BEAUTIFUL PAINTED MEDALLION MIRROR DIY
Have you ever had a Eureka moment? I had one recently right in the isle of my local Lowe’s home improvement store! I just happened by some intricate ceiling medallions and thought it would be fun to do something with them. Too bad they were such ugly, cheap plastic! Their form reminded me of those stunning medallion mirrors that cost a fortune. Then the lightbulb went off! I snatched up 3 medallions and put them in my shopping cart. I would use them to make my own Venetian medallion mirrors! And they would cost hundreds of dollars (maybe thousands) less than the real thing! In one afternoon I made three beautiful mirrors that look like works of art. Here’s how the plastic ceiling medallions looked before I painted them…
And here’s how they looked after using the New Toscana painting technique. Toscana comes from the word Tuscany. They really do look like antique mirrors from Italy!
I wish you could come to my house and see these mirrors in real life. You would see all the intricacies in their color… all the subtle tones… the way they look gently worn from age. All done with paints and a few other products.
This trio is hung in my foyer next to a dish closet near my dining room. The wall looks bare without anything on it and for years I’ve had pictures and baskets and other things hanging there but never liked any of them. But now… I love those mirrors!
They were so much fun to paint. I love coaxing that old world look out of something new. Each layer of paint and product worked its magic on the other layers and the final product was a really wonderful, worn work of art!
And here’s the best part… YOU can make these too! Even if this is your first attempt at painting! You can create a beautiful medallion mirror! I’ll show you how…
Materials:
- plastic ceiling medallion (mine were 10 inches and 20 inches)
- mirror cut to cover the hole in the medallion plus 2 inches all around
- One Step Paint from Amy Howard (Ace hardware stores carry it). This is a glorious chalk based paint like no other! I mixed my base coat to be a very light gray. I mixed “Bauhaus Buff” with just a little “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” because that is what I had on hand. I call my color is “A BUFF MAN IS HARD TO FIND”! Bergere Blue One Step from Amy Howard would be close to the color I used.
- Toscana Milk Paint in Strasbourg White
- Antiquing Glaze
- Clear Wax
- Dark Antiquing Wax
- Dust of Ages
- Paintbrushes
- natural sea sponge
- Soft lint-free cotton rags
- Piece of cardboard
- hot glue gun
Let’s begin! I’m also including Amy Howard At Home videos from her youtube channel. She will show us the perfect techniques and give us lots of great tips for painting a Toscana finish! You’re are going to love Amy because I sure do!
- Plastic medallions, unpainted
- & 3. Paint medallion with 2 coats of base coat “A Buff Man I Hard To Find” or “Bergere One Step”. Let the paint dry between coats. I stored my new paint color in a Mason jar.
Here’s Amy Howard showing us how to paint with ONE STEP paint. This video is so helpful!!!!! You might like to see the entire video, but you are only concerned about learning how to use the chalk paint!
4. Mix Toscana Milk Paint (Strasbourg White) with water in a 1 to 1 ratio. I used a little plastic cup and a small whisk to mix well. The milk paint and the water will never emulsify, but mix it so that it is not gritty. You will need to continue to agitate it with your paintbrush while painting to keep it mixed.
5. Paint one coat of Toscana Milk Paint over the One Step Paint base coat. It will be a thin coat. Let the milk paint dry completely, about 30 minutes. When the milk paint is dry put Antiquing Glaze in another small plastic cup. Shake the Antiquing Gaze very well before using.
Dip a chip brush in the Antiquing Glaze. Swipe the brush across a piece of cardboard to offload the drips. Hold the brush and run your finger over the ends of the brush flicking the glaze in a light spray over your medallion. Flick tiny droplets over the entire piece. Let the Antiquing Glaze dry completely. This will give your piece a fly-specked look.
6. With the same brush saturate the entire medallion with Antiquing Glaze getting into the crevices. (I should have used a damp, natural sea sponge but I could not find mine) I would HIGHLY recommend using a wet natural sea