Mirror at home. How and what is a mirror made from? Bright frame from old magazines

Buying a mirror nowadays is not difficult. The product is not in short supply and is available to everyone. In addition, you can choose this piece of furniture to suit your taste and color. But if your imagination requires new experiments, then why not make a mirror with your own hands. This is both new knowledge and pride in one’s work. Just before you make a mirror with your own hands, stock up on rubber gloves and remember school course chemistry, in particular – silvering of mirror surfaces.

To create a mirror using this method you will need a large set of tools:

a piece of glass;
distilled water;
glucose;
filter paper;
nitric acid;
silver nitrate;
ammonia;
detergent;
plasticine;
sodium hydroxide.

To properly make a mirror with your own hands, strictly follow the instructions of the master class. To protect the skin of your hands, put on gloves, glasses for your eyes and get to work.

Rinse the prepared piece of glass detergent and remove as much fat and other small particles from its surface as possible. You should choose smooth glass, without bubbles.
Wipe the surface, or better yet, dry it with a hairdryer. Then, along the edge of the glass, create smooth and uniform sides from plasticine, 3 cm high.
Try not to touch the surface of the glass or leave greasy marks on it.
Then prepare working solutions. Use only chemically pure substances. For the first solution, mix 11 g of silver nitrate with distilled water (210 g). The second solution is sodium hydroxide (8 g) and 210 g of distilled water. In the third solution, combine 210 g of distilled water and 11 g of pure glucose.
If you don’t have chemical containers, use regular glass containers. Pour the first solution into the glass. Then add ammonia to the glass with a pipette and vigorously shake the solution. At first it will become cloudy. Add ammonia drop by drop until the sediment completely disappears. When the solution becomes clear, add 4 drops of silver nitrate. The liquid should then become slightly cloudy and acquire a yellowish tint.
Pour the second prepared solution with caustic soda into the resulting substance. Shake continuously. You will get a precipitate that needs to be dissolved by adding a few drops ammonia. The result is a yellow-brown solution, which is filtered through filter paper.
Next, you need to take the third prepared solution with glucose and pour it onto the glass surface. Gently spread over the surface.
Pour the liquid with silver nitrate onto the surface, where it will mix with the glucose solution and change its color to black. Leave the future mirror in this state for 10 minutes.
Then carefully drain all the contents from the surface of the glass, rinse it with distilled water and dry it.
Remove the plasticine sides. On the side where the silver layer is applied, apply several layers of black paint. The mirror is ready.

External silvering of glass

Thanks to silvering using this method, a smooth and durable surface of the mirror is obtained. To get started, wash the glass with warm water and dry.

Degrease the dry surface of the glass with a solution of caustic potassium. Then wipe the glass with a solution of stannous chloride (1%) and immerse it in distilled water.
Remove from the water and dry the glass. Immediately after this, pour the silvering substance onto its surface.
To prepare a solution for silvering, you need to combine 300 g of distilled water with 5 g of silver nitrate. Then, with vigorous shaking, add a few drops of ammonia solution. When the substance becomes transparent, add 4 more drops of silver nitrate to it. The substance will become cloudy. Pour caustic soda into it, the color of the solution will turn coffee. Lighten it again with ammonia. Mix everything and add distilled water to make 1 liter.
The glass will darken first. Then, when the dark precipitate (silver) precipitates, it will lighten.
There are times when dark marks remain on the surface. They must be removed with tin chloride. After this, pour the silvering solution onto the surface of the glass again.
After 10 minutes, carefully drain the liquid from the surface and pour another layer of the mixture.
When 20 minutes have passed, rinse the surface with water. In order for all layers of silver to be firmly fixed, the glass must be placed in the oven and left for 2 hours at a temperature of 130 degrees.
Paint the dried mirror with several layers of paint on the back side.
Wipe the front side of the mirror with a gauze swab containing hydrochloric acid. The mirror is ready.

You can see in detail how to make a solution for silvering a mirror with your own hands in the video.

Mirror decor

To complete the image of your home mirror, it needs to be decorated. This can be a stylish frame or braid around the edge of the mirror. You can use the decoupage technique, apply patterns using a stencil, and decorate the mirror with all sorts of small details.

