DIY Glam

I love those olde worlde mirrors with gilded gold frames... however, we're really trying to maximise our income and get ahead, and unncessary redecorating isn't really something I can justify spending big bickies on.. if I could get any mirror, it'd be a huge one 2m x 1m.. but thats >$500 *sad face*

I looked around on eBay, and the mirrors are understandably very popular, and quite expensive as a result, with multiple bids. 

I managed to snag this one on eBay for $30.. because it didnt' have a back.. only a pane of glass.. I often go for the item on eBay that is like the one I want but has a crappy photo, or a horrible description, or is fixable, so it doesn't get snapped up by the hoardes for a huge walloping amount.. it's one of my eBay strategies.

Before: Frame as found on eBay

I read up on the net to find out how exactly to apply gold leaf.. and it seemed that the rub on variety that I found in Spotlight, needed to have a darker colour applied first.. as black would be too dark, I used a chocolate brown that we had left over from painting the house.

Progress: after the application of chocolate paint

Next was the very smelly bit.. even though I ventilated the room as best I could, I still ended up with a bit of a headache.. but the result was good :)

Progress: gold leaf rub applied, the brown nooks and crannies offset the gold leaf

It sat around looking forlorn for a couple of weeks until I found a mirror the right size mirror on sale at Lincraft for $8.99!  With a bit of help from Hubby... here is the final result!

Voila!  The finished product mounted on the wall

 It was still a bit more expensive than I anticipated:
-frame $30
-gold leaf $11
-brown paint $0
-silicone to stick mirror to frame $0
-mirror $8.99
TOTAL $50

...but it was good fun!