I love Ikea and many many years ago I bought this cute mirror with a wrought iron frame. I absolutely loved it! Unfortunately about 5 yrs after I purchased it, the mirror inside the frame broke. As I was cleaning up the glass shards and preparing it to be put in the outside garbage can, I stopped in my tracks. I just couldn’t bring myself to throw out the frame. It was way to cute just to toss it in the garbage. Unsure what I was going to do with it, it stood in my garage for yrs and yrs.
Sometimes that is just the way it works. You know something is so unique and wonderful but you just don’t know, right away, how you want to make it into that real masterpiece. That is why I have a garage full of stuff and a family looking at me like I am bat crazy! Lol. But that’s Ok with me!
Any how, a few months ago I finally had that Ahha moment. And I knew exactly what I wanted to do with that cute frame. First I cleaned up the frame. It was pretty dusty and dirty from sitting so long.
Then I grabbed a piece of luan from my garage and used the frame has a template. I marked a piece of luan, the size of the inside of the frame and cut it out using my circler saw.
For those of you who do not know what luan is, it is a piece of thin plywood. My sheet was 1/4 inch thick. I had some extra from a project we did on the house but you can buy a 4X8 foot piece at Menards for about $12-$14. And let me tell you, it can be used in many different projects. One side of luan has a super smooth finish on it
Once I had my piece of luan cut out, it was time to stain it. I used a red mahogany stain (My Fav), on the smooth finished side of the luan. Since it was already smooth the luan did not require any sanding. And it really took to the stain, so it only required on coat.
Next it was time to put a decorative touch on the luan. I decided to go with this hello design for it. I purchased the stencil from Michaels and used a 50% off coupon. So this only cost me $5 and it came with a “Goodbye” stencil. Now I have both of those in my Arsenal for next time. I taped two corners down of my stencil to reduce it from shifting while using. Then I painted the luan with a coat of regular school glue. This created a barrier between the stencil and the luan, so my paint didn’t bleed underneath the seam.
Once the glue completely dried I used regular paint. I went with chalkboard black paint that I had on hand. I used two coats, making sure to allow sufficient amount of drying time between the coats. Once I had the second coat completed and allowed it to dry, I removed my stencil. Now the luan was ready to be placed into the beautiful frame.
The back of the frame had little tabs that I was able to bend up to allow the luan to be placed inside. Once the luan was in, I just bent the tabs back down. And that was it, Easy peasy!
One quick note: The “Hello” is a bit hard to see, at times, because it blends in with the dark stain. So I do wish I had maybe painted the luan white and did the black stenciling. But you live and your learn!
Other than that I love the way this came out. It is a great piece to put in your entryway foyer, welcoming guests in!
Until next time!
With Love,
Melissa
P.S. Would you like to have Tuesday Transformations like this be delivered to your mailbox as soon as they are posted? Be sure to Join the Boss Chíc Journey and never miss out on a Boss Chíc masterpiece!
Comments