I went to the infamous IKEA for our free kid's meal (buy and adult entree and get a free kids meal on Tuesdays!!!), when I saw these $2 Malma Mirrors. I recognized them to be a trio of mirrors I had in my storage unit. I had found them covered with bamboo, in a box labeled "FREE", on the sidewalk, a few years back and stuck them in a "DIY" basket I'd hidden away. I often store a couple items for whenever we have the urge to do some arts and crafts. I hadn't ventured into my basket recently, as I have other projects my son and I were working on, but when I saw the Malma Mirrors at IKEA, it hit me. I knew that I wanted to add the trio of mirrors to an empty wall I had in my bedroom, but with some added pizzazz. So I went home, grabbed the entire DIY basket from my storage, and got to work.
After laying out all the materials I had, I knew I didn't want three identical mirrors, but something that would help represent who I am as a person. Especially because the empty wall I was looking to decorate was directly over my bed. My son helped me design the trio, which made the finished product even cooler.
For the first mirror I ripped off all the bamboo with a flat head screwdriver. I had to be careful, as the bamboo kept flinging off. To take precaution, I did this on the kitchen table away from my son. I proceed to grab my Mod Podge and found my gold glitter. After scraping off the remaining glue, I covered the entire mirror with Mod Podge and poured the gold glitter over everything. To keep the glitter from getting everywhere and falling off constantly, I sprayed a quick layer of hairspray to lock in all the shiny goodness. This tip works for any art project dealing with glitter. I made a few gold glitter reindeer signs for Christmas and the hairspray trick has kept them glittery gold for a few years now!
For the second mirror I chose not to rip off all the bamboo and simply paint over it a bright white. I then took a necklace with beautiful beads that my Abuela gave to me. The reason I never wore it, was because it's extremely delicate. So in order to preserve and display it's beautifully painted beads, I chose to glue them all down around the inner square and diagonally. (See picture). I think with the bamboo underneath, it gives it a cool 3D effect. You could easily do this on a flat mirror and add more beads. An easy fix to beautify anything really. You could easily add beads from an old necklace or a collection, to a vase, mirror, frame, dresser, or even a backpack! So many beads and so little time.
For the third and final mirror, I chose to simply put white string all over it in a random pattern. You could easily glue them down in a distinct pattern, giving it a woven effect, but for me I like the messy-ness of it. I thought the bamboo color and white string tied the other two together. Plus prying off the bamboo was extremely hard. Whoever owned these mirrors before really wanted that bamboo to stay on! Which is ironic in a way seeing as how they were
practically thrown away. Like I always say, one man's trash is this girls treasure!
No, I don't dumpster dive, but if there is a box outside that says "FREE" or if there are items set aside for people to take, I will inspect and make a decision to either leave or take. I'm not ashamed at all, especially seeing as how I've practically furnished my entire apartment with almost all free stuff. It came out quite shnazzy if I do say so myself. Check out my blog post HERE on how I did it.
And there you have it! Three extremely simple ways to add your personal style to any mirror. You could use these ideas to create your own mirrors trio or re-vamp any piece of furniture that's in need of a little love! These beauties now hang over my bed and I absolutely love them!!! Happy DIY-ing everyone!
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