You know how Pinterest can give you great ideas (and how sometimes it can make you feel like everyone else always gets to the great ideas before you do...like there is nothing new under the sun)?
Well, I'd seen everyone making faux mercery glass stuff on there.
I'd even seen Nate Burkas talk about it.
And well, I mean, who amongst the crafty-set can resist the allure of "Looking Glass" spray paint?
I'm gonna say No One.
At some point, you have to just try it.
After moving I had some pretty boring walls.
My old bedroom was mine (not rented) so it had deep turquoisey green walls that I just loved to fall into.
My new rented bedroom is a sea of cream.
(Honestly I wish they had done white, then you can do cool white on white stuff, but cream is cream.)
And my stuff is pretty much all bronze/brown/wood since my walls used to be the color.
So yeah, I was feeling the need for something to happen to this wall here.
I thought about a mirror, because it would reflect the window, located behind my bed, for me to see in the morning.
But I couldn't find a mirror in my stingy price range (I've learned to thrift too well. It's ruined me a bit.)
So I was meandering through a thift store and found two little mirrors.
Then I paired them up with some clear plates.
I knew they would have to be painted.
But how?
Ah yes,
Looking Glass Paint here I come!
How to make these:
Step 1: Buy cool clear glass plates from the thrift store
(There is no storage of this stuff there, cleared out of homes from the 1950s and 60s.)
Wash them.
Take them outside.
Gather supplies:
Looking Glass Paint
Spray water bottle
(and if you are overly picky like me) Painters tape to tape off the front
Tape the edges on the front side
(Looking Glass paint is applied to the back of your project, its made that way, please use clear or translucent glass)
For the aged look,
spray with water first.
The places where the water beads, will keep the paint from sticking.
You can see that bubbles form in the paint, where the water was.
The more water, the more "worn."
After the paint sets (about 10 mins)
Take an old rag and wipe off the paint bubbles.
Here you can see, even with the tape, some got on the front.
This shows how if you paint the front of something, its not all that mirror like.
The paint came off very easily with a sponge.
(This also implies you will not be making washable dishes with this stuff)
Here they are, all mirrored up.
Then to age them further.
I took them inside and applied paint to the back of the plates.
I used Brown, Gold, Black and Blue.
I just liked the blue, wasn't sure it was necessary, it just spoke to me.
Do what you like.
Then I dappled it on.
Here is a bit of gold and some black on the edges.
It will only show on the front in the places where the mirror finish was wiped away.
So it just gives it that patinaed look.
I experimented with how much of what where.
And then decided I liked to the look of (once all the colors were applied) ending it all by coating the whole back with black.
(It looks nice from the side when they are hanging up)
After they dried, I planned how to hang them with the old
lay-out-on-the-wall-with-paper trick.
And
voilà!
A lovely wall.
I spent about $20 on it all.
Honestly, my thriftiness cringes that it cost that much.
Looking Glass paint isn't all that cheap at about $11 itself. But I still have about half a can left, so I'll use it some more at some point.
But I do think these plates look really quite expensive, if I do say so myself.
I like to pretend I got them at the antique store (I imagine I bought them at my favorite shop in Michigan, and they they were originally brought over from England. And that they have quite an adventurous past.) (Yeah I can't stop my brain... it just comes up with this stuff. But I love the fake story that lives on my wall now. I day dream about it.)
I'm not sure mercery glass ever came in this form, but I love to pretend.
From this:
To this:
It doesn't make my walls a color.
But it sure makes me feel better.
Makes me happy.
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