Mirror Mirror on the wall

Lately it seems like the fairy tale of Snow White is making a comeback. I love the original movie by Walt Disney. He invented an innovative technique using 7 cameras and shooting down vertically from above to get a wonderful 3 dimensional look that was missing in the early animations.
There are two movies out: Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman. The first one I saw, and was pretty disappointed. The second looks very dark and spooky, and I'm not sure I want to see it.

At any rate, today's project is a mirror, so I figured I'd tie it in with the "mirror mirror" trend. Of course this mirror will not talk to you, or have magic powers, but it sure will look nice hanging on your wall.

Today's project is:
Mosaic Mirror

You will need:
a mirror (if it has a frame around it, that much the better)
tile adhesive
grout (it comes in many colors)
old dishes (find a garage sales, or thrift shops)

You will have to break the plates into usable pieces. I did this outside, using a hammer.
I wrapped the plate in newspaper, then wrapped this into an old towel. On a hard surface (driveway, or sidewalk) gently but firmly hit the plate in several places to crack it up. 

After you have enough pieces, lay them out in a way that they are close to each other, but not touching. You want a gap between the glass. I used brown glass pieces in the photo to 'frame' the mirror. But the beauty of this project is that you don't need any artistic talent, the designs are already done for you on the plates.

Lift each piece in turn, using a popsicle stick, slap on some tile adhesive and press onto mirror.
Continue until the mirror perimeter is filled with glass pieces. I like to use the edges of the plates facing into the center of the mirror. In other words, so the glass not grouted on the inner edge, has a nice smooth finish, and not the sharp broken part. Keep those inside where they will be embedded with grout and not exposed to cut you).

Wait 24 hours and  mask off the inside of the mirror to keep it clean while grouting.
Then apply the grout. You will probably have to mix this up yourself. Get an old bucket or old bowl, pour the grout in and A LITTLE BIT AT A TIME add water while you are mixing it in.

When the grout is the consistency of bread dough, spread it around the pieces. After you have all the spaces filled in, take an old damp rag and gently wipe the grout off the glass pieces. This does not have to be perfect, but the more you take off now, the less you will have to scrape off later when it dries.
Then use a wet sponge and go over the mosaic pieces and grout to smooth it out. Let dry overnight and go back with a damp rag to clean off any grout from the pieces. But be careful not to gouge out any of the grout between the pieces.

This mirror will be heavy, so before you hang it up, make sure you have a strong fastener in the wall (a molly bolt is good to use).  Once you get this technique 'down', you'll be covering all kinds of things.
(I showed you how to cover a clay flower pot in an earlier post.)

tip of the day:
Pick up a couple of plastic silverware organizers at the thrift shop when you are looking for those plates. These work great in your bathroom drawer to organize makeup, hair accessories or any of those goodies we have in our drawers.

That's all for now!
:D