đŸ™‚ I love our new hosting company – they are all about speed! Fast hosting, competitive prices and lightning fast support, these guys are exactly what bloggers need! Put it this way: when I click on the “Live Chat” button, within seconds a help desk staffer will connect and greet me with a nice “Hello!” That is even faster than Greg’s groan response time to my “Hey Babes??” call! hahahaha đŸ˜€
Since I feel really blessed to have finally found such a great web hosting company, I thought I should carry on with the “blessing” theme and share my latest project, Ornate Mirror Makeover, with you.

I found this ornate mirror on Craigslist for $80 last winter, and I was thrilled when the seller said okay to my $50 offer, as the mirror was in great shape. It had no scratches and no broken parts, so other than it’s color, it was in perfect condition…I knooow…there is nothing wrong with gold and silver, but you know me: I like to use them moderately, not all over.
After storing this beautiful mirror in our basement for over 6 months, I decided to give it a makeover in October. I didn’t have a vision when I started working on it, so as usual, I just started with taking the mirror out and getting the frame ready for painting.

Once I took the mirror out, I decided to replace it with a metal chalkboard. With that initial plan, I wanted to paint the frame with Old White, so it would have a nice contrast with the black chalkboard. Using my homemade chalk paint recipe for my paint sprayer, I prepared the chalk paint…

…and readied my paint sprayer.

Since the frame had a lot of nooks and swirls, I sprayed it with 4 very thin coats of my homemade chalk paint, because with thin coats, the paint won’t build up in the nooks. Besides, the thinner the coat, the quicker it dries.

After painting, I carried the frame to our garage as I was planning to get back to it the next day. But of course, I got distracted with all the Halloween and Christmas projects, so that next day didn’t arrive till last weekend. Since the mirror waited too long in the garage, it gathered a little bit of dust. But the paint was in great condition, as it was totally cured. I wiped the frame with a damp cheesecloth to get the dust off of it and waited for it to dry.

Next, I started waxing it with Annie Sloan clear wax.

While waxing it, I realized the frame was a little bit too plain. You know…like way-too-white kind of plain. I thought it could do with a little bit more color, so I grabbed my Rub’n Buff Autumn Gold and European Gold waxes and mixed them in a 1:1 ratio…

…and I started adding highlights to the ornate.

During this step, I changed my plan about turning it into a chalkboard. Instead, I wanted to keep it as a mirror, but with a little twist…I was going to stencil the mirror with this Irish blessing which I love.


As I always have a hard time placing stencils on oval shaped surfaces, I decided to put the mirror back into its frame, so I could use the frame as a reference for the stencil placement. But first, I cleaned my mirror. After placing it back into the frame…

I secured the back with my Logan Dual Point Driver.

Next, I taped a piece of string on the frame to create a middle line, and using that middle line as a reference, I placed my stencil on the oval mirror.

Here’s a hint for the stencil: if you are using re-positionable adhesive backed vinyl for your stencils, then make sure the vinyl isn’t too sticky, otherwise taking the stencil off of a smooth surface like a mirror or a window can become an issue and may even ruin your project. As you can see from the picture above, I started of with my usual black vinyl, but after seeing that removing the stencil would also likely remove some paint and leave a sticky mess that would need to be scraped (which would also scrape off some of the stenciled letters), I switched to my less sticky stencil vinyl, as seen in the picture below.
After placing the stencil, I also covered the over-spray area. Then I grabbed my frosted glass spray and sprayed the mirror with a thin coat. I waited about 8-10 minutes and sprayed the mirror once again with another thin coat of frosted glass spray. I waited about 8-10 minutes again, then slowly and carefully removed the stencil.

Normally I give longer breaks between coats when I spray paint, but this time I needed the paint to be a little workable when I took the stencil off…you know, just in case the paint bled under the stencil. Luckily, there were only 2 small areas where the paint had bled, and I easily corrected it with a razor blade.
And here is our ornate mirror! Not bad at all, is it?

