A Revived Thrifted Mirror

Hi!  I'm still here! It's been a crazy week between school and swim lessons and my doctor appointments, but I'm still  here, I promise. Crocheting, knitting, sewing, etc. Just behind on it all!

In actual blog-worthy DIY news:

A Revived Thrifted Mirror!

I picked up this mirror at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago.

Not going to lie to you I found it charming. As well as it's $2.99 price tag. All I know about it was that it was made it Hong Kong, at least in part.

It was in good shape - the wicker/wood woven section was almost perfect, and the rattan edging sat normally.  There is a gap between the mirror and the edging, but I've read that's actually common for older mirrors to have been built that way. No big deal, since it sits in one place on the wall and I'm not jiggling it around!

It is rather in need of updating though. Got a nice 70s wicker vibe going. So I decided I either needed to paint or to stain it.  Since the wood woven area wasn't sealed, I decided on stain.  That, and I never can decide what color paint I can live with long term.

Now, I haven't stained something in years. I wasn't going to research it, I just didn't want to.  I had no idea if this material would even take stain at this point, but hey, for a $3.00 investment, I was game.

I decided to tape off the mirror, since I didn't know how stain and mirror would get along.  Turned out it was a good choice. Stain sticks to the mirror and is really hard to remove - found that out from a couple of overzealous stain droplets.

Then I grabbed my narrow foam brush and stain. I wanted to use gel stain, but I didn't want to buy a big tub of it, so I went with one I'd used before - Minwax Wood Finish in Red Mahogany.

I was worried about the rattan taking stain differently than the wood, but it took it alright. I think that it may have had some poly on it already or something, but for some reason it worked, so I'm happy.

That wood was so dry, it was happy to take the stain.  I had to go with the grain of the strips with the brush to fill in all the gaps, and really do a good and thorough application. Let it set according to the label, and wiped off the excess.

I let it dry (7 hours maybe?) and gave it a good coat of poly.  I wasn't sure if I'd ever hang it in the bathroom, and I didn't want the humidity getting to it. Plus poly makes it shiny and seals in any lingering "thrift store scent".

Finished!

See how well it took the stain?

The color came out really nicely too.

I think it was a good choice - looks much better and more finished than the old, drab thrifted mirror.  What do you think?  It has a nice new home in my hallway, which really brightens it up.  Plus for those of us who watched too much Unsolved Mysteries growing up, I can see if there's an ax-wielding maniac around the corner now. :)  I'm still scared of unmarked white vans too, and always check behind the shower curtains after we get home.

That's normal, right?