Reclaimed Crown Moulding Mirror

I absolutely love Habitat for Humanity even though I only leave with something awesome every couple of visits. But when I do get something awesome it is freaking AWESOME. 

Take this one day, Rob and I are in Harlingen taking our poor Marla to the vet (she’s poorly :( and I just happen to notice the sign and as we’re going by and we decide to leave the car running for the kitty and see what they’ve got. And it turns out they’ve got some insane crown moulding for $2 a piece. TWO DOLLARS A PIECE not a foot… BOOM! I buy it with the idea of making myself a crazy swank mirror that looks like it cost a heck of a lot more than $8 + the cost of a mirror. And that is just what I did!

So hit up those garage sales and thrift stores and rehab stores and keep those peepers peeled for some cheap crown moulding!

For this project you will need:

• Crown moulding
• Scrap wood (mine is 1×6)
• Mirror
• Mirror adhesive
• Caulking gun

First things first, after finding moulding, of course, you’ll need to purchase a mirror. I snagged mine at Walmart for $15-ish. To make it look a bit fancier I spent a bit more on a full length mirror with a beveled edge. I also preferred it because out of all of them available it was the sturdiest and the most able to stand up on its own. I figure in the long run this means it will last a bit longer, fingers crossed!

We’re going to sandwich our mirror in between our moulding and a custom made wood backing piece. You can purchase a piece of plywood and they’ll cut it for you at Home Depot or Lowe’s or you can use wood scrap to piece together a frame  like we did. Measure out the size you need and cut wood pieces on an angle to fit together in a rectangle. You can get more detail about this type of work here.

Cut your moulding pieces in the same size to lay on top of your backing wood.

And as a quick tip, if you measure your boards of the same size off of each other, you’ll get pieces that fit together perfectly!

Once your pieces are cut glue and staple together. 

Boom! It works! If working with 2×4 pieces, or whatever you have on hand, your center of your backing piece will be open, like a picture frame. Make sure that your mirror has enough of the wood to rest on to be glued to.

Trace the mirror where you’d like it so you can properly place it in the next step.

Use mirror adhesive to attach your mirror to the frame.  You don’t need a ton but don’t be cheap about it, either.

Put weight onto your mirror and allow to dry, at least overnight.

Paint your backing sheet anywhere you might peek the color through the crown moulding frame on top. It’s easy to spot these potential problem areas by placing the frame on top without actually attaching it, first. Be sure to paint the sides and on the top edges where the moulding may veer off at an angle.

Insanely cute cat craft assistant alert! :)

Using a good wood adhesive and trim nails attach your moulding around the mirror and to the backing sheet. Use wood putty to fill in any gaps in the corners and where your trim nails have been placed.

Once all paint and glue is dry you can prop it against the wall or hang it. 

Now, normally I stand on the bench at the foot of the bed because I have my dresser mirror hanging over it, sort of like a headboard. But then one day I was on my bench and I did a little twirl to see the back and that thing tipped and I just about smacked my head on the dresser behind. I always think up these terrible news headlines when something like that happens “moron stands on tottering bench to check out self, dies”. But now I just stand next to the bed, much safer :)