I am so happy that I chose the frosted glass spray to stencil the Irish blessing. It is subtle and gives a beautiful etched-glass effect!

Here are some close-up pictures for you to see the details.





My babes, the beefcake. Pffffft! I’ve seen bigger muscles on a seafood platter! hahahaha đŸ˜€ I know, I know, the things on the platter are mussels, but I just couldn’t resist đŸ˜‰


Handan, xo
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wow i didn’t give you a chance in hell of making that mirror pretty, but you did you mage it awesome… i love the rub and buff on it. and the irish prayer really added some bang really nice job handan xx
Thank you so much, Chris! xx
looks fabulous – great job đŸ™‚
Thank you so much, Sue! đŸ™‚
Great job! The mirror turned out beautiful and I really appreciate that you included showing the steps to your fabulous achievement. It makes me want to run out and start looking for old mirrors at thrift shops, even though it’s snowing!
Thank you so much, June! đŸ™‚
My Sweetie just bought me the Cricut Air 2 for Christmas and I can’t wait to start making projects like this! Being Irish (part anyway!) I really appreciate the beautiful prayer!
Oh that is great, Giselle! You are so going to love that machine! When you start using it, send me pictures of some of your projects đŸ™‚
So smart using your paint sprayer on the frame. I painted one very similar a few months ago with a brush and can we say t e d i o u s. Love the direction you took by hitting the raised bits with gilding wax. Adding a frosted Irish Blessing onto the mirror – love the idea and the blessing. Wish I had thought of that for mine but it sold so I guess all is good. P.S. Don’t you just love taking photos of mirrors!
Thank you so much, Marie! It was my first time stenciling a mirror and I really love the result. Hence, I see more mirror stenciling in my future đŸ˜‰
Hi Marie! I love photographing mirrors – it gives me a chance to check out my physique that I’ve been painstakingly sculpting with fried chicken, ribeyes, martinis and ice cream! đŸ˜€
Wow that looks so good! Thanks for sharing on the Pleasures of the NW’s DIY party!
Thank you so much, Helen! đŸ™‚
It’s so pretty! Beautiful makeover! Thank you for sharing. Feel free to share this at my Make it Pretty Monday party which is currently live. Here is the link if you want to check it out. http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/2017/02/make-pretty-monday-week-208.html Hope to see you at the bash! Have a happy week! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Thank you so much, Kathryn! I am so glad you liked it. I also shared it at your party đŸ™‚
Gorgeous DIY. I love vintage, repurposed mirrors and recently posted about them. You did an amazing job, both on the painting and the stenciling. I’ll be Pinning!
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Carol! đŸ™‚
The mirror makeover looks fabulous. I love the idea of the rub ‘n’ buff over the clear wax. It adds just the right subtle touch of bling. Nice finished product!
Thank you so much, Carol! đŸ™‚
The mirror looks fabulous. The rub n buff is the perfect touch.
Thank you so much, Debra! I love rub n buff. It makes it really easy to add metallic shine/beauty to any object đŸ™‚
What a beautiful mirror! Great job with the stenciling, I love vintage mirrors đŸ™‚
Thank you so much, Hope! đŸ™‚
So pretty! You really made me giggle with the muscles/mussels joke. That’s exactly the type of pun we’d make around here. Your post just made me realize that we have an old mirror lying around our house (somewhere) that could probably be used in our upcoming bedroom renovation. Thanks for the inspiration and for the reminder!
Lol. Thank you so much, Leslie! Wishing you a great week ahead! đŸ˜€
The prayer was a great touch! I love how it turned out.
Thanks so much, Heidi! đŸ™‚
Nice job! Very clever. I love the Irish saying on the mirror.
Thanks so much, Debra! đŸ™‚
