How to age a mirror without harsh chemicals

I have seen many projects online to age a mirror but most use an acid to remove part of the mirror... which didn't thrill me! I found common household bleach does the trick just as well.

If you were to flip over a mirror, you would see it's usually covered with a gray coating. Under the gray, there is a copper coating. This copper coating (it's sometimes a different color) is on top of a piece of clear glass. The copper coating is what makes the glass a reflective mirror. I had this cubby hole in my kitchen that I thought would be a perfect spot for my mirror project.

My Before and After Aged Mirror Project

 Learn how to do it yourself!

How to age a mirror without harsh chemicals. Facci Designs

1. Gather your supplies:
• Mirror
• Clorox Bleach
• Paint Scraper
• Paint Remover
• Gloves and rags
• Spray bottle
• Paint brush
• Black or dark gray spray paint

2. Work in an open, well-ventilated area. Here I am applying my paint remover...I should be wearing my gloves.
3. To remove the gray backing of your mirror to expose the copper-colored coating that covers your piece of glass, flip your mirror over and brush your paint remover onto the back completely covering the surface. Let set to manufacturers directions. Hint: Don't let it set too long, you want to remove all of the gray coating, but sometimes if you leave your paint remover on too long, it will remover the copper coating as well.
4. Here you can see how the paint remover has bubbled...it's time to remove it.
5. Even though I'm using a pretty safe paint remover, I still want to wear my gloves. Remove all of the paint remover with your scraper to reveal the copper underneath. Safely discard the remover. Clean off the excess of paint remover with a damp paper towel.
6. Add some bleach to a spray bottle and spray sparingly along the edges of your mirror...or wherever you want your mirror to look aged. The edges is where old mirror would've aged first. Let sit for a bit then wipe or dab off. (Maybe a few seconds to a minute) You can always wipe off a little to see if the bleach has removed the copper. If not, just spray some more.
7. This is what the bleach did to the surface. You want to be able to see through those spots to reveal clear glass.
8. Once you're happy with the amount of "spots" you removed, now it's time to paint over them. Wipe dry and spray entire back of mirror with black spray paint. You can also use a dark gray paint. Let dry. Your mirror is ready to be framed or used however you like.

I placed my mirror in a cubby, installed a shelf and to display some vintage glasses

How to make a cute chalk cloth framed memo board

I have this huge roll of chalk cloth I purchased years ago, so I'm always trying to find new ways to use it.

This is a simple project I created with some things around my house. This would make a cute back to school project as well.

Facci Designs Chalk Cloth Memo Frame

1. Gather your supplies: Chalk cloth, wood frame, chalk, string, tape, scissor, tack, pencil

2. Remove the glass and the cardboard backing from the picture frame, place the glass onto your chalk cloth and trace around the glass.
3. Cut out your chalk cloth
4. Before you write on your chalk cloth, you have to prep it. Do this by running your chalk back and forth, up and down on the cloth. Remove with a clean cloth. It's now ready to use.
5. Tape your cloth around the edges to the piece of glass. (Chalk cloth faces out)
6. With the chalk cloth facing out, place the glass back into your frame. Put the cardboard backing back in the frame to secure glass.
7. Tie a piece of string around your chalk. Make sure string is long enough for you to grab and write.
8. Press a tack into the corner of the frame This frame happened to have a space, so I just placed it in there. Tie other end of string to tack.
Hang your frame on a wall or place on a tabletop.

How to Make New Wood Look Old and Distressed

I love to make new wood look old. It's very rewarding, not so difficult and a great way to get out some of your frustrations!

Gene and I tiled 2 of our kitchen walls and I had the idea to band the top of those walls with an old faux beam. He picked up some pine and I got banging!

Supplies: chisel, screwdrivers, hammer, chain, screw, nail, BBQ lighter or blow torch, wood stain and rag

1. Gather your supplies
2. Chisel out some chunks of wood. Small and large. You can do this along the edge, in the middle or both. Space it out.
3. I used a heavy chain and just banged it onto the wood. You can also create this effect with a hammer.
4. I wanted to create a Woodworm effect. I did this by lightly hammering in the tip of a screw (or nail) to create holes.
5. To create a more realistic Woodworm effect, I grouped the holes.
6. Using the edge of a flat head screwdriver, scrape the wood in an up and down motion. Try doing this against the grain.
7. This effect was created with a Phillips head screwdriver.
8. With a blow torch or BBQ lighter, lightly burn some of the areas of the wood. This will add a nice dark color to certain spots. Don't overdo it.
9. Once you've finished banging up your wood, it's time to stain. I applied Minwax Walnut stain with a soft rag. Let it dry before hanging.

Once the stain is applied, all the marks are revealed. I'm very happy with the results.