Mirror decor made from pasta

Original and non-standard solution- decorate the mirror with pasta. Ordinary edible “shells” look harmonious and can give the mirror a completely unusual and creative appearance.

Before you start decorating, stock up on shaped pasta, a brush, glue and any paint. Also plan on paper an approximate future pattern on the mirror.

Place the pasta on the table in the form of a future frame.
Dip a brush into glue and apply to pasta. Glue them carefully so that the glue does not smear on the mirror.
When you have glued the last pasta, let the composition dry. Then coat the frame with paint. To prevent paint from getting on the mirror surface, cover it with paper.

Wait until the frame is dry and attach the mirror to any suitable place.

Round mirror decor

If you manage to make a round-shaped mirror, you can design it in the shape of a sun. We suggest using bamboo skewers as rays. Also purchase a brass ring that matches the diameter of your mirror.

First of all, draw a sketch of the future frame on paper. Make a circle of 24 equal sections. Inside the large circle, draw a smaller circle, moving 3 cm from the edge. This sketch must be transferred to a cardboard template that corresponds to the diameter of the mirror.
Divide the bamboo sticks into 4 parts so that each part contains 24 sticks. Thus, in the end there should be 96 rays.
Leave the rays from the first part as is (30 cm each). And shorten the remaining sticks from parts 2, 3 and 4 by 8, 11, and 14 cm.
Start gluing the sticks, use a glue gun for this. First, glue long rays (24 pieces) clearly along the lines onto the cardboard surface.
Glue the shortest length sticks from the border of the inner circle. Place these sticks on the right side of every second long ray.
Using the same principle, glue sticks from the third and fourth parts.
When everything is glued, let the rays dry and then paint them with golden paint.
Next, take your mirror and glue it to the cardboard with the rays already attached. Then fasten the brass ring.
The mirror with rays is ready. On back side Attach the mounting device to the wall.

Stylish mirror frame

To creatively decorate your home mirror, use the following tools:

acrylic paints;
wax;
stencil with any pattern;
varnish, glue;
silver or gilded sheets (potal).

Manufacturing process:

To make the frame for your mirror more original, try to use a stencil with unusual pattern. Conditionally define the boundaries of the frame of the mirror and paint it any color.

Apply the prepared stencil to the painted frame and paint it with a golden color.
Leave the mirror to dry thoroughly. Then selectively apply a special glue for gilded sheets (gold leaf) to the pattern.
Put the mirror aside again for half an hour.
Apply gold leaf to the slightly sticky glue. Smooth it with a brush and fix it this way.
The next step will be to treat the edges of the mirror with clerical wax for gilding. It dries very quickly and gives the surface a fashionable antique effect.
When the decorative work is completed, secure all layers with protective varnish. In this case, it is better to use acrylic varnish.

Making a mirror with your own hands is an interesting and time-consuming activity that does not require special skills. All that is needed from a person is to follow the instructions and perform all stages correctly.

If you don't have time to make a mirror at home, you can simply purchase ready-made option, made to order. The website www.vashezerkalo.ru will help in this matter.

Preparatory stages

By making a mirror yourself, you will create an original and unique thing. This option will be good decision for a gift to a loved one, or you can decorate the interior of your home with the product.

First you need to select suitable material, which will make up the basis of the item. It should be designed specifically for the manufacture of mirror products.

Most often, the following options are used for this process:

glass;
earthenware products;
dishes made of clay.

In some cases, metal is used, but this material must first be coated with a thin layer of paraffin. To do this, it needs to be melted. Most suitable option Glass is used to make a mirror at home. Before you start processing it, you need to inspect the surfaces for defects and damage.

After this, the material must be cleaned of contaminants. To remove grease stains, the glass must be dipped in a caustic potassium solution (15%). But traces of milk or similar products cannot be eliminated. They can only be removed by sanding with a crocus.

To remove the old silver layer, it is worth using special nitric acid.

Main stages

After removing all contaminants, you can begin making the mirror. First, the glass must be treated with distilled water so that no stains remain on it.

