Wildlife picture to window frame mirror, a DIY transformation

Well I undertook quite the project this weekend. I made my first tutorial video and uploaded it to YouTube. It has to do with cutting the glass for this week’s craftiness: 

See, it all started with this super ugly electrical box in the middle of my kitchen wall. I mean, it doesn’t even have a cover: 

So when I moved in, I hastily covered it with one of my DIY Sharpe-on-canvas pieces: 

For weeks I have been appalled at the dark, dungeon-like state of my little galley kitchen. Very little natural light to speak of. Only that which trickles in from the window in the dining room. I decided the best way to increase the natural lighting in this little cave was to add a mirror. And not just any mirror; no, in true Kneesh style, I wanted a DIY fancy window-like mirror. Something I could be proud of. Something like this: 

To do this project, I started out with a garage sale find ($2): 

I also bought an 8’ piece of trim from my local lumber store ($1.50). I measured the trim to the desired lengths, and cut it with my little hand saw. Trust me, free-hand cutting on an angle with a little hand saw is not very accurate. But I did my best. It wasn’t a very precise job, and gobs of wood filler is what made it look good in the end. 

I laid parchment paper between the glass and the frame and used my trusty E6000 (man, I love that stuff) to glue the trim in place. 

I waited for the glue to dry and gobbed on the wood filler to fill in the cracks between the pieces. I used my fingers for that part, and worked it into the cracks much like a very thinned playdough. Using my fingers meant I didn’t need to sand the wood filler when it dried, because I had smoothed it out while it was still pliable. 

So then it was just a matter of spray painting the frame. Which I forgot to take a picture of, but I think that’s kind of self explanatory. The only note I could add is that since I was putting a mirror in the frame, it was crucial to paint both sides of the trim work. Otherwise you would see little bits of unpainted wood reflected in the mirror when inspected closely. 

Now, the mirror ended up being a bit of a disappointment, followed by a wonderful learning experience. My plan was to turn the glass that came with the frame into a mirrored pane using a mirror spray paint. This spray paint, however, is only available in the U.S., and not regulated for Canada. I’m sure there’s some sort of chemical, cancer-causing reason that Canada won’t regulate it, but I was very, very bummed. 

Luckily, I had an old mirror lying around from when I renovated my dresser. Unluckily, and predictably, it was not the right size for my frame. It was much too large. So I did a little research into glass cutting, found that it is actually extremely simple to do, and set off with my new plan. 

This is where my first ever video tutorial comes in: 

Using the exact same method I show in the video, I cut my large mirror. I found no difference between cutting a small pane of glass and a large mirror. 

I did have one set back though. I ran off my Sharpie line in one spot, causing the mirror to be slightly too big for the frame in that area. I used the chipping notches on the glass cutter to chip away the excess. It does not look pretty at all, but that part is hidden by the lip of the frame. 

Then it was just a matter of fitting the mirror, adding a backing (I used a piece of corrugated cardboard), anchoring the pieces into the frame with nails (sideways into the frame, not into the mirror, obviously), affixing a new hanger, and hanging it on the wall. 

There are no photos of those steps, but I assure you, those steps were the easiest of this whole project. 

Anyways, it doesn’t add copious amounts of light to the kitchen, but it does help to bounce around the limited light there is. I’m deeming it effective. 

And that’s it, kids! 

Oh, I’d like to make a quick, unsponsored shout-out to Stanley workwear. They make very nice safety glasses that are designed for women that are half practical, and half sexist. They are actually a smaller size to fit a woman’s face better (practical), and they have shiny rhinestone accents (sexist). I love my new safety glasses, and yes, I love the rhinestones. I am a girl after all.