Mirror Mirror

We nearly wrecked the car when too many years ago, my then 5-year old asked, "Was Snow White the fairest of THEM  ALL or the fairest of THE  MALL?" 

We love to repeat that story.  I couldn't help laughing thinking about it as I contemplated how shabby (and not chic) my mirrors in the foyer and dining room look. I inherited both of the mirrors from my great-aunts.  One of the mirrors is in pretty bad shape, but the other looks pretty good except for a couple spots.  Some blogs with tutorials on repairing wood and plaster frames inspired me to take on this little project.  I started with the easy one. 

You can see in this picture that the corner decoration is missing as well as a curlycue at the mitre.

One of the tutorials suggested making a plaster mold using modeling clay and plaster of Paris.  After it dries, you then file the excess plaster and glue the pieces to the frame with wood glue.  Sounds simple enough.

Simple my eye!  It was a bust.  The pieces crumbled while I was filing.  Nothing is ever easy.

On to Plan B.

Someone else showed a picture frame decorated with puffy paint and then spray painted to resemble an old plaster frame.  I thought my project mirror was a good candidate for this technique.  I had to add puffy paint on top of puffy paint to achieve the height of the other trim, and it still isn’t exact, but it’s pretty darn close. 

I spray painted metallic silver and dabbed on antique gold Rub-n-Buff to coordinate with the pewter light fixtures in my foyer and dining room. 

I’m happy with the results, but I doubt it would qualify as "the fairest of the mall." 

Check out more "before and after" stories at Between Naps on the Porch.