My daughter went back and forth for weeks on what she wanted for Christmas. We watched The Grinch and She decided she wanted the "Cindy Lou Who's big pretty mirror." I had to go back and watch it to see what on earth she was talking about. If you have ever shopped for mirrors you will know they are NOT the cheapest thing. I can't imagine what it would cost me to get a mirror with a pretty frame like this...
So... I took the risk of her not loving it for being the same and came up with my own idea
Here is a mirror I bought at the Thrift Store for 3 bucks. Honestly... I think it should have been more. No.. It isn't perfect. It has some weird glass in it so the glass a mirror are screwed together? The pic was taken when the mirror was clean. Can you see the imperfections? Honestly... I'm gunna call them character! I fell in love with the mirror.
Here is a close up of the frame and a really BAD shot of the mirror. It does look slightly better than that! lol My first step was to paint everything white. It was one of the only things she seem to be picky on when I attempted inconspicuous questions about the mirror and what she wanted.
It cracks me up that there are really not so many pics of this whole process. The frame ended up taking about 4 layers of white paint and then a clear coat so you couldn't see the gold underneath.
Next I layered some masking tape where I wanted my image. Then I then googled to find a image of a tiara I liked and taped it over the masking tape layer.
I used an Exacto knife to cut out the parts of the mirror that I wanted to etch. Much easier than I thought. Seriously.. the white was a pain in my patootie!
So I was a little ticked when I found out that the cream I got was more of a paint! I wanted to actually etch! But... I could only work on it when she was asleep and the I had to let it dry so I could hide it! The layers of white took so many days that I ended up actually etching on Christmas Eve! But it turned out alright. I added pretty jewels to the tips for more princess fun!
So... for all my worries that she wouldn't like it cause it wasn't the same I was blessed on Christmas morning. I'm not sure what I did to get children who are truly so grateful for what they receive and get excited about the silly things! She went straight to her mirror and stared at herself for 10 minutes. We were done before we realized she hadn't even looked at anything else from Santa! We actually had to pry her away from it to look at her other things so we could open presents!
Total Cost: $8.00
Mirror - 3.00
Etching Cream - 5.00 on sale
I already had everything else to make it!
I already had everything else to make it!
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