Mirror Makeover with Pallets
- By Joan
- January 20, 2017
- No Comments
Todays project takes my old favorite, pallet wood, paired with an inexpensive cast off mirror,(I think it used to be a bathroom mirror), and some rusty strips of metal. They are all combined to give a fairly easy mirror makeover.
Gather your supplies. I don’t know where this mirror was from originally but I’m pretty sure somebody gave it to me and judging by the sawdust on the mirror, it’s been sitting in my workshop a heck of a long time.
The pallet wood I used for this project is actually the side rails of the pallet. I also used a piece of 1/4 inch plywood for the backing.
Separate the mirror from it’s frame. This frame was glued on so it just needed to be loosened with a screwdriver.
Leaving room for the new frame, cut a piece of the 1/4 inch plywood backer board leaving about an inch border on all sides of the mirror.
Since I’m using the side rails of my pallets, I had to deal with tons of nails. There are 3 things you can do with pallet nails. You can remove them, but I’ll tell you right now they put up quite a fight. You can hammer them all the way in and the nail heads will just be part of the design of your mirror or you can cut the nails off. I ended up doing all three.
Miter the pallet wood ends so that the corners match up with the corners of the mirror.
Attach the mirror to the backing with builder’s adhesive and let dry.
With a nail gun I secured all my corners before turning the entire piece over and nailing thru the backing into the frame.
Make sure you are far enough over so that you have no chance of hitting the mirror.
My original plan was to have a secondary frame around the interior frame made of thinner pallet wood. It would give the frame sort of a tiered look. Unfortunately most of my dry cleaned pallets were used in my photo box and since I happened to be putting this project together on a very rainy day, the rest of my pallets were dripping wet.
This was plan B. While we were demolishing my son’s house last year I became the proud recipient of 2 strips of rusty metal. For some strange reason whenever somebody finds a piece of rusty metal, they think of me….go figure.
Anyway, since my tiered pallet idea wasn’t working (and no, I didn’t feel like waiting another day for the wood to dry) I decided to add a little flair with the metal. I didn’t have enough to go all the way around the mirror, but I did have enough to do a border on the top and bottom.
I cut the metal with an angle grinder and glued the pieces directly to the mirror with E6000 clear adhesive. Whatever adhesive you use make sure glass or mirror is listed as one of it’s uses.
I painted the mirror frame with a combination of vintage wax and a little bit of black chalk paint.
Apply the chalk paint to the wax while it is still wet. Use as much or as little as you like or not at all. Blend together and wipe off the excess with a rag.
This is the blended chalk paint and wax.
Still need inspiration? You may want to check out my last pallet wood mirror. It’s amazing that two totally different looks can come from using just pallets and mirrors.
Have a great weekend and join me next week when I reveal my Valentine hearts. I’ll tell you right now they have both rust and pallets…what’s not to love?
Shared at DIY Salvaged Junk Projects,
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