Teal Trim Rustic Mirror

Yesterday I was sick as can be. It was not fun. Not fun at all. But it did give me a chance to selfishly indulge in whatever I wanted, so long as I could sit up long enough to do it. I've been increasingly frustrated with the space that my craft stuff takes up (really, it's not much) and the lack of time to use it since I started subbing. I seized the moment and finally made a frame for this mirror I've had sitting around for a few years (yes, years) from a thrifted frame purchase.

I realized one day that I had a spare tomato stake from last year's garden and it could make a decent rustic frame. I don't normally do rustic, but there are exceptions to everything, right?

Here's how it went down:

I wanted to use only stuff I had on hand, but realized that I wanted the wood to overlap the mirror edge and I'd need something else to make a lip on the back of the frame. I bought two 1/4inch square dowels for $0.86 each and that was it.

Measuring the length of each side plus the overlap length I cut the tomato stake to length. For simplicity and to make it more rustic I didn't miter the corners.

Using wood glue, I attached the pieces at the corners to create a basic frame.

Large rubber bands were sufficient to hold it in place while the glue set.

Then I cut the dowels to length and used wood glue to attach them to the back of the rustic frame. I wanted to be sure they adhered well so cookbooks came out to join the party.

So, I discovered really quickly that my measurements were off slightly (despite my scribbles and math before the fact) which I blame on being sick and not having a fully functioning brain. I had to cut tiny pieces of the dowels to fill gaps on one side, and the frame was exactly 1/2 inch too wide on one side. AND, I didn't square it when I glued the pieces so it's slightly caddywhompus. Oops.

I found that dowel scraps once again came to the rescue to hold the mirror in place so I used wood glue on those puppies too and then hot glued the mirror in place along the exposed edges.

For the backing, it was Costco to the rescue! We had a large cereal box which was really sturdy since the bulk ones are reinforced. I cut it to size and then wrapped picture hanging wire around it both horizontally and vertically - so I can be completely indecisive about which way to hang it.

Yes, I was quite worried about the wire cutting the cardboard. I reinforced the paper with packing tape and then hot glued the wires to limit the likelihood of it cutting through. Oh, and see the funky orangy colors? I also freaked out that the wire was going to scratch the mirror backing so I placed random unused felt from my stash between the mirror and the backing.

Which left us here! I actually like the contrasting edge of the dowel, but decided it looked a little unfinished and random. Two naps later I pulled out some acrylic paint and painted that little edge turquoise while Squirt sat across me at the table doing homework. It was a beautiful moment with no tears involved! Is homework a brutal hour at your house too???

Here it is with her pretty little edge.

I hung it next to our front door (for now) to hopefully reflect some of the natural light from our skinny little window and keep that corner from feeling so dark. I've always liked mirrors, but living in the Northwest has made me almost obsessed with them.

It's so subtle and simple, but so far I dig it. What do you think?