A mirror, a crown . . . and fancy bookends

Last post told the tale about the mirror that had the last laugh.  Well, I won THIS mirror battle! LOL.  I succeeded in antiquing a mirror and I'm very happy how it turned out!

I decided to do a few other projects all up all at the same time as I planned to use all the same colors & products on them.  I did a church window style mirror, a crown planter, and a pair of bookends.  Here's the 'before' shots:

​Ooops.  I had already started painting the bookends before I remembered to take a picture!

I'll start with the mirror.  I removed the backing and took the mirror out first thing . . . this time.  LOL.  As I do with everything I'm about to paint, I first cleaned it with vinegar and water.  Using the Heirloom Traditions Paint oval brush, I brushed on generous amounts of paint and immediately stippled.  While the first coat was drying, I worked on the mirror.  I took it outside and after cleaning the surface quickly, I spritzed on a half/half mix of vinegar & water and then immediately (after thoroughly shaking the can first, of course) sprayed Krylon Looking Glass spray.  I went in steady even side to side motions side to side and then up and down to make sure I didn't miss any spots.  Within a few short seconds, I began blotting the surface carefully with a dry rag.  This is to soak up any remaining water/vinegar.  Then I left it in the sun to cure while I worked on other things (that "mirror that had the last laugh"  LOL).  I followed this tutorial by The Seasoned Homemaker.

This picture kind of looks like a reflection of rain clouds and it looks like there's drops of rain on it.  LOL.  It was the best I could do.

In the "after" pictures further down in this post, you will get to see it better.

I left this untouched for a few days.  I was scared to do a scratch test!  Before I put it in the frame, I noticed that some debris of some sort had dried into the paint on the surface so I used 600 grit sandpaper and very lightly went over the whole surface . . . successfully!  Yay!  IT WORKS!  The antiquing method WORKS!  :)

Back to the frame.  I did a second coat of paint (Heirloom Traditions Paint in French Vanilla), following the same method of brushing on and then stippling it while still wet.  I let it set in the sun for a day and then it actually set here in the house for a couple days before I had the chance to do the aging technique.

To age it, I mixed a little bit of leftover grey paint that I had in a little jar with some Saman Waterbased Dead Flat Varnish, stirred it up real well and then brushed it on.  I had to work in sections because it would dry quick.  I brushed on and then using a damp clean microfibre cloth, I wiped the access off.  In the places where too much got wiped back off, I would use a sponge brush and stipple more of this custom glaze back on until it all looked the way I wanted it to.  I left it to dry for a couple of hours and then brushed on one more coat of the Saman varnish only.  Love, love, love the outcome!!

The crown.  I bought that from a shop that was closing out.  I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but it was a good price and oh so cute!  It came with a clear glass votive cup.  The crown sat in storage and went through a move to a new home and still, I had no place for it.  A few months ago, I decided to paint it and make a planter out of it but never got around to actually following through with the plan until this past week.

I did the same thing as with the mirror.  I painted them with Heirloom Traditions Paint in French Vanilla . . . two coats, stippling each coat.  Then, aged them with the same paint/varnish mixture as I used on the mirror, following up with one last coat of Saman Waterbased Dead Flat Varnish.  For the crown, I just a used a sponge brush for the whole thing.  It was really too small of areas to use a brush on when doing the glaze and varnish.

For staging purposes, I used a faux succulent plant that I had on hand, but it really wouldn't be my choice of size/color of pot for this crown.

The bookends . . . again, I did exactly the same thing to them.  I painted them with Heirloom Traditions Paint in French Vanilla . . . two coats, stippling each coat.  Then, aged them with the same paint/varnish mixture as I used on the mirror, following up with one last coat of Saman Waterbased Dead Flat Varnish.  They be gorgeous, folks!  

They can be used as their original intended purpose . . . bookends.  Or, they can be used like decorative corbels!  They would have to be either hung from the two built-in holes in the backs of them or hung AND glued with something like No More Nails or PL Premium.  Just think of the possibilities!!  Under a bookshelf or under a kitchen island (like I did on my Mom's island here) or in the upper corners of a doorway.  The one drawback to these is they are ceramic so you can't screw through them like you can with wood or other such materials.

I tried, but the pictures really don't do them justice.  They are really beautiful!