DIY Salvaged Mirror

Oh Monday- you come to quickly. I can't complain to much thought because we had a very full weekend. A rare miracle happened here in Altus, Ok over the weekend; almost a rare as seeing a unicorn. Wait; those don't exist and having a date night with a The Hubs hardly ever exists either so I guess it's partly true. 


We actually had 2 date nights! Con-Man's M.D.O. group had parents night Friday so we caught a movie. We watched Safe Room (I wanted to see The Vow but the Hubs wasn't interested, but watching Ryan Reynolds was fine too...)

Hello!!!!

And then on Saturday we went to the first Annual Altus Chocolate Festival! This is a big deal for our small town- they've never done anything like this before.

We managed to score free tickets and I devoured way to much chocolate. Definitely hit the gym Sunday and going again today! It was a nice Pre- Valentines treat though.

Anyway- lets get to what you really came here for. Check out this cool circle mirror that I made!

Would you believe me if I told you the frame started out as this:

A rusty steel ring from one of our planters. It had come loose and I thought it looked neat- a nice patina of rusty and worn smooth. I yanked it off and got to work. 

First I had to make it usable. I needed some kind flat hanger that I could attach plywood to my steel ring. I found these, they seemed sturdy enough but had a lip on them, so I used the cutting wheel of Dremel to cut the lip off.

Voila Flat hangers! Sometimes they just don't make what you need at the hardware store so you have to invent your own stuff...

Then the fun part- welding! I welded the hangers onto my steel ring.

The next step was to cut a piece of plywood that would fit inside my ring. I had half a sheet of 3/4" ply lying around so I traced a circle and cut it out with my jig saw.

Like my "workbench"?

I had a little trouble with this part, the ring itself had a slight slant inward and turns out it's not a perfect circle. So I had to finagle my plywood a bit to get it to slide in. But in the end it fit and I screwed it in place.

Thankfully one mirror and glass place here in town said they could cut a circle to fit. I called the one other place and they said they didn't cut mirror or circles- what gives? They adhered it to the plywood for me and my mirror was complete!

I love it because it's unique. It had a modern flare but the rustiness makes it kind of natural and relaxed feeling. And the overall cost wasn't to bad- $40 for the mirror to be cut and glued. The clip/hangers were $4 for all. The ring was free!

Have you ever used a material for something other than it's original purpose? 

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