How pretty. What a great job you did. Great tutorial with great tips. I loved all the pics you included!
I hope you’ll come over and share your post at The Fabulous Spring/Easter party!
It’s over here:
http://ourholidayjourney.blogspot.com/2017/02/fabulous-welcome-spring-link-party.html
Happy Spring.
Thank you so much, Sherry! I missed your party this week, but i’ll definitely share it next week đŸ™‚
That looks amazing! I couldn’t imagine it at the beginning of the pictures!
Thank you so much, Helene! đŸ™‚
That is a gorgeous mirror! Great job!
Chippy White Cottage Blessings,
Rebecca
Thank you so much, Rebecca! đŸ™‚
I love the mirror! So gorgeous! Thank you for sharing at Link it Up Wednesday!
Kileen, thanks so much for visiting and for your lovely comment! See you on Wednesday! đŸ™‚
Lovely sentiment and lovely transformation! Love it! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm! xo Kathleen Our Hopeful Home
Kathleen, thanks so much for your visit and wonderful comment! đŸ™‚
Hi you two creatives. Just wanted to let you know that your post will be featured on my blog for Thursday Favorite Things. This mirror turned out beautifully and the transfer is a nice touch.
Hope you’ll check it out and grab the Pinterest graphic of all the features for the week.
Hi Olivia! Oh my! That is awesome news đŸ˜€ Thanks so much!!
You always have a keen eye for making things better and this mirror is wonderful!
Now featured on Friday Features this week!
Have a great weekend!
Thank you very much, Karren! I know…I was just there linking some more projects and such a fantastic surprise it was to see my mirror among the featured projects! You too have great weekend! đŸ™‚
Beautiful mirror makeover. Thank you for sharing at the Snickerdoodle Create~Bake~Make link party!
Thank you so much, Sharon! đŸ™‚
I featuring your lovely mirror tomorrow at Vintage Charm.
Wow! This is absolutely beautiful! (and makes me want to scroll craigslist, too! So well done!)
Thank you so much, Karrilee! đŸ™‚
Your mirror makeover is gorgeous! I love that Irish Blessing, too. You always have such wonderful transformations. Thanks for sharing your talent with us at Snickerdoodle. We’ll be featuring this at tomorrow’s party. Hope to see you there!
Thank you very much for your lovey comment and wonderful news, Beverly! I will be there to link up some more projects đŸ™‚
Hi again! You make some of the prettiest furniture ever. I am in love with this mirror, too. The soft words give it a pop but without obstructing the mirror itself. It’s perfection! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment!! đŸ™‚
This turned out so beautiful !! I love how you added the gold dust to all of the swirls and whirls!! Stunning!!
Thank you for sharing your fabulous project over at Waste Not Wednesday!
Thank you very much, Sam! đŸ™‚
What a lovely makeover! Thanks for linking up for Friday Favorites. I’m featuring you this week.
That is awesome news, Jerri! Thanks so much indeed! đŸ™‚
Wow this looks so good! Pinned! Thanks for linking up at #iDIYedthat
Thank you so much, Lindsey! đŸ™‚
Ok, this is SOOOOO STINKIN’ CUTE! <3 Thank you so much for sharing this for #iDIYedThat.
Susanna, thank you so much! đŸ™‚
Absolutely gorgeous and the project turned out looking stunning. Anyone following the instructions will be able to cope, that was lovely and kind of you to show and share! Go well with the blessings of the Lord.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Elize! It indeed made my day!! đŸ™‚
That mirror is absolutely gorgeous! I just finished a Victorian frame and I am so proud of it, but had no idea what to put in the frame. I kept the mirror, so now may attempt copying you. I just haven’t been sure where to get the stencils .
Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you so much, Sandy, and good luck with your mirror! đŸ™‚
This is the most exquisite mirror make over I have seen to date! I have a sweet spot for antique mirrors. Thanks for sharing your work. Much enjoyed
Thank you so much, Donna! We love them too! đŸ™‚