a little mirror makeover

I found the cutest little standing mirror (basically just a picture frame but with a mirror) at Homegoods for $9.99, It was the perfect size and had a fancy little bow on top for Maggie's room. She's as girly as they come, all about fancy things, dollhouses, dresses, and baby dolls so I knew she'd love the little mirror.

I love a good Homegoods run and if you don't go in there often, you should. They are really stocking so many cute "old" looking things lately. I make sure I walk down every aisle because things are just randomly placed. This I found with the bathroom stuff right next to the toothbrush cups and not in the two rows of picture frames where you'd expect it.

It was perfect except it was a rosey pink gold which I didn't like and I knew that wouldn't go with the direction I am trying to take the babies bedroom in. Dex has a horse lamp from Pottery Barn that he loves and so I wanted the mirror to match that antique bronze on the lamp and ditch the rose gold. I'm having a hard time with their room because I can't find the perfect bedding and for 2.5 and 4, they are SURPRISINGLY opinionated.

I know a lot of people use rub n' buff and spray prime but I'm going to show you my trick and how easy it is (ahem... this also works on dollhouse miniatures, just saying)

I recommend black but I didn't have any and I didn't want to go to Hobby Lobby or Michaels last Saturday when I was working on this project so I used gray but if you're going to buy supplies for this, gray a black chalk paint and save yourself a step. I just popped out the mirror and laid it aside. You can always use painter's tape if the mirror won't come off or you're doing this on something you can't take apart.

The chalk paint sticks to the frame without primer or sanding so that's why I use it. You can also use a black matte spray paint but I didn't have any of that either. Improvise, right? I put on a very light coat (think dry brushing) of the dark gray chalk paint and then let that dry for about twenty minutes. Chalk paint dries quickly but I'd wait an hour. I'm just impatient.

Next I went on with my black satin acrylic paint. Again, if you have a black chalk paint or a black spray this will be step 1 so you can eliminate that base coat that I did in gray. I dry brushed that on just making sure to get everywhere but also not worrying about if some of the rose gold was still showing around the beading or bow in a spot or two. I let that dry for about forty-five minutes.

I went with the rub n' buff next (I'm using the European Gold color to get the bronze I was looking for but Antique Gold is great too) I ordered off Amazon, I know a lot of local craft stores and even Walmart carry it. It's around $9 on Amazon but a tube will last you forever. I wanted to have this photo on here so you can see how much I used. It's the tiniest amount and it covered half of the mirror. Start with the smallest dot and then rub it around in a circular motion. I used an old paint brush that I could just throw away because I don't like the smell of it so I just toss it afterwards, a a flat/blunt end works best. I've also seen people use a cheap makeup brush and toss that after.

I used about the same amount again to finish up the other half of the mirror and the bow making sure to get in all of the little creases and then I put it outside on my porch for about an hour to dry. The smell is not horribly strong but it does have a little bit of a lingering metallic/stain smell so I just let it dry and air out outside. You can also just put it in the garage or somewhere overnight if you're very sensitive to scents.

Popped the mirror back in the next day and it compliments his horse lamp perfectly. Maggie Grace loved it so I'm happy about that but I knew she would. I'll share their room progress as we go along. It's a small space and this house is more or less temporary so there are things I can't really do in a rental or don't want to spend the money on some things that feel like a waste, so I'm collecting treasures or making things into treasures for them that they can enjoy now but we can also take with us when we get more of a permanent forever home.