Before silvering, you need to mix the following components:

silver nitrate (1.6g);
purified water (30 g);
ammonia 25% (a few drops);
purified water (100 ml);
formalin 40% (5 ml).

It is worth noting that purified water is added twice. In the second case, it is poured in after the sediment disappears.

For silvering you need to use a bath and 3-4 pieces of glass (if only one side can be processed). Next, you need to pour the composition so that it completely lies on the bottom and on bottom part material.

After this, you need to wait 7 minutes and remove the mirror, rinsing it with water. Next, the product must be placed in a vertical position and dried at a temperature of 150 degrees.

How to make a mirror from ordinary glass, watch the video:

Something made with your own hands gives the interior a special charm. A homemade mirror will not be superfluous at all, especially now, when historical reconstruction is perhaps the most popular hobby. The people are the most different professions ancient technologies and materials are revived, and ancient ornaments gain a second life. A DIY mirror can decorate a room medieval style or Baroque, remind of sunny Provence or gloomy Northern Europe. Want to try it? Then this article is for you.

What types of mirrors are there?

Before you make a mirror at home, decide which one you need. Reflective surfaces are:

household;
parts of optical instruments.

An ordinary household mirror only reflects objects. As a rule, it is flat. Optical instruments can have a variety of functions, such as collecting light or magnifying. Such mirrors have different curvatures; their manufacture requires special equipment and very precise calculations.

Important! Even if the mirror for the device is made flat, more demands are placed on it. high demands than to household. So even those who are interested in building telescopes usually order mirror parts.

Materials

The question of how a mirror is made is certainly important. But no less interesting is the question of what it can be made from:

made of glass;
made of plastic;
from foil;
from cardboard;
from metals.

What to take to make a mirror with your own hands?

The most modern reflective surfaces are made of plastic. They are made by spraying. This process requires special vacuum equipment, which hardly makes sense to install at home, unless you are going to open your own small mirror business.
But a mirror made of metal or glass can be made by hand. The equipment needed for this is very simple. True, silvering glass requires some chemical reagents, but they are not difficult to obtain.
In addition, you can make a reflective surface from foil - this is also metal. Only the quality of such a mirror will be significantly lower than that of metal or glass with silver amalgam.

What metals are suitable?

Please note that not all metals are suitable for your purpose. Those that withstand grinding more or less well are suitable:

gold;
silver;
bronze;
steel;
aluminum;
beryllium;
special alloys.

Important! A large plate of gold or silver will be very expensive, and finding it is problematic. In addition, any precious metals are soft alloys that will not be able to hold the rigid shape of the mirror. Therefore, they are used exclusively as a surface layer on the surface of a reflective surface; they are applied by spraying.

Bronze and steel

Bronze is an ancient metal, quite affordable to modern man. It is quite hard, so it is easy to polish. Actually, the entire manufacturing process comes down to polishing.

People learned to make steel much later than bronze. This is also a very suitable material for making reflective surfaces. They work with steel in the same way as with bronze - that is, they order the entire cast mirror, and the surface is simply polished.

Important! You can apply a layer of silver to improve reflectivity, but this is not necessary.

Aluminum and others

Do mirror surfaces and made of aluminum. It is a cheap and lightweight metal, but it has many disadvantages:

It is soft, which means that polishing it is a labor-intensive and thankless task.
The mirror itself does not hold its shape well.

Important! As for other metals, such as beryllium and special alloys, such mirrors are made only on industrial enterprises where special equipment is installed. Beryllium is hard and very toxic. Usually only beryllium coating is done.

How to make a mirror from glass?

Glass is perhaps the most available material for making a homemade mirror.

Material selection

The first step, of course, is to choose a suitable sheet:

High-quality Bohemian glass is most suitable - they almost never have scratches, and the surface is very well polished.
But if it is not possible to get this material, you will have to be content with ordinary window material.

Important! Choose the appropriate sheet in the store. It should not contain:
shells;
chips;
visible scratches.

