Unique Chic And Rustics: My Upcycled And Repurposed Life: Old Window Turned Antiqued Mirror/Memo Board

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my blog!! We have 2 exciting things going on today!! First, I am going to show you how I transformed an old wood window into a gorgeous antiqued mirror and memo board using Krylon Looking Glass Mirror-Like Paint, and some jute!! Second, I am having a "Link Up" tonight called DIY Chics!! This link up is for all the wonderful DIY Chic Bloggers of the world! This Link Up gives them a chance to show all of you their diy projects, here, all in one place, right on my blog!! I am so super excited about this, as it is my very first link up, and I can't wait to see who comes and links with me!!!

Ok, lets begin with my project, shall we. I have been so busy lately with the house, husband, kiddos, etsy shop, and blog related stuff(as I am still very new to the blog world and trying to learn all I can and meet other bloggers, which I have, and some really awesome ones at that!!) that I have worked just a little at a time on this old window project! BUT...I am bound and determined to finish it today, right here with all of you!!!

Here are some pics of the window after I sanded it down real good. At this point I had already striped the old caulk off the back of the glass, and removed the glass, as well as sanded it! Sorry, but of course, I forgot to take a pic of the window BEFORE I sanded it. I am always for getting to do something!! Lol!! But, it had some really old crappy white paint on it, and I was afraid of lead toxins for I put on an mask, and went out side to sand!!

See my awesome sander my sweet husband got for me?!! I love it!! It makes my life SO much easier!!

Look at the rusty patina goodness on the hardware I took off the window before I sanded it!! Don't worry...I am most definitely going to put it back on folks!! I would be nuts if I didn't!! Lol

Oh, and I can't forget this pic!! I would be in deep trouble!! Lol!! They just HAD to get in the picture!! Lol

   Aren't they so precious!! That's Ellie, and my little Beau Man!! Lydia did NOT want her picture taken today!! Lol

   Next, I mixed my own version of homemade chalk paint. Not chalk board paint folks, Chalk Paint, you know, kinda like Annie Sloan Decorative Chalk Paints?!! I LOVE her paints, but I am out an when I am, I just make my own homemade chalk paint!! I sometimes use Calcium Carbanate, but of course I am out of that to, SO...Today, I am going to use Non-Sanded Grout. You can find this at your local hardware store for about $12 for a nice size box.

   Since this paint job is a small one, I only took a 1 tbsp. of the non-sanded grout, and 1 tbsp. of water and mixed it in a cup. You'll see that it's very runny, but don't worry, it will thicken up pretty quickly. Make sure you mix it well, so that there is no clumps in it. Then, I added just a little over 1/2 of a cup of the white paint I chose for this project! I love white!! It's just so "Shabby" looking!! I chose Valspar White in Flat, but you can use satin to if you want. I do not recommend a shine to your paint when making chalk paint. But, that's just my opinion.

   Then, comes the fun part, PAINTING!!! You can use whatever technique you want. I just gave it a good coat with a cheap brush from Wal-Mart. The 100% pure bristle kind that cost like only $1. I have a ton of these, and I love em!! I had to move inside to my craft room paint, because it started raining and it's hot! When I do use my homemade chalk paint and it's hot outside, it dries up so quick, that I can't even finish painting a small window!! I have to go back in and make another batch!! Ugh...It is VERY frustrating!!

   I painted the window white first, as you can see below, AND NOW...I am going to paint over the white with a light grey color by Glidden, called Time Worn Stone. It's from the Brilliance Collection, 2 in 1 Paint and Primer, Light Base, in Flat!! I had the color mixed at Wal-Mart, on sale for $9!! They had a bunch on sale and you could mix whatever color you wanted!! Now that's what I call a deal!! Lol!! Mixing the time worn stone color with the non-sanded grout as per the directions above, making another batch of homemade chalk paint!!

Here is is in the Time Worn Stone! Can you tell the difference between the picture above, and the one below??

   "Not really", I'm sure is what your saying, but I can tell you that in person there's a big difference!! Just wait till I distress it, then you'll be able to see the white under the grey!! Oh Wait, I hadn't gotten to take part yet, had I?!! That's right guys and gals, I am going to distress this puppy like never before!! Lol!! I will wait about an 30 minutes for it to dry completely! That is the WONDERFUL thing about Chalk Paint, did doesn't take that long for it to dry!!!!! You GOTTA love that, if your like me and have little to none patients for drying time!! Don't forget to paint your hardware too!! Whew...I almost forgot that part, and that's my favorite thing about the old windows!! Shame on me!! Lol!!

