Once upon a time…this was an old, iron gate relic. I snagged it years ago knowing I wanted to make it into a mirror that would go above our fireplace mantle. It was the perfect size and it was old. It just seemed to be sitting there waiting on me, calling my name.

My great ideas often leave others scratching their heads and they become someone else’s pain in the behind.

I knew as soon as I saw it that it was the perfect size for the spot I had in mind. All I needed was someone to cut, fit & attach an antiqued, round mirror. What’s the big deal, right?

I knew the main issue would be finding someone to permanently attach the mirror. I knew it wouldn’t be easy but…where there’s a will there’s a way!

I asked several of my “industry” peeps who they knew that could help me pull this off. Most just looked at me and asked, “you want to do what?”. I asked my go-to mirror company, my go-to shower enclosure installer, my go-to painters, my go-to tile guy, my go-to hardwood flooring installer, my go-to carpenter, local antique dealers, local realtors who also are friends of mine, you name the peeps…I asked them. This went on for several months. Finally one day, I got a call with the name I needed. Let’s just call him my “soldering dude”.

I contacted “soldering dude” and after lots of back & forth and putting our heads together on more than one occasion…we had a plan. We brought in my mirror guru too so the two of them could see if they were on the same page (pretty sure that page included them both talking about how crazy I am, whatever). And, you know what? It worked! My plan worked. They were very hesitate going in and never promised me it would work. Neither had ever done anything like this.

Being nicely persistent & not giving up on what I KNEW this piece could someday become paid off big time! Total cost-under $200. For EVERYTHING! The gate relic, the antiqued mirror cut to size, the soldering dude…everything.

I realize there are mirrors this large out there that may have cost less (yard sales, thrift shops, auctions, etc.) but they wouldn’t be exactly what I wanted. They wouldn’t have had the same character, history or story as this piece.

PLUS…this old gate relic found me instead of the other way around. PLUS, PLUS, PLUS…I have a “thing” for round mirrors. They are scattered throughout our home (all sizes). This new/old piece feels right at home.

Happy Sprucing!

~Scarlett

Mirror, Mirror On MY Wall

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