In addition, the sheet should be as even as possible. It's easy to check:

Place a sheet of glass on a dark cloth.
Place a light source (for example, a table lamp) nearby.
Take a metal measuring ruler.
Carefully, so as not to scratch the surface, apply it to the glass with its edge.
Turn the lamp so that the ruler divisions are reflected in the glass.
The ruler should be adjacent to the glass along its entire length so that there is no visible gap between it and the glass, and the reflection of the divisions is an exact continuation of the divisions themselves, without breaks.

Trimming

After the sheet is selected, it needs to be cut along the contour of the mirror. For this you need a sketch. It can be made from cardboard. If you do not have experience in glass cutting, it is better to entrust this to a master.

Trimming requires precision; there should be no chips or nicks. If you do it yourself, it is better to use a glass cutter with a cutting disc. It works cleaner than diamond.

Silvering

Making a mirror at home will require you to have some knowledge of chemistry. First, prepare necessary materials and dishes. In addition to the already prepared piece of glass, you will need:

distilled water;
silver nitrate;
glucose or refined sugar;
caustic potash or caustic soda;
ammonia;
nitric acid;
chemical glassware;
filter paper;
laboratory scales;
set of weights;
wax or sculpture plasticine;
detergent;
rubber gloves;
safety glasses.

Important! You will be working with hazardous chemicals, so gloves and goggles are essential. Nitric acid and alkalis cause serious burns and should not be allowed to come into contact with skin or mucous membranes.

Chemicals can be purchased at a chemical store, but it is much more convenient to do this online. As for ammonia and glucose, they are probably available at the nearest pharmacy. In addition, glucose can be replaced with the most common refined sugar.

Let's get started

To begin with, it is very useful to wash the glass properly. For this you need:

soft cloth;
dishwashing liquid.

There is nothing complicated at this stage. You need to ensure that the surface is clean and free of scratches. Therefore, even if you received a very dirty sheet, you should not put too much pressure on it. After washing, the workpiece needs to be dried, there is nothing complicated about this either. You can dry it in any available way.

Degreasing

Before silvering, the surface must be degreased, otherwise nothing will work. To do this you need a 15% solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH). This substance is sold in the form of granules that must be diluted:

Before preparing the solution, put on gloves and goggles - this substance gets very hot when combined with water.
Weigh the required amount on the scale.
Calculate the amount of distilled water: if you take 15 g of potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, then to get a 15% solution you will need 85 ml of water.
Pour approximately ⅔ of the calculated amount of distillate into a chemical container with divisions.
Place the granules there and dissolve them.
Add water to the required volume.
Take a piece of soft, lint-free cotton cloth.
Wrap it around a stick.
Clean the glass.
Rinse the workpiece first with plain water, then with distilled water.
Let the edges dry.

Making a side

The edge is needed to keep the solutions on the surface during silvering. To make it, it is best to use wax, but sculptural plasticine will also work:

Roll the plasticine into strips taking into account the thickness of the glass - the side should be approximately 2 cm higher than the future silver layer.
Fasten the strips around the perimeter, but the plasticine should not get on the part of the workpiece that you will silver.
Press the strips tightly on the side where there will be no silver and on the sides.
Place the sheet on a horizontal surface with the side up.
Fill the surface with distilled water.
Cover the whole thing with plastic wrap.

Preparing solutions

The first solution is made from silver nitrate and distilled water.

Important! To calculate the quantity, roughly calculate the surface area. If you are going to make a layer of silver 2 cm thick, multiply the area by 2. In order to silver a 20x20 cm square, you will need about a liter of solution. You need 52-53 g of silver nitrate, the rest is distilled water. A sediment will appear, but don't be alarmed, this is how it should be.

Start pouring in a 25% ammonia solution.
Pour it in slowly, drop by drop, shaking each time.
Add ammonia until the sediment disappears.
When the precipitate dissolves, add a little more distilled water (approximately 100 ml).
Filter the solution.
Leave the vessel for 10-15 minutes to chemical reaction ended and equilibrium arrived.

Important! While equilibrium is established in the first vessel, prepare the second solution. Dissolve 50 g of glucose or sugar in 1 liter of water and filter.

