DIY Iron Grate Mirror

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Elmer’s ProBond Advanced for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I think I’m growing up. Not too much, mind you! Just a bit.

You see, I’ve finally come to realize something very important about myself and I’m working to change it.

I’ve always been a person filled with ‘expectations’. Expectations for myself, for my home, for others, for life in general. Many of them totally unrealistic.

And most of the time, that little character quality left me feeling let down and disappointed.

So, I realized that it was far better to approach most situations with little to no expectations and therefore leave room for being pleasantly surprised!

And when I found this iron grate for sale for $15 I really, really, really tried hard to have little to no expectations. Honestly, I did!

I thought, well, I could turn this into a super fabulous mirror. In fact, I’m going to try and turn this into a super fabulous mirror. But, if it doesn’t work? Well, then I’ll just have a really cool, old iron grate that I know I can use somehow, someway.

So, I went into this project with NO expectations. Just gusto…lots and lots of gusto!

I picked up an unframed bathroom vanity mirror from the hardware store.

I’ll admit it. I was nervous. How on earth was this heavy iron grate going to adhere to a mirror? For one thing, they’re two different kinds of materials. But having been given the opportunity to try out the new  ProBond Advanced I knew it was now or never!

I made sure the grate was level…

…measured to make sure it was centered on the mirror and then marked it with tape…

…applied the ProBond Advanced to the grate and attached it to the mirror. One of the things I immediately noticed was that unlike other brands, if a little bit of the bonding mixture seeped out (because I applied too much!) it was totally clear and very easy to wipe off prior to it drying. And the fact that it is specifically designed to bond Mixed Materials together meant that there was hope!

I placed heavy paint cans on top to weight it down and allow the bond to do it’s job, turned off the lights in the garage and headed back into the house to let it dry over night all the while filled with a sense of impending doom.

Will it work?? Will I come out in the morning and find that the grate was totally not sticking to the mirror?

But there was no need to fear!

As soon as I woke up I hustled my bleary-eyed, coffee needing self to the garage, flipped on the light and went to check if the grate and the mirror had bonded in the night.

And sure enough! They were stuck like glue! Sorry, couldn’t help myself with that one. 😉

The next step was to purchase molding to frame out the mirror. We cut the pieces to size using our miter saw and then used the ProBond Advanced to attach it to the mirror. I knew that if it could hold that grate and mirror together then it would definitely work for the wood and the mirror, especially since it’s designed to bond porous (wood) and non-porous (mirror) materials together.

After letting it dry, I painted the frame and it was ready for it’s debut!

Growing up is hard to do. Especially since it seems like a never-ending process, you know?

But, I gotta tell  ya. Having little to no expectations for things means one of two things will happen.

Either things don’t work out as you planned and you are spared a major let down.

Or they turn out totally fabulous and you are all the more thrilled because you never had high hopes to begin with!!!

So, tell me, what kind of projects have you had to go into with low (or no!) expectations?

Is there anything you are working on where you might consider using Elmer’s Probond Advanced?

Take it from this skeptic, it’s totally worth giving it a try!

I mean, if you have no expectations, what’s the worst that can happen, right? You might just end up as pleasantly surprised as I was! 🙂

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