Antique mirror

My mom and I happened across a little antique store a while ago in the middle of nowhere.  I'm talking Eggville, MS country roads waaaay in the boondocks.  I finally convinced her to stop this past weekend.  Unfortunately I got there later in the day and the chairs I saw had already sold or they would have been coming home with me.  I did find this gorgeous mirror though.  I loved the shape of it.

...but it had a weird greenish gold finish and whoever painted didn't do a very good job.

 

Whatever it was came off easily with a little sanding.  It revealed a pretty wood grain underneath.

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I really liked the wood grain, but ultimately decided something else would work better in my room. So, I ended up silver leafing it.

I used the Mona Lisa silver leaf from Hobby Lobby (40% off of course) and spray adhesive.

I lightly sprayed the adhesive and waited about 30 seconds. Then I took a sheet of silver and brushed over it with a dry paint brush.

 

 

This was the recommended method, but I found it easier just to use my hands to rub the silver leaf on.  After a little bit you find your groove and it goes pretty quickly.

It kinda looked like it had been wrapped in a Hershey Kiss wrapper when I was done.

I decided to tone down the bright silver a bit using an antiquing glaze

 

I just wiped it on using a paper towel and let it dry for a minute or two.  Then I wiped it off and done!

It toned down the silver a lot and gave it a little more dimension, I love the way it came out.  It found a home on my dining room wall

 

 I tried to get a picture of the whole room, but Erin is working on her national boards and has laid claim on the dining room table.