Paper Mosaic Mirror Frame - Haworth family

A friend and neighbor hosts an amazing art party each November.  She invites five to nine artists to invade her home, pound nails in her walls and show their work for one evening. Lots of people ready to drink wine, chat with friends and spend money attend this four-hour whirlwind event.  A portion of the sales goes to a charity that has been chosen ahead of time. It's a win-win for everyone.  And, what does the hostess get in return for her efforts?  She gets a piece of art from each of the participating artists.  You can bet that her home has lots of cool artwork!

Here's the journey of the half bath mirror frame that I made for the Haworth family of Kalamazoo, Michigan...

The existing mirror is glued to the wall with no frame around it so my dad and I bought wood at a Big Box and made the 2' x 3' frame ourselves.  Several trips to measure, to make sure it was right, ensued.  The frame was painted with a primer then black.

Claudia's home is tastefully done primarily in earth tones so my uber-bright colors don't always work well there.  I made lots of 18" x 24" sheets of brown, terra cotta, cream and tan sheets of paste papers.  Some have a bit of metallic shimmer too.  This reminded me that I can work in brown, even though I seldom do.

The sheets of paste paper got cut down into mosaics.  Here they are drying after being coated with Mod Podge.  The kitchen table didn't see any meals for several days throughout this whole thing.

Rather than just covering the mirror frame with one mosaic style, my intent was to use all the different mosaic styles and colors on the one frame.  Lots of scissor work, glue and time.  Oh, did I mention lots of time?

Here's a close up of one of the corners.  You might notice that the circle at the top has a hole in it.  I had to somehow allow a way to get the mirror frame attached to the wall.  These holes are where the screws will go.  They will be covered with half inch wooden plugs.  Pretty ingenious, huh?

When the frame was finished, I put three coats of a varnish on.  This is important for lots of reasons but mainly because it will be used in a bathroom with moisture around.

Ta Da!  Installed!

After it was screwed into the wall, I caulked around the mirror with a clear caulk to keep any moisture from getting between the frame and the mirror.

Wow, what a project!  The Haworth family is really happy with their new bathroom mirror.  I'm really happy with the results too and fully expect to be doing more of these in the future.  Claudia has offered that anyone in the Kalamzoo area interested in seeing it up close and personal is very welcome to do so.  Contact me at lorrieabdo@aol.com to set up an appointment and discuss fees.  Or, if you know her, you are welcome to go directly to her.

Lorrie