Let's start silvering

Solutions must be prepared immediately before work. If you leave them for a long time, unwanted processes may begin that greatly reduce the quality of work. So, let's start silvering:

Drain the distilled water from the glass.
Immediately, without waiting for the surface to dry, pour in the glucose solution - it should completely cover the entire surface.
Pour in the silver nitrate solution.
Leave the glass for 10-15 minutes.
Drain the solution.
Rinse the surface with distilled water and place it in an inclined position.
Place the mirror to dry - in a vertical position.
After the surface is dry, carefully remove the sides.
Clean the ends of the plasticine.

Important! The drained solution must be destroyed, as it is explosive and cannot be stored. Unused substances can be stored, but not for very long - you can, for example, silver plate some other surfaces, not necessarily smooth ones. For example, the usual glass bottle can be turned into a beautiful silver vase.

Application of protective coating

The silver layer looks beautiful, but it is very fragile. In order for a DIY mirror to serve for a long time, the surface needs to be coated protective layer. Asphalt varnish works great. It is dark enough and will perfectly protect the back of the mirror. Not only the surface itself is covered, but also the ends so that moisture does not get on them.

Important! It is necessary to remove any remaining wax from the front of the mirror. This is done with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol. If silver solution gets on the front side, it is removed with a swab moistened with nitric or hydrochloric acid, and then wiped dry with a napkin. After this, the mirror can be inserted into the frame.

Metal mirror

Bronze or steel sheet It is best to order the desired shape from a foundry. This can also be done via the Internet, indicating in the application that the sheet must be even. Polishing is a rather labor-intensive process, but the surface can be perfect.

The surface is sanded with abrasive powder. A thick lubricant is used as a binding element - for example, grease. A flat iron plate with flat surface or a sheet of thick glass:

Place the sanding pad horizontally.
Apply coarse abrasive mixed with grease to the workpiece.
Move the workpiece along the grinder in different directions, without reaching the edge.
Remove the abrasive and grease from the workpiece and sanding pad with a flannel rag.
Apply a finer grit abrasive and repeat the procedure.

Important! The abrasive should be changed up to 5-6 times, choosing an increasingly finer fraction. I check the depth of scratches visually by eye and using a magnifying glass. When you are satisfied with the quality of the surface, polish it with GOI paste. Already without any grinder. The unpolished part can be coated with varnish that imitates patina.

Foil mirror

Perhaps the simplest option. There are quite a few types of foil available in stores, you want the thinnest one you can find. The one that is designed for windows is most suitable. They use it to seal windows in the summer.

The mirror is easy to make. It is advisable to choose good, smooth glass. You don't have to work with any hazardous substances - a sheet of foil is simply cut to the shape of the glass and glued around the perimeter, after which the mirror is inserted into the frame. You can stick it with regular tape.

DIY cardboard mirror

Some people will be surprised to see this headline. However, you can make a mirror with your own hands from cardboard:

The sheet should be quite thick and dense. You can stick it on something more rigid - for example, on a sheet of plywood of a suitable size.
Buy a can of mirror auto enamel at the store. Cover the workpiece with this mixture.

The mirror is ready - it will not be strong or durable, and its reflective ability is low compared to silver. However, there is also an advantage - in this simple way you can make a mirror with your own hands of any shape, and this is important if your premises are decorated in a certain style, but you have not yet been able to get everything you need decorative elements.

A few words about frames

It is not at all necessary to insert a metal homemade mirror into a frame - quite often it is a completely cast object. As for silver-plated glass, and even more so for homemade products made from foil and cardboard, in these cases frames are simply necessary.

Glass

A classic glass mirror can be inserted into a wooden or metal frame - it depends on the style of the room in which it will hang. For example, thin planks are suitable for High-Tech or Minimalism, while for Provencal or Baroque you will need rather thick wooden frames with beautiful carvings.

A dressing room mirror will be an ideal and desired gift for any girl, but it is not so easy to find, and it will not be cheap. But making a dressing room mirror with your own hands is quite simple, but it’s still better to entrust this important task to a man. Although, if you are not a timid person, you can try to make this piece of furniture by yourself using our master class, in which we will tell you in detail how you can make a dressing room mirror with your own hands.

