Repurposed Mirror Picture Frames

The first rule of thrift club is: when you see a pair of something, buy it!

Well, maybe not everything. I’ve passed up a snazzy pair of neon monkey lamps before that I’m totally kicking myself over. (Wink wink.)

But this pair of mirrors, they were keepers.

And yeah, okay. They’re not really a pair. But these mirrors were close enough in size and shape, and I figured I could make them work, in an eclectic, meant to be not-so-matchy kind of way.

So for this month’s Trash to Treasure Tuesday project, they seemed like a good, simple challenge. (You can see this month’s other thrift store transformations at the end of this post.)

Plus, I couldn’t argue with the price tag. $3 for a big frame? Sold.

I had been dying to test out Joanna Gaines’ new paint line for months, ever since receiving this gorgeous care package with some of her goodies.

For now, I gave the color One Horn White a spin, which turned out to be the perfect antique white- not too white, not too yellow, just a pretty cream.

Supplies Used:  (Affiliate links are provided below for convenience. For more information, see my full disclosure here.)

• Magnolia Home Paint in One Horn White
• 2 vintage mirror frames
• Fine grit sandpaper
• 1.5″ angled Purdy paint brush
• Mod Podge
• Art prints/posters – (Antique Ballerina Study I / Antique Ballerina Study II)
• Gray ribbon
• Hot glue gun

I gave both frames a quick sanding first to make sure I removed any leftover grime that might be on them.

Then, I just brushed on the paint. I’ll give you the heads up now, this paint is not chalk paint, so I would definitely suggest sanding your piece first if you plan to use it on furniture. But since it has a built-in primer, I didn’t need to worry about a priming step.

I ended up needing three coats, but considering it was white paint being brushed over a really dark wood, that was pretty much expected.

The interior paint was not self-leveling, so you will see brush strokes, but I think that’s part of the charm when it comes to Joanna’s signature farmhouse style. (If you don’t want brush strokes showing though, there is a cabinetry and furniture paint too that is self-leveling.)

Ever since I finished decorating Olivia’s bedroom last year, I’d been thinking the wall behind her bed was still looking a little empty. It needed…something.

So a solid year after “finishing” her room, these mirrors seemed like the perfect solution that I could use as picture frames.

I’d searched high and low for the perfect ballerina sketch prints, until I found this one and this one at Art.com for 20% off.

Then, using the Mod Podge, I brushed a layer of it on the mirror and pressed the art print on top, smoothing the paper and working out the creases and bubbles as best I could. Pressing and dragging a credit card on top of the ripples like a squeegee works great too.

To create a finished edge, I ran a bead of hot glue a little at a time around the edges of the art print to attach some gray ribbon.

I love the little detail it added and how it makes the frame look more finished.

It looks like they were made to coordinate with that bed, don’t you think? Total happy accident.

I’m hoping the prints will grow with her, and if one day she’s not a ballerina fanatic anymore, it’ll be easy to add something else she loves in the frames at that new stage.

I go back and forth sometimes thinking maybe I should add something else to this wall too. Like…do I dare say it? Shiplap?

To this day, Olivia still adores her room. Anytime a visitor comes over, she asks them, “Want to come see my pretty rug?” Which is her way of saying, “Come look at my pretty room so I can then hold you hostage to play with toys for hours and hours and hours.” Good thing she’s a cute kidnapper.

If you have a little princess of your own and ever wanted to see the full reveal and all of the projects that went into this room, you can see them all in this makeover reveal post.

So do you have a thrift club rule of your own? Or a little swirly twirly princess ballerina who always dances from point A to point B? Have you tried out Joanna Gaines’ paint line yet? I can’t wait to test her other colors.

You can check out all of the other Trash to Treasure Transformations from my other blogger friends below:

(Left to right):  Prodigal Pieces | Girl in the Garage | Artsy Chicks Rule | Confessions of a Serial DIYer

You can find all of the past Trash to Treasure makeovers here, if you want more thrifty ideas.

And if you want to save this post for later, you can pin it here: