I started with the double-sided mirror that had been broken on one side. I still use the magnifying side when I pluck my eyebrows, so didn't really want to throw it away... but it seemed to be such a waste of space keeping it lying around for that odd occassion. That's when I decided to make it into a photoframe.
I started off by taking the mirror off of the stand and covering it with the torn book pages I had left from other projects (I did mention that these would be use a lot! *lol*). I used a mixture of white glue and water to fix the pages to the frame.
I carefully put glue just on the frame and avoided the mirror. After it had dried, I just ran a craft knife carefully around the edges of the mirror to remove the excess paper.
I pressed a sheet of copy paper into the frame to make a template for the photograph.
Bethany (youngest daughter) wanted me to leave to decoration as the book pages, but I wanted something older looking - shabby chic and vintage. I had a pot of distress crackle paint (brushed courdroy) that had dried out. I mixed this with a bit of water and hoped it would still crackle when I painted it on. It was a bit thick, but seemed to work :) I then rubbed the frame down with sandpaper to expose the paper underneath. Vintage Photo ink was used to darken the whole project and give it that aged look. I sealed the whole thing with my leftover mix of gloss and matt ModPodge.
I had some paper flowers left over from scrapbooking projects (mostly Prima) and so used these to embellish the frame and the stand. I didn't want too much on the mirror side, so just used one Prma rose and hoped the embellishments poking round from the other side would be enough.
I had chosen the photograph I wanted to use and found some half-used lines of flat-backed pearls for the edging after I had laid the photo in place. I didn't want lace all around the frame - and didn't have enough anyway as this was just snippets and leftovers. I gathered up a short piece and glued it onto part of the frame, and then added flowers and leaves to the photo. To cover the rough running stitch used to gather the lace on the stand, I used more flat-backed pearls. They are on a bit wonky, but it seems to look as though it was supposed to be that way - following the contours of the gathers.
I used my last piece of lace for the bottom of the stand with the last three roses I could find that matched the colour scheme. The leaves were leftovers from some flowers I had bought for another project (I think it was a bridal bouquet). Then I ModPodged everything... well, almost. I left the lace alone :) The reason I use ModPodge on the flowers and the photograph is so that it can be dusted and cleaned much easier.
Hubby liked the finished project, and so do I :)
I will probably add another couple of layers of ModPodge to the photograph in the coming weeks just to make sure it's sealed in safely.
I really enjoyed making something out of what was basically rubbish... and there's several rooms in the home this could be placed and look really lovely.
Right, I'm off to Di's now for a wander around other Crafty Snippets projects this week :)
Pop on over to join in the fun at the playground
HERE
