Mirror for my sister

I haven’t made one of these for a long time, but she asked, so I did. Beads, charms, old necklaces, random stuff in the colors she picked out.

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Wow! Thus is amazing! And great inspiration… I have SO MUCH of this kind of stuff. :thinking:

LOVE! What did you attach the jewelry to? Like, is the ring part flat? Can I also ask how you attached them? I have been setting aside broken bits of jewelry, etc. to make one of those Christmas trees, so am really curious to hear about the construction from a real human!

I used good old E6000, but super glue would have worked. Gotta be careful, I was sloppy in a couple of places, and had to use nail polish remover to clean up spilled glue. Frame was not flat, it would’ve been easier if it was!
I used necklaces/chain/strings of beads first, for edges and such. Then larger pieces, Then smaller charm pieces. Small necklace/strings of beads. Larger beads. Smaller beads, smallest beads, seed beads. Look over it in the light for any empty spaces.
Cleaned it up, brushed on a thin layer of glossy mod podge-some kind of sealer is helpful to make sure tiny beads stay put!
Mirrors and frames from the thrift store are great for this. This was a black framed cheap mirror. In hindsight, I should have painted it first. Some of the bead’s color was lost on a black background.
I made piles of the colors sis asked for first, decided on silver for a metallic. Way more than what I used!
Random old and broken jewelry, thrift store necklaces, bead stash. Charms. You’ll find a blue transistor (I think?), a small flat quartz, ect.
I also should have switch to a different glue for smaller bits, or taken my time with the E6000! It does hold like a champ, and unlike super glue, you have some leeway, working time, before it sets.

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I hesitate to use hot glue on stuff like this. I did a large mixed media piece once with hot glue, it was put in a large glass front shadowbox. Took it in the car somewhere. Summer. Found the glue had started to melt! Yikes! I’m sure as long as you aren’t doing that hot glue would work, but I’ve been a tad leery ever sense. :laughing:

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Dooo it, Bunny! You’ll have fun. And thanks!

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It’s fabulous!! And what a great way to use all those little bits and pieces of treasures that I’m sure many of us have lying around :smile_cat:

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Thanks for all the deets! I will avoid hot glue most of the time, myself. Not only can it remelt, but it is best for quick hold, not long hold on a lot of things. I picked up a shadowbox frame at a thrift store last year for my project to go into, but it still needs painting. Most of the jewelry Christmas trees are done on velvet, so hopefully one of the adhesives in my “generous” stash will work on both fabric and metal!

I have missed your beautiful pieces like this! You are a master of this kind of assemblage!

The colors and mix of shapes and jewels are gorgeous!

aw, thank you!

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Congratulations! Your beautifully whimsical mirror a FEATURED PROJECT! :tada: :tada: :tada:
Thank you so much for sharing your amazing talent with our community!

EEEE! Thank you, I’m thrilled!

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