Trash to Treasure: Poetic Mirror

********************************************************************
Welcome to Tanya of Dans Le Townhouse who is adding another great project to this Trash to Treasure Transformation series. She has a special talent for making something special from nothing. Don't believe me? Check out her DIY modern art project I featured a while back or this adorable mod play kitchen from a microwave stand or any of the other great projects she has shared on her blog.

********************************************************************

Hello lovely Brooklyn Limestone readers! My name is Tanya and I blog over at Dans le Townhouse, where I chronicle adventures in decorating, renovating, thrifting and DIY project tackling.

No matter how carefully I budget, home improvement and home decor goodies add up so quickly around the townhouse. To ease the sting, I wrack my brain trying to find ways to use what we already have. Sometimes my ideas flop, but sometimes, with a little elbow grease, imagination and help from Handy Hubby, I create something I am smitten with. Today I'm sharing one of the the not-flops, a project I am super excited about.

After my Handy Hubby and I renovated a bathroom in 2009, we were left with a chipped, scratched, builder's basic mirror from 1976. We literally could not give it away, but I didn't have the heart to toss it, so it spent a few years languishing in the basement, where we shuffled it from place to place and daily cursed its existence. It was worth the annoyance though, because I finally turned it into something beautiful:

What did I do?

First, I gave it an "antique" finish by removing the protective backing with chemical paint stripper and then removing a bit of the reflective surface with Muriatic Acid in a spray bottle. It isn't as scary as it sounds, I promise! Then I spray painted the exposed glass with silver spray paint, but you could use gold or even a bright colour. For the full tutorial (and important safety tips, plus the nerdiest photo of a blogger ever, check out this post).

Once the mirror was looking intentionally worn, and much less bathroom-y, I temporarily affixed a custom stencil of a Hungarian poem (from Stencils Online) with spray adhesive and lightly misted with an oil rubbed bronze spray paint. I quickly removed the stencil and gave a sigh of relief that I hadn't smeared the letters!

Handy Hubby helped with the making-sure-the-mirror-doesn't-come-crashing-down process. Using Lepage PL Premium Construction Adhesive, we affixed the mirror to a piece of plywood and then built a frame around it, using molding I spray painted brushed nickel. For all of the nitty-gritty steps, check out this post.

And, voila! Something to fill up the space above the mantle, and bounce a little light around our window-devoid townhouse.

Stenciling a mirror like this has so many options for personalization. I spray painted a feminist message onto another mirror and you could easily use a beautiful pattern instead of text, or skip the antiquing if your mirror is in better condition. Warning: I already have plans for a third stenciled mirror makeover, so this might be addictive!

P.S. Here's the translation of the poem:

I'll Be a Tree

I'll be a tree, if you are its flower,
Or a flower, if you are the dew-
I'll be the dew, if you are the sunbeam,
Only to be united with you.

My lovely girl, if you are the Heaven,
I shall be a star above on high;
My darling, if you are hell-fire,
To unite us, damned I shall die.