How To Decoupage A Mirror

Hi everyone! Here is a post sharing how I decorated this second-hand mirror with paint and decoupage. 

I posted this picture on Instagram of my decoupaged mirror, and a few of you ladies asked how I made it so I decided to do a quick blog post. 

Diy Decoupaged mirror

Unfortunately, I don’t have a before picture but this was a plane pine mirror that matched the pine dresser I painted in my bedroom post. 

How I transformed this piece step by step. 

Step one – chalk paint. 3 coats of cream homemade chalk paint. The recipe for homemade chalk paint using plaster of Paris is one of my previous posts. 

Step two- decoupage! This is the fun bit. This is where you become creative and transform your piece. See below for more on decoupage.

Step three – lightly sand and distress your piece if you like that shabby look. 

Step four – wax or varnish your piece. 

Step five – pour a glass of wine and enjoy your piece. 

Decoupage? What’s that fancy word? 

Basically, it’s applying napkins or paper to a piece to make it look like you’ve painted it on. 

You can use wallpaper, wrapping paper, napkins and you can even buy sheets of paper in local craft shops. 

I used napkins from Dunnes stores. 

They do amazing napkins and I used another set I got on these lanterns. 

Here is an example of wrapping paper. 

This table I decoupaged with wrapping paper I got in the local craft shop. 

How I decoupaged my mirror

I use PVA glue mixed with a little water. I don’t use the fancy branded decoupage glue as I think it’s a waste of money. 

I highly recommend YouTube videos on how to get wrinkle-free decoupage. 

I peel back the napkin so it’s one ply. Most napkins are three-ply so pull the napkin apart to get one thin layer. 

Put a light coating of PVA glue where you would like your print to be. 

Place your napkin on your piece. 

Decoupage mirror

Now the trick for no wrinkles! 

Cling film! So using your kitchen cupboard clingfilm place a piece over the napkin that you just placed.

Using your fingers rub away the wrinkles. 

The cling film stops your napkin from tearing. 

When you have all your napkins placed then you can give your napkin 3 coats of PVA glue over the top. Make sure to let each coat dry fully. 

Use a hairdryer to speed up the process.

This makes your napkin hard and seals it.

DIY Decoupaged mirror

You then need to lightly sand your decoupage. I stress lightly. 

This removes any little wrinkles you may have gotten and blends your napkin into the piece to make it look like it’s been painted on and part of the piece. 

I focus on sanding the edges so as not to have any harsh lines. 

The next step is to seal your whole piece.

You have two options. 

Wax? Or varnish? 

I used wax and I personally like the feel and finish I get from it but varnish is quicker. 

I hope this post helped you. 

I cannot recommend enough searching YouTube for videos. One of my favourite ladies is called patioelf and her videos really inspired me.

Tag me over on Instagram @daintydressdiaries with any of your pieces you’ve made! Chat soon. Catherine. 

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3 Comments

  1. RuthAnn
    May 9, 2021 / 2:42 pm

    Just beautiful. I love the flowers. So pretty and fresh.

  2. daintydressdiaries
    Author
    May 28, 2021 / 10:22 am

    Thank you so much x

  3. Nancy
    June 2, 2021 / 12:04 am

    Glad I came across this. It’s beautiful. Can’t wait to try Where can I find you Chalk paint recipe. ?? Snd thanks again

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