Inexpensive mirrors

[peabiscuit]

I like decorating with mirrors here and there, but even the smallest, cheapest ones seem to cost around $10. Quite by accident, I recently found a cheap source for mirrors - I bought mirror tiles at Home Depot for $1.14 each. I made a paper mache (sp) frame for one and used bundles of birch twigs to frame the other.
Even cheap frames would work, I guess, but I wouldn't know how to go about resizing the mirrors-- any ideas, anyone?

[butterfly770]

I am most interested in making a frame for some mirrors. I just love having mirrors. Especially in odd shapes and sizes. But quite often theframe is the most expense.

[JCH]

How big are the mirror tiles? My daughter wanted to decorate mirrors for some girlfriends but the cost of them as you said are too much. For frames she wanted to put crafters foam around the edges then scroll the glitter paint on the foam and or add other foam pieces such as flowers, butterflys ect. I have a friend who got a very large mirror and wanted it in 3 pieces she took it to a glass cutter and he cut it for next to nothing. I cant rem what type of glass cutter, I want to say like a mason or hey this thought just crossed my mind what about someone who works with stained glass? Ill have to ask my friend.

[Leslie9220]

Resizing Mirrors- If you want to do this yourself it is pretty simple with few inexpensive tools. you will need 1. a metal straight edge (ruled) at least 18" or bigger. 2. a diamond wheel glass cutter available at craft stores that sell stained glass products.
3. 3 in-one-oil or olive oil works just as well to lubricate the glass.

The trick is to cut from the back thru the 'silver', use the straight edge as your guide, make sure the wheel is perpendicular to the glass, the cut must be continuous, don't start and stop, oil the wheel before you start. When the cut is finished, turn the glass (mirror) over and lightly tap the line and it should break off cleanly, practice on a piece of picture frame glass or any scrap glass you can find before you start on the real thing, good luck!
P.S.
take it to a glass shop if you have curved lines, they are tough to
cut without special templates.
Leslie9220 Have fun !

[peabiscuit]

eeek! sounds scary! I'd be so afraid of slashing myself up!

JCH - these tiles are about 8"x8"...but they had a few sizes. All square, though, as I recall.

[Scooby]

I was just watching Shabby Chic and they used mirrors for placemats. It looked so elegant.

[Leslie9220]

Don't worry Peabiscuit It is not as bad as it sounds.

For safety, wear gloves. These are worn for handling the edge of the mirror. A glass cutter the kind with a little wheel is ( the kind I'm talking about) is really just used to 'score the mirror' lightly mark a line. It is so safe you can roll it across your fingers and it won't cut you. The reason you tap on the front of the glass lightly after you score it, is the glass will crack in the path of the least resistance and follow your score line especially with straight cuts.
Thanks to my glassblowing friends in Colo. and Calif. who I worked with in the 80's. A pane of glass is more akin to a 'very slow moving liquid' in physics than a solid. Example: Leaded glass in cathedrals such as Chartres Cathedral in France after the last 1100 yrs. or so of being in place vertically is much thicker at the bottom of leaded pieces in the windows than the top ( it responds to gravity over time like a slow moving liquid).
But the same reason it is why a pane of glass or mirror scores so well and cracks cleanly along a scored line.
If you still feel nervous it is worth it to have someone professional cut it for you.

Good Luck, Leslie9220

[bettdev]

If you paid 1.44 per piece, then i'd go ahead and cut them myself. usually the mirror tiles are thinner glass than most other mirrors, and cutting them should be a breeze.