   Next, after it's good and dry, I took my sanding block, with a strip of 150 grit sand paper and started sanding. I would normally use 220 grit for this BUT...You guessed it, I am OUT!! Lol!! I started out by sanding the corners and edges of the window frame. It doesn't take that much pressure to achive the old, worn, distressed look here with the 150 grit sand paper folks. I do sand harder in some areas though to give it a spread-out distressed look. That just gives it more character and make's it look like it really IS time worn!! I also sand "Flat" across as well!!

   Here it is after I was done sanding it all down!! Can you tell the difference in the two colors now??

   Looks good old, doesn't it??!! Distressing is my favorite part!! Lol

   Ok, since I kinda already sprayed the Krylon Looking Glass Mirror-Like Paint on one piece of the glass that goes into the window, and because the other piece of glass got broken somehow, and I'm not naming any names "BEAU", I am going to demonstrate this technique on an old piece of glass out of a picture frame.

   First, take your piece of glass and clean it really good. Make sure there's no pieces of lint or fuss on it. Then take your Krylon Looking Glass paint and and shake it up really really good for at least 3 minutes!! Cover your glass in side-to-side spraying motions, applying thin coats. Do this about 4-5 times, letting each coat dry for 1 minute in between coats. That's right...It only takes one minute for this stuff to dry!! Amazing huh??!!(Make sure you are spraying the opposite side of the glass that's going to be facing forward in the window frame! The opposite side of which you are spraying, will be the "Mirror" side!!) It's pretty thin too, but don't worry, 5 coats later it will be perfect!!! See...

After your painted glass id good and dry,(wait about 10 minutes after your last coat) take a spray bottle with half water, half white vinegar, shake it up, and spray a "Lite" mist over a few sections of the mirror. Leaving it on for about 2 minutes, then take a paper towel with the vinegar and white mix sprayed onto it, and very VERY lightly rub where you have sprayed in a circular motion, or just dab, depending on how long you left the spray on and how much the Vinegar mixture has ate away at the paint!! You'll be able to determine how much pressure to use right away, so I suggest starting on the corner of the class!! Then I put two more light coats of the Krylon spray over where I has antiqued it, to give it some dimension!!I looked at several different tutorials on the web about how to go about doing this step, and the best step-by step tutorial that I found was here at remodelaholic.com turning glass into faux mercury glass tutorial Here's what my sample glass looked like with the spray on, and when I was done...

Now, for the actual glass that came out of the window, that I did the other day, just like how I described with the sample piece of glass. Here it is...

See my oh so messy craft room?? Lol!! You'll be able to see the mirror better when it's in the window.

The next step, I took some jute and started stringing it back and forth, up and down, and cris-cross along the top frame of the window, making it a cute little memo board on top!! I used my staple gun to hold the jute in place as I went. Do this until it looks a little something like this...

Now, the LAST step...Take your Faux Mercury Glass Looking Mirror, put it back into the window, and remember...put the opposite side of which you sprayed into the window, forward facing!! Check and make sure you did it right by turning it over to make sure you can see yourself!! Lol!! Once you have it in correctly, CAULK IT BABY!!! Put a thin layer of caulk around the edge of the glass, right where it meets the wood frame of the window!! Leave it lay, don't move it!! Let it dry over night, and then the next morning, put your hardware back on, if you want to anyway, and I WANT TO!! And Then VOILA...You Are All Done!!! Hang some old photos up on the jute with some little clothes pins to top it off!! Now, you have an Old Window Turned Antiqued Mirror/Memo Board!!! I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it?!! Please leave me a comment below and let me know what you think about this DIY Project!! And, If you do a project like this one, I wanna see some pics!!! Just link up with me below, and show it off!! Thanks so much everyone, and I hope you have fun on your next DIY project!!!!

XOXO Jess

Here it is in all it glory!! I hope you like it, and it inspires you to do your own DIY Job!! Please Do Not Forget To Link Up Below!! Thanks again you guys, and stay tuned cause there's a lot more to come!! Also, Don't Forget to check out My Shop On Etsy, Unique Chic And Rustics!! I'm sure this window I just made will me on sale there very soon!!