~thriftability~

Have you ever found something while thrifting that is horribly awful but you can see that it has the potential to be so pretty? You pick it up and it's too heavy and you wonder if it's even worth it because you just got there and still want to walk around and check the goods out. You almost sit it down. You suffer through it because it's really cheap. It stares at you longingly thru two weeks of bad weather and not enough free time "help me Margosaysmaybe, you're my only hope"  Here it is. I lovingly called it "The Gold Tooth", It's a dirty rusty cast iron easel mirror that weighs around 5 and a half lbs. found at our local Salvation Army that I bought for $1.00.

the gold tooth
(there is no way to get a good pic of this mirror before fixing.. I tried)

Use the Sunday funnies while you work to get your kicks. Notice I sat the mirror on Family Circus because it really sucks. Let the mirror frame and mirror seperately soak in soapy dish liquid and gently scrub. Because this is iron and it can rust you should dry it well with a towel then let it air dry.

I spraypainted the frame at 10:30 at night by porchlight in the cold wind. Not suggested. Watch out converse shoe!

*giggle* I'm Margosaysmaybe.

After 4 coats front and back, airdryin' outside on the porch, and then finishing with a hair dryer you are ready to reassemble your frame.

Admire your handiwork with satisfaction and glee.

"Six-two and even, over and out!"  check out the details on the easel arm. So awesome.

A neat trick I learned from my Jr. High art teacher: Use matchsticks to keep your contents in place in your frames. Because I had some chips on the mirror I slid it up slightly to hide the blemishes. Hagar the Horrible has to get a peek!Hehe!

Meet my "Pearly White Tooth"





And don't forget to customize your thrifted glory-I glued a funny I cut out a of the paper  to the backing and placed it on the inside after I wrote this tiny message. I think the snail agrees.

This was a quick and easy fix and cost me less than $4.00.
*mirror-$1.00
*Red Devil-rust preventing High Gloss White spray paint-$2.80 at Big Lots( I still have over half a can left)
*one Yuengling-unsure... it was already in the fridge and I hate math so I refuse to figure it out
*old Sunday comics-free

I apologize for the weird coloring to the photos. It was late while I did this and the dining room light is very dim.