Aged Print French Mirror

Thanks to all of you who have joined up with me through Linky Followers and the Blog Hop. I'm sure it has kept everyone busy hopping from blog to blog and joining up with other bloggers. It has me. I really like the new Linky. It pops me right into the blog I want. Great fun!

Well, it's that time again for my new project reveal. I'm not going to write much about it, I don't think people really read everything. The pictures tell a story.

I found this mirror in one of the residences I lived in many years ago. The landlord didn't want it, so I took it with me when I moved out. It's been sitting tucked away in hiding, waiting to be loved again. Poor thing. When I first saw it I fell in love and knew it had to go with me wherever I moved to. One side was missing the mirror on it. So many ideas came to mind on what to do with it. I decided to use an old print newspaper to wrap around it.  This is it.

Current French newspapers were aged by dipping them in coffee, with some coffee grinds thrown in to give the paper a gritty look. I air dried it, but it can be placed in the oven for a few seconds to dry.

 First I measured how much I needed, then cut and tested the look by taping to mirror first. I made my own mod podge with half water, half Elmer's glue. Applied the MP to mirror border, then over the newspaper after it's on.

 After drying I used a very, very dry brush of blue over it, working the tips of the brush into the paper for a chippy look. To get rid of newspaper edges I used an exacto knife. I outlined the borders in blue with a dry brush for color.. Modern day newspapers are printed with color in them, I cut out blue and a little red from mine. Inside the borders I painted an outline with a different shade of blue for contrast. Using a Patina kit, I  applied it to the metal corners for an oxidized look. After it was dry, I sprayed it with Painter's Choice Clear Varnish for protection.

A little blue newspaper print works well with my color scheme. There's also a little red on the left side. 

I like the weathered, chippy, aged look of the mirror. I'm not putting it on the wall yet because I have a console table I'm working on to use it with. That's another post, so stay connected!

Have a great week-end everyone! Stay healthy!