Saturday, March 28, 2009

Pocket Mirror How To

Yesterday I said I would have an easy project, and I do; making pocket mirrors with your own designs or photos on the back. I saw this awhile ago on a TV show (I can't remember which) and have wanted to try it. Although I was afraid of working with foil tape. It seemed scary and difficult, and possibly painful. Don't worry its none of those things.

All the materials you will need to make these can be purchased at Michael's, or any large craft store.
small mirrors
paper glaze
foil tape
craft glue
scissors
images

Chose a photo or image, a thin collage would also work. Because I plan to have these in my Scarlett Design shop I made an illustratior document with the images already at the correct size. I found it works best to have your image just slightly smaller than the mirror.
Adhere your image to the back of the mirror using craft glue. I used Scotch Scrapbooker's Glue.

Wrap the mirror with foil tape. Be careful to keep the edge of the mirror in the center of the tape, so that there will be a small overlap on the front and back side.

Smooth down the foil tape first with your fingers by pinching around the edges and taking extra care to get a smooth corner. Then using a smooth flat stick, such as a popsicle stick, or I used the handle of a paint brush, smooth down the foil tape again.

Finally, apply paper glaze, I used Alene's Paper Glaze, to the image side of the mirror, being careful to cover right up to the edge of the foil tape. You can apply a very thick coat right from the bottle, or apply a thinner coat and brush it to cover the entire image. Let dry for several hours. You may want to apply another coat.

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