DIY dressing room mirror step by step

Every girl who loves to do makeup and wants to look perfect dreams of her own illuminated makeup mirror, with many bulbs in the Hollywood style. After all, they have always captivated the souls of true fashionistas, who, sitting in front of such a mirror and painting their lips with bright lipstick, felt like a real Hollywood beauty.

In addition to the fact that such a piece of furniture has an aesthetic side, it is also practical, because it was not by chance that the mirror was called a dressing room. This is the item that all famous makeup artists, stylists and make-up artists use to apply makeup. Thanks to the bright white light of the bulbs around the mirror, all shadows are removed from the face, and this allows you to create the perfect makeup.

And so, to create it we will need the following materials and tools:

A suitable size mirror.
2 wide straight wooden beams that would match the length of our mirror.
Drill.
Sandpaper.
Measuring tapes.
Blue and white copper wire.
Industrial double-sided tape.
Wire cutters.
Paint, color of your choice.
Lamps are 25 Watt in white matte color, the quantity depends on the size of the mirror.
Light bulb sockets.
Wire plug.
Additional fuses for light bulbs.
2.5cm long bolts to secure the chucks to the frame.
Screwdriver.
Shoes with rubber soles for safety when making your own illuminated makeup mirror

Step-by-step production

Step 1

In order to make a make-up mirror with light bulbs with your own hands, you first need wooden beams cut the frame to the size of the mirror sawing them so that the ends have 45 degree angles
This can be easily done using a ruler and pencil, having made the appropriate notes in advance.
Then they need to be processed well sandpaper so that they are perfectly smooth.

Step 2

In order for our handmade illuminated makeup mirror to turn out perfect, It is necessary to carefully measure and make marks at the same distance for the holes into which light bulb sockets will be inserted. Using a drill, you need to carefully drill the holes.

It is necessary to make marks for the holes into which the light bulb sockets will be inserted.

Step 3

At this stage we need to paint the frame with wood paint in any color that you choose and that will suit your interior, or you can leave wooden frame in its original color and simply coat it with wood varnish.

Let's paint the future frame white

And yet this mirror looks best with a frame white. The mirror itself can be attached using industrial double-sided tape to the frame to ensure it stays securely in place.

Step 4

First you need to separate some of the blue from white wire on pieces of 15 centimeters, and bring them out into the holes for the light bulbs. As a result, each hole should have 2 blue and 2 white wires, as shown in the photo.

We route the wiring into the holes for the light bulbs

Each hole in the mirror frame should have 2 blue and 2 white wires.

Step 5

Let's take it cartridges for E27 base, or for E14. But here you need to think in advance which light bulbs will look best, and how many of them will be used. This is necessary in order to calculate required power and wiring with a switch.
Now need to twist the bare ones copper wires to the corresponding side of the chuck screw. And then attach each cartridge with a screw to the frame.

Now that we have an idea of how to do the wiring and attach the sockets, let's get back to the plug.

Take a long strip of wire, one end will be connected to the first lamp holder in the line.
The other end will be connected to the plug while maintaining the corresponding wire color.

Cartridges for E27 base or E14 base of your choice.

We mount the cartridge into the finished hole and connect the wiring

Finished mirror, but still without light bulbs

Making sure that no other wires are touching any others. If any lamp does not work, the wiring should be checked. The wires may need to be swapped.

If all is well with this connection, you can enjoy a sense of accomplishment.

Our stylish Hollywood makeup mirror is ready, you can use it and enjoy the result!

Make a smaller version of the mirror to hang above the cabinet where you can display your cosmetics.
You can use multiple fuses, with their help, the operation of light bulbs can be significantly extended.
It is better not to let small children near such a mirror!
Use led lamps. Less heat, more energy saving, longer period operation
Better to use fluorescent light bulbs.
Add a diameter, a device for adjusting the brightness of light emitted by incandescent or LED bulbs.

If you use regular incandescent bulbs, they will get very, very hot, so be careful!

Mirrors are an integral part of the interior; they are hung above chests of drawers, dressing tables and sinks in the bathroom. Sometimes it can be difficult to find the right mirror. If you can't find a mirror that you like, you can make it yourself from a glass panel and mirror spray paint. Mirror paint is shinier and more reflective than standard silver spray paint, making it a better choice for a DIY mirror.

