So basically, I read and watched all of the tutorials that I could find on All Things Thrifty. I seriously love her blog, and her tutorials are some of the best I've found when it comes to refinishing furniture. This mirror is metal, so I was kind of nervous about how it would do with spray paint, but it did well. I picked out my spray paint (I used Krylon's paint and primer in one, in ivory with satin finish- it worked really well). Then I went to Lowe's and bought my glaze... holy cow that stuff is expensive! Granted, a little goes a long way, but still, I wasn't expecting to pay $21 for a small can of glaze. Hoping I can put the rest to good use soon on some other things I want to do around my house.
After the paint was cured for a few days, I set to glazing. I was super nervous about it, but it really was easy. I just painted the glaze on with a sponge brush, and then wiped off with a piece of an old undershirt. I had to put about 3 coats on to get the desired thickness I wanted in the creases of the frame.
putting on the first coat
I used Valspar tintable glaze from Lowe's. I just asked the paint guy to tint it black. It looks more gray, which I guess is why the lady on All Things Thrify says she tints hers more when she gets home. I really didn't feel like messing with it anymore, and it turned out fine.
It took about 3 days for the glaze to completely dry. That made me nervous at first, because I thought I did something wrong. Thankfully a few friends told me that if it's hot/humid (which it is right now) that it can take it longer to dry. Once it FINALLY dried I took all the newspaper off, and to my horror realized that spray paint had still misted underneath the paper onto my mirror. I was almost in tears, but Drew quickly came to my rescue by showing me how I could wipe off the spray mist with a rag doused with a little paint thinner. Between that and my straight edge mirror scraper I got at Walmart, my mirror was clean. And now it sits on my mantle. I love it!
I'm still on the hunt for some chunky candle holders for the left side of my mantle. I haven't found what I have pictured in my mind yet, so I just have a blank space right now. I feel like my decor is slowly coming together.... oh how I wish I could just get it all done with at once! And because this stinker insisted that I take his picture too, this post isn't complete unless I show him as well :)
