Tuesday, November 1, 2011

$20 DIY Mirror Frame: The Tutorial!

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Hope y'all had a great Halloween! 

If you read my post here, you've seen how my plain, boring mirror turned into a framed beauty!


Before:



After: 


Here's the How-To!

Supplies needed:
Molding (my is actually window casing, and is 3.5" thick)
Trim Paint (I use semi-gloss finish)
Liquid Nails
Paintable Caulk
Miter Saw


The first thing I always do is paint my boards! Paint the front AND back.  The backside will reflect in the mirror.


Next up, measure your mirror. 



I measure one side at a time, and cut the molding for that side.  I clearly label each piece, because each side will be a littttle different (around .25" difference)

 (I forgot to take a picture of me cutting the molding....a pic of my miter saw will have to do!!)


After you've measured and cut all four sides, time to put it up!
I used liquid nails, and glued right to the mirror.


Make sure you level each piece....

To make sure none of my pieces moved while drying, I used blue painters tape to hold them up.


After they were all dry (I let my pieces dry overnight), I caulked the four corner seams.



I then gave a touch up coat to the corners that I caulked.



All done!







Close up of the corners:



Cost Breakdown:

Molding - $20
Paint - Leftover from previous projects
Caulk/Liquid Nails - Leftover from previous projects

Total: $20!

***for those of you that have those pesky plastic mirror holders***

These were holding up my mirror on top:



I could not glue the molding on top of them!  After googling around a little, I figured out that I could just unscrew them,



and then shoot a little liquid nails behind my mirror.



I let that dry overnight.  I took off the mirror holding thingies the next morning, and voila!  Done!  No more pesky mirror clips.

17 comments:

  1. This is something I have been wanting to do in our bathroom ever since we moved in (7 years ago)! Thanks for the advice on those plastic-hanger-thingies. I think that's one of the reasons I've never moved forward with it- didn't know how to get around them! Now I'm so excited to try! :-)

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  2. Awesome! What about the metal piece that holds the mirror that the bottom? If you glued the wood over that, wouldn't it make it so it wouldn't lay flat? Thanks!

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  3. Just a quick note to let you know that a link to this post will be placed on CraftCrave today [02 Nov 02:00am GMT]. Thanks, Maria

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  4. @anonymous,
    I have those metal pieces on the bottom of my mirror too. They were so thin that I just glued the molding right on top. It didn't make it uneven at all!

    Good Luck!

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  5. Genius!!!! I love this so much!

    Jenny
    www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com

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  6. It looks great! I've been wanting to try this. My concern is how the mirror looks from the side. Is there a visible mirror frame/moulding seam? I can't think of a way to avoid this.

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  7. Adrienne,
    I think the mirror looks great from the side! Mirrors really aren't that thick, so it doesn't look weird or anything to have the molding on top of it. I can send you a picture if want! Just email me.

    Sarah
    alittleofthis.alittleofthat.blog@gmail.com

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  8. Hi Sarah! :) I've been wanting to do this forever!! Looks great! Featuring YOU today over on my blog! :) You were one of my favorites at last week's {wow me} wednesday party. :) Thank YOU for sharing!

    Ginger

    http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com/2011/11/take-look-at-you-my-favorites_10.html

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  9. Hi Sarah, Did you have to use liquid nails on the entire back of the mirror or just in spots? I have the same giant, very plain mirror that I'd love to frame...but I'm nervous the mirror will fall down without the holder thingies!

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  10. Army Wife,
    I just used liquid nails up at the top. However, once I took off the holders, my whole mirror was coming off the wall. If I had someone else to help me hold that big old mirror, I could have used liquid nails allllll over the back of the mirror. Since I was doing it by myself, I just used liquid nails at the top. I bet your mirror is the same way. You can definitely use the glue on the entire back if you have someone to help you hold it!

    Sarah

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  11. Thank you, my husband has agreed to do this in both bathrooms, thank you for posting the idea

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  12. I finally find a tutorial about how to deal with the little holder thingie!!! Thank You so much! I am now determined to do my boys' bathroom!

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  13. One more question: do you have a picture of the side of the mirror? How big is the gap between the frame and the wall? Does that bother you?

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  14. Thank you!!! I have been searching to find out how to frame in our mirrors (pesky clips) for a while. Now I know. No more excuses! On the to-do list for this weekend.

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  15. I know this thread hasn't been posted on in a long time, but I'm sure people stumble upon it like I did because of Pinterest. I read (haven't done it yet) that you can use washers in place of those plastic holder things. They are supposed to still lay flat so that the wood can lay flat, too, while still holding the mirror up.

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