As I’ve gotten into this project, I’ve realized it is very slow, involved, and tedious. Maybe that price of $399 from Wisteria was not so bad. I appreciate the hours of work that went into that mirror! But I not giving up! Bear with me as the “drying time” takes so long.
Picked up the beveled edge mirror and a large 1/4 inch piece of plywood, both from Lowe’s.
Before cutting the board, I played with the shells. This gave me an indication of the size of the board that I needed to cut. My mirror will end up being a lovely oval about 44 inches high by 37 inches wide, due to the overhang of the shells.
I drew a shaky line around the outer shells. Then I added 6 and 7 inches all around. I using the 6 inch mark. I penciled around the oval mirror so I can place it later for gluing.
The shells need to hang off the edge of the board so it made sense to use the 6 inch line. The 7 inch line might require more oyster shells. And since the shells need to hang over the board edge a little bit, the line and the cutting of the board don’t need to be too perfect.
Used my jigsaw to cut the oval. Actually, husband did. I held the board steady.
Everything will be LIQUID NAILED!
After the board was cut, I glued these picture hangers to the back of the board.
Then screwed in wood screws for extra support. The back of the entire mirror needed to be finished and dried before attempting oyster shells on the front. Brought the whole mirror into the house with the hopes that the Liquid Nails might dry faster.
Glued mirror on the front of board. I let all of this dry and set for 48 hours. The 2 little squares of wood I glued on the front. These are supports for the back screws as the wood is only 1/4 inch. I wanted to make sure my back hangers had a good grip to hold on to. Then I screwed the nails in.
Got the wire on.
Then I laid the the larger oyster shells out around the outer edge of the oval board. Again. Just to make sure it all looked good.
The Liquid Nails gluing process. A little on the board…
and a little on the outer edges of each shell. I do hope this Liquid Nails works!
Progress as of this morning. The small shells in the mirror are the last to go on, around the mirror edge. I have to leave this alone at this point and let the Liquid Nails harden.
So I’m out in the yard, cutting down all the dead tropical plants that we lost during those 2 weeks of record low freezing temps we had.
9 comments:
It's going to turn out fabulous! And I have to add that you have got patience! I would not want to sort and glue and go through the whole process. I can not wait to see it finished.
Oh...how I know about those tropical plants. We will have to get out in our yard in the next couple of weekends and get to cutting as well.
Oh my word, it will look so beautiful when you are finished. I hope the bleach treatment works for the smell and look at the money you will have saved! You can say you did it yourself!
I am sorry the winter temperatures have caused you to lose so many of your beautiful plants.
Enjoy your day and say job will done for both!
Its already looking so cool! I think your's will be better that the $399 one! :)
I can't wait to see the final product. I have something in mind that liquid nails would be perfect for. So, keep us posted. We're staying tuned for the final result!
Okay friend!! You have officially moved from crafter to artisan. You're way out of my league now! I am so impressed with this. This is going to be lovely!!
So what did you finally use to giet rid of the fishy smell? xoxo
This is going to be so worth your effort once you are finished! I love what it looks like so far!!
Amazing! Yours is going to be sooo much better. Perfect as always.
Have a great day!
belle
Wisteria is one of my favorite catalogs! I know, sometimes when I'm doing a project like that I think the same thing - you can see all the work that goes into making something like that. But yours will be beautiful and you'll be able to say that you did it!
Manuela
LOVE THIS!!! i think i might want to try one (after i finish the other million projects i have going on)!
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