A Striking Smash

Proving art is all about creativity get cracking and turn a boring old mirror into stylish wall art.

What I did...The idea came from an episode of Sex and the City where there was a mirror on the wall that looked like it had been broken. I was able to duplicate the mirror by using basic materials such as plywood, paint, glue to turn an old mirror into an edgy piece of art.

Home Depot to Good Will

First decide what size you want your art piece to be. I went with 2 x 4 because my mirror was 3 x 3. It depends on the amount of space you have on your wall and the size of mirror you can find! Next, gather the materials you need:

· ¼ inch thick plywood

· Paint

· Mirror

· Adhesive

Look around the house or ask friends if they have any of the materials lying around. If that proves to be disappointing you can get plywood, glue and paint from home improvement stores. Thrift stores are great places to find inexpensive mirrors.

Smoothing With Sandpaper

Plywood is rough, so you will need to sand down all your edges and each side of the wood. It doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth, but you don’t want splinters coming off your wood! Then roll on your paint making sure to cover the edges. I used black for the background colour because it is what was used in the inspiration; also I liked the statement the mirror made against the black. If you want another colour to match your decor, I would go for either dark vampy colours or super bright colours. That way your mirror pieces can really pop!

All That Shatters

Forget the seven bad years of luck, smashing a mirror is a superb way to let out some anger and to score your mirror pieces. Smash your mirror on a concrete floor, I suggest using the garage floor. Safety first, wear protective goggles and gloves while doing this. Use a mallet and start in a corner trying to break off large chunks. Depending on the thickness of your glass, you may have to hit it more than once really hard. After your mirror is smashed, separate the small and large pieces.

The Puzzles People Play

Keeping the gloves on, arrange your mirror pieces over your board. Start with the large ones placing them together like a puzzle creating a college. You want them to be close together but not touching; don’t worry about making sure every piece is evenly spaced, it is supposed to be broken. Once the big pieces are placed, fill in the gaps with the smaller pieces until the entire board is covered. Keep all the pieces inside the edges of the board; you do not want to have sharp edges poking out. When all the pieces are arranged to your liking, start gluing them down.

Clean a Little Talk a Little

After you have waited the allotted time for the glue to dry, you can polish your mirror pieces and clean up the glue. Still wearing the gloves use any glass cleaner for the mirror pieces. If you used glue that dried opaque and got some on the board, just dip a small paintbrush into your paint and colour over the glue. For mounting your finished art piece you will need steel mirror support hangers or clips. When getting the clips take into consideration the length, width and weight of your art for how many clips you will need. I would suggest 2 or 3 on the top and bottom and 1 on each side.

Now you can enjoy your unique and trendy piece of art you’ve created!