Steps

Simple mirror

Remove the glass panel from the frame. Select the appropriate glass panel and remove it from the frame. If there are paper inserts in the frame, remove them before removing the glass. Don't throw away the cardboard back wall though - you'll need it when you reassemble everything.

Clean the glass panel with alcohol. Dampen a soft cloth or paper towel rubbing alcohol and wipe the glass on both sides. This will remove any grease that may prevent the paint from sticking to the glass.

After this, touch the glass only around the edges to avoid leaving fingerprints on it.

Move the glass panel to a well-ventilated area. It's best to work for fresh air, although a spacious room with open windows. Place something under the glass, such as newspaper or cheap plastic oilcloth, to protect your work surface from paint.

Shake the can of mirror spray paint. Buy a can of mirror spray paint. It should indicate that the paint gives a mirror effect. Shake the can as recommended on the label (usually 20 to 30 seconds).
- Do not use regular silver spray paint, even if it reflects light well. This Not the same paint, and it will not give the desired effect.
Apply 5 thin coats of paint (wait until the previous coat dries before applying each coat). At the same time, keep the can 20–25 centimeters from the glass. Apply a thin coat of paint using a side-to-side motion. Wait about 1 minute for the paint to dry, then spray on the next coat. Continue until the glass loses its transparency. Approximately 5 layers of paint will be required.
- Hold your hand under the glass to check its transparency. If you can still see the hand, continue applying paint.
- It is better to spray more thin coats rather than 1-2 relatively thick coats of paint. Although this will take longer, it will give you a smoother coat of paint.
- Spray paint only on one, not both sides of the glass.
Wait until the paint is completely dry. Time required depends on the area in which you live: the lower the temperature, the longer the paint will take to dry. Typically it takes about 10 minutes.

Insert the glass into the frame with the painted side facing you. Place the frame face down on the table and place the glass in it. Make sure that the unpainted side is on the bottom and the painted side is on top. Once you turn the frame over, the paint will begin to shine through the glass. The glass will protect the paint layer from chipping and scratches.

Close the frame and turn it over. Place the back panel you removed earlier into the frame. Replace the hooks to prevent it from falling out and turn the frame over. The mirror is ready!

Find a scary black and white image with a dark background. An old photograph will do for this purpose. You can also print out a picture of a ghost, zombie, or skeleton. It must match the photo inside mirrors, so be careful!
- The image must be smaller than the glass panel.
Print 2 pictures so that one of them is reflected. First print the direct image and then load it into the photo editor. Select the image you want and flip it. Print the resulting image.
- Most computers have free programs image editing, such as Paint in Windows. You can also use programs available on websites.
Glue the mirror image to the glass. Place the printed picture on the glass panel and attach the paper to the edges of the glass using tape. You will only paint part of the panel. The image will appear through the remaining unpainted surface of the mirror. Use tape to attach the mirror image to the glass to keep it in place.
Flip the glass panel over and apply a thin coat of mirror spray paint. Turn the glass over so that the image attached with tape is on the bottom. Apply one coat of mirror spray paint to the entire glass panel. Hold the spray can at a distance of 20-25 centimeters from the glass and smoothly move it from side to side. After this, the image should still appear through the glass.
- This step will give the image a mirror shine. If the picture is very dark, a thin layer of paint can obscure it even more. In this case, skip this step and move on to the next one.
- Mirror paint should be used (this should be noted on the packaging). Don't use regular silver paint, even if it's shiny, or you won't succeed.
Apply a few more thin coats of paint around the picture. Decide which parts of the image you want to make more visible: the whole face or just the mouth open in a scream? How about a frantically reaching hand? Spray paint onto the glass except for the areas you want to highlight. Wait about 1 minute after applying the next coat to allow the paint to dry. Spray about 5 coats of paint in total.
- Spray the glass with enough paint so that it actually looks like a mirror from the front!
- Don't worry about applying paint to any areas you wanted to leave exposed. This will give the mirror an even more natural look.