There's No Place Like Home . . . Depot

I believe it was Eleanor Roosevelt who said, 

"Do something everyday that scares you"
{cutting wood - especially mitre cuts - scares me!}

Randy from The Home Depot


Well, as you may know I've been redecorating a
restroom in a store
(click here to see that post).

I was in my "comfort zone" until I had to deal
with this mirror . . .

I wanted to add some "Girly Drama" 
to it & make it look more custom.


So-o-o, I was off to my favorite store
(well ONE of them anyway)
to get the help I needed to make my
vision a reality.

I've seen other bloggers make custom frames to go around mirrors
& although I was SCARED SPITLESS
 a little intimidated,
I made my way to the cutting center.

(PS - We don't own a mitre saw!)

I cut my own pieces (with Randy's help--see first photo)
& I only messed up on one piece out of four.

Randy was proud of me & gave me a
"Do it Herself" bag. COOL!

BY THE WAY, single ladies out there--if I didn't have a
Handsome Hunny of my own,  I'd hang out at Home Depot.
A girl gets more attention there than a plump turkey at Thanksgiving!
{Lots of men passing by saying, "Can I help you with that little lady?"}

 ANYWHO . . .
I cut four pieces of molding thinking that would be the
hardest part of the project. It wasn't!

It helps to lay out your pieces on the floor as you go so you can get the
angles right.


I bought a bunch of products to put the pieces of my
frame together & paint it . . .

PAINTING TIP: MAKE SURE TO PAINT THE UNDERSIDE
OF THE FRAME ALSO - IT WILL PROBABLY REFLECT 
IN THE MIRROR. 

At first I couldn't figure out how to get

the mirror off the wall.
Since the mirror isn't flat & sticks out quite a bit,

I couldn't screw the frame in the wall around it--

which is the way it is often done.
So, I built my frame a smidgen bigger than the mirror
 (only an inch on each side) &

thought I'd glue it right to the mirror.

FAIL!

Gravity won.

The glue did not hold & 

my carefully mitered, caulked & painted

frame tumbled to the floor & broke!

I wanted to cry, but
{like baseball}

there's no crying in home improvement--

so I was just grouchy all day instead.


I kept trying until I figured out how to get the mirror
down off the wall & on the second attempt, I used
Loctite Epoxy instead of the other products
I tried before.

It's been said that it's OK to fail--as long as we learn from our failures. I learned:

• The Dap "Alex Plus" paintable caulking worked really well to fill in any cracks where the corners meet
• The first time I used wood glue to hold the mitred edges together, but epoxy worked much better when I had to glue them the second time
• I don't like silicone glue. It just didn't work well for me.
• I've always been afraid of epoxy (you have to mix it, it's a little smelly, & you have a limited time to work with it before it sets up). But I learned that epoxy can be a girl's best friend!

Here's what all the fuss
was about . . . 

Now go out & do something that scares you!

I'm Linking up to These Great Parties:

Show & Tell at Blue Cricket Design 

Show Off Your Stuff at Fireflies & Jellybeans 

What I Whipped Up Wednesday at Sugar and Dots