Antiqued Mirror DIY

Today I'll let you know how I made the antiqued mirror for over our fireplace.  (Bear with me on the photos.  I shot some in manual mode for the first time ever.)

I've been eyeing antiqued mirrors for awhile now (1, 2, 3, 4).  I love the warm, vintage feel they bring to a room. After Jenny Komenda posted her chemical-free tutorial here, I knew I had to try it.

Supplies:

• Glass
• Black spray paint
• Krylon Looking Glass spray paint
• 1:1 mixture of vinegar and water in a spray bottle
• Paper towels

After deciding that I wanted my mirror to be 22"x28", I went to Lowe's and had my glass pieces cut.  After practicing my technique on some scrap pieces of glass, I got to work.  

Step 1:  Clean your glass pieces.  (I failed to do this thoroughly enough.  I got lazy.  And if you're up close examining the final product, you can tell.)

Step 2:  Lightly mist your glass pieces with your vinegar and water mixture.  The vinegar and water will prevent the Looking Glass spray paint from touching your glass and create the antiqued effect.  I tried to concentrate on the outer edges of my glass pieces and sprayed less in the middle for a worn-around-the-edges look.

Step 3:  Spray your glass with the Krylon Looking Glass spray paint.  Allow the spray paint and water and vinegar mixture to sit for maybe 15 seconds and then gently use a paper towel to blot up the vinegar and water.  Jenny's tutorial says 'wipe', but this didn't work for me.  I found that the print on my paper towel transferred to the wet spray paint a bit and left indentions.  I think if I do this again, I'll use an old t-shirt or something with less texture.

Step 4:  Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you're satisfied with your antiquing.

Step 5:  Spray over the entire piece of glass with your black spray paint.

(The pieces on the left have been sprayed black.) 

Step 6:  You're done.  Flip it over and admire your work!

I then used liquid nails to adhere my mirror pieces to a 1/4" thick piece of plywood.

My plan was to pop this baby into a 22"x28" open frame that I already had on hand.  Did that idea work out?  Of course not.  The mirror pieces were slightly imprecise and it did not fit.  

Onto plan B.  Make a frame.  I picked up some fancy moulding at Lowe's.  

One would think having a miter saw would help immensely with this endeavor.  

And it did, but it was still an absolute pain to line everything up.

We did the best we could and used our liquid nails to adhere the moulding directly onto the mirror.  

And then the liquid nails started oozing out.  We almost gave up.  But we forged ahead and piled on some books to hold the frame onto the mirror overnight.

The next morning, I used a paint scraper to remove as much of the liquid nails that had oozed out as possible.

Then I used some black acrylic paint and a tiny paintbrush to paint the visible liquid nails.

When the paint dried, I scraped the excess off the mirror.

The corners of the frame aren't perfect but they're good enough for me.  I had reached my limit on this project.

Again, sorry for the subpar photos.  I'm really trying to work on that.

And yes, I changed up the mantel.  The moose now has a new home.  I'll update you soon.