Sand and Shell Mirror

Well I did it! I completed my first project in Okinawa. I had seen a lot of beautiful mirrors on Pinterest and I was aching to spice up a mirror when I got here! Eventually I want to cover one completely in shells but for now I just went with mostly sand and a few shells and sea glass here and there. This is such a great way to beautify a boring mirror and create a focal piece in a room.

Nick and I were exploring a recycle (consignment) store near our house when we found a full length mirror for $12. I had seen others but I needed one with a wider frame for more surface area for shells. I still might add a shell here and there because I always see more potential in something, put for now I am really happy with how it turned out.

Supplies:

• Mirror with atleast a 1 inch flat frame
• bottle of regular Elmers glue
• cheap paint brush
• bowl of water
• painters tape and paper
• glue gun
• 3 cups of sand (varies for mirror size)
• shells or other beach treasures

 

Directions:

• Place painters tape around the inside of the mirror covering the reflective part to keep them sand and glue free. I put paper in the middle and taped around the edges to use less tape. Put paper or plastic under the mirror to keep the floor clean (this gets pretty messy! Good thing I did it in the kitchen). 
• Once the entire reflective glass surface is covered, squeeze glue onto section of the frame, I usually did 1 foot at a time. Spread the glue with your paintbrush to cover the frame, if glue is really thick, dip paintbrush in bowl of water to help spread the glue around, then let the glue air out for about 1-2 minutes (makes glue more tacky).   
• Then pour your sand over glue. When done pouring, use paper towel to press on sand into glue but be sure not to smear. Allow that section to dry for 30 minutes before shaking off excess sand. Continue all the way around till entire mirror frame is covered in sand (this is the part that takes a while, some areas might need a second coat of glue and sand).
• When your mirror frame is covered in sand and the glue has dried, shake off all the excess sand and clean up sand.
• Next plug in your glue gun. While heating up, take your beach treasures (I used shells, sea glass, and some dried coral) and place them in the desired pattern around the frame.
• Glue each shell or decoration down with the hot glue until your entire pattern is glued and dry.
• Hang your finished project and enjoy!

 

I really like how the mirror turned out. It was a perfect edition to our Charleston room to help beautify our boring base housing walls. Mirrors always help open up any room and make it feel bigger so I would definitely do this project again if the opportunity comes.