Mirror Mirror on the wall

Yes, I said I was going to play over the long weekend, but how can I have a long weekend and NOT get a single project in there? I cant so here's what I did.

A while back I saw this project from Katie over at Impatiently Praying for Patience.

I since seen it all over blogland, but Katies project was the first that caught my eye.

I really enjoyed her tutorial, it was very easy to follow and she said shes never used a miter box before... just like me! I had my mind set that I was going to do this!

So here is my bathroom mirror before, glorious isnt it ;-)

 BORING!

And there's two of them, one in each of our bathrooms.

But a nice framed mirror for our bathrooms just isnt in our budget.

So my happy self went to Home Depot to pick out some molding. I walked to the isle and found a gentleman working and asked him, "if I pick out the molding will you cut it for me?"

and he says, "no. you cut it yourself in that station over there" (he was nice about saying no atleast)

I got nerrrvous!!! What?! I gotta cut it myself? What if I make a fool out of myself right here in the store?!

I sucked it up and went for it. Good thing I didnt play damsel in distress, cause boy was it super easy!

 I wanted to go back and brag to the guy that told me no that I did it all by myself, but then I thought I'd feel even more embarrassed cause he'd be thinking duh an idiot could do it.

 (hello, that would be me)

So I brought my moulding and my brand spanking new miter box home and went for it.

10 mins later... done :-) with purdy 45 degree cuts, yay!

(just had to add that it took about 10 mins for all the cuts not just one)

Ok, here is where I offer a word of advise.

BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR CUTS!

I went for it and didnt check if they matched up and guess what they didnt! I had the thick part of the moulding matching up to the thin part it was a mess, I was frustrated. But luckily I had only made 6 cuts at that time and there was a chance to save what moulding I had left. My hubs jumped in to help and we matched 4 pieces for one frame with the thick part all on the outside of the frame. The other 2 pieces would have the thick part on the inside so we cut the last 2 pieces to match that.

Whew! That was a close one!

Then I got out some left over paint.

Dont forget to paint the back side of the moulding also because you will see it in the mirror.

                          

Do you like my super high tech painting devices?

I used Brown Tepee from Behr Paint, left over from my son's room for the spare bathroom that has absolutely no style or theme whatsoever and were still clueless on what we want to do.

Then I used this left over paint from our bedroom, I think it's called Brown Bear for Behr also.

(Love that paint, very easy to use, good quality and great price)

Note: Behr did not pay me to say that, nor did they compensate me in anyway. I'm pretty positive they dont even know I exist.

I had to get a pix of this. Of course, theres my "handy hubsters"

Hang a screen door he cannot, find a use for the paint opener to open his beer... OF COURSE!

I just finished praising Behr paint and notice my Devoe opener, hehehe.

On another note... if you ever need specialty stains, thats the place to go.

Ok getting back on track...

 I put on 3 coats of paint so it took pretty much a day to paint and dry in between coats.

Then we brought it inside and used liquid nails to adhere it to the mirror.

BTW, there is such a thing as liquid nails for mirrors! I did NOT take notice of it till after it was too late.

Dont forget to prep your mirrors by cleaning them with alcohol first.

Hubby had to get in on the action. I think he just secretly really wanted to use the caulking gun.

Sorry for the indecent pix, it was hulluva hot in our bathroom that day and well, we live in Hawaii he hardly ever wears a shirt at home. Cover your eyes for the next two pix.

We attached it to the mirror, put some pressure on the moulding and he held it in place while I put up some masking tape to hold it in place till the glue dried.

 I would recommend using painters tape, but we were fresh out that day.

Ok were back to rated G.

Another word of advise, dont get the glue too close to the edges. The first piece we put on was a total mess! Glue came ooozing out all over the mirror, and as you can see below this is what you'll be looking at if you get it too close to the edges.

ANOTHER word of advise, keep some kind of adhesive remover handy - you WILL need it.

So tada! Here it is with all the pieces up. I still have to caulk and touch up the corners but I was too anxious to share my transformation with you.

What do you think? Big difference, small price.

Above is our master bathroom and below is the spare bathroom.

I luve it! And I can say we did it ourselves!

Oh and you gotta love the cost, for the moulding and the liquid nails (ok and the miter box)

total cost under $25

Ok so here it is again:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Now, it seems like it emphasizes the fact that our light fixture is TOTALLY crooked.

(DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HOW EVERYTHING IN OUR HOUSE IS CROOKED)

(and no my hubs didnt build it)

When there was no frame I could overlook the fact that it wasnt centered, but now it really stands out.

Guess thats another project on the list...

Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did!

Im hooking up with these parties:

Feature Yourself Friday

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

The Shabby Nest

Frugalicious Friday

Saturday Night Special

Saturday Soire

The DIY Showoff

Get Your Craft On