Recycled Mirror

How many times have you broken a mirror and been left with broken shards of glass to sweep up? While you contemplate another 7 years of bad luck forced upon you why not make a recycled mirror.

What you need

Broken mirror pieces (the amount will depend on your overall project size)
Piece of strong cardboard
Acrylic paint
Wood glue
For the dough frame
3 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
1 1/2 – 1 1/4 cups of water

Instructions

Start by laying out your mirror piece’s on a flat surface to gather an idea of the size of mirror you are about to make. Obviously the smaller pieces of mirror you have the smaller your recycled mirror will be.

Using the cardboard cut out a template of a heart (or any other shape) to fit the glass area you can cover.

Paint this with a suitable background color like white or black. This color will be seen through the gaps of the broken glass. Whilst the paint is drying begin making the dough frame by mixing the flour and salt together with small amounts of the water. Mix it until you get soft dough that does not stick to your hands.

Roll the dough out on a clean bench into long strips like long worms. Keep the thickness even throughout the dough strip. You may need to make 2 strips for easy handling and place a join at the top and bottom of your heart shape. Preheat your oven to 300′ deg F.

Once the paint on the cardboard is dry lay some Tin foil or baking paper over the cut out shape. (this is what you will cook the dough on).

Outline the shape onto the foil or baking paper to give you a suitable guideline for placing your dough frame.

Lay the dough out along the inside edges of you heart shape. Allow enough overlap of the cardboard to glue the dough frame to. Once you have laid out your uncooked dough frame, lift the foil or paper and place the whole frame (without bending) into the oven. Note the cardboard cut out does not go in oven.

Make sure once it is in the oven that the frame is flat with room to rise. Bake this frame in the oven for around 30-50 Min’s or until golden brown and hard.

While your frame is baking in the oven begin gluing and laying out your broken mirror pieces onto the cardboard cutout. You may need to break some larger pieces to give an even effect on the mirror.

You will not be able to fit the pieces together like a jigsaw so to give a nice affect leave a small gap between each piece.

Once your frame is cooked it is ready to be painted. You can apply a varnish to help protect the surface but it is not necessary.

Using the glue, adhere the dough frame to the cardboard backing. Once secure, attach a hook to the back for hanging or using a nail to make a small hole in the cardboard to hang the mirror with.

All done!

Looking for more salt dough projects? check these salt dough crafts out.

If you are looking for an airdrying clay as an alternative I highly recommend Das Airdrying white clay  I have been using it for over 30 years and it never fails me.