Big Gothic Mirror

It started with this cracked closet mirror. since the slogan is RRR= Reduce+Reuse+recycle, this mirror will become a beautiful living room Gothic mirror. It will fit well in modern, as well as classic home style.

I saw this stitching frame mirror for 400$ at a custom carpentry shop. I loved the design, but I did not swallow the price, and did not like the thin stitching. I thought using more course stitch would look better...Ironically, the idea came right.

Will need these:

1- four pcs of low priced, fence wood size 6 ft x 5 inch x 1/2 inch thick. cut 2 at 5 ft and 2 at 20 inch each.

2- small pcs of plywood for connecting the frame together

3- 50 pcs of 8x3/4 Robertson or Phillips wood screws.

4- one can of brown spray paint of any color you like.

5- Juti rope 25 ft 5 - 8 mm thick.

6- drill and hand saw if you don t have electric.

finally, two frame hanging clips.

Cut the wood planks to length mentioned in step 1. Line them square as shown in the sketch and connect them with 2x6 inch plywood pieces. I chose wrap around instead of 45 degrees corners..this would make it a daring, primitive, yet less labor intensive.

now get a 2 x 25 inch piece of wood to make a drilling pallette. drill holes at 1 inch and 2 inch alternatively. so the exposed stitch would be 2 inches at 1 inch spacing. use this wood piece as a pattern to drill instead of having the mark the entire frame by pen.

After finishing the drilling, clean the holes with sand paper, then brush the entire frame to remove dust. Now spray (in open area) with brown or other color, making sure to wear mask and goggles for safety. Wait 20 minutes for it to dry. Now get the Juti rope, tape the tip with electric tape to make it easy to penetrate through the holes, and start stitching all round. Once finished, tie the rope ends, glue them together.

Now frame is complete....all is needed to fix the mirror. I had a friend free the mirror from the old thin frame, and cut it short the to get rid of the cracked end. Now I have 4ft 8 inch long by 19 inch wide mirror ready. Flip the frame on its face, put the mirror on it, and attach it at 3 points each side with a small piece of wood along the back of the frame. Now the big mirror is ready to hang.

you made a 400$ mirror with 30$ cost and 3 hours of time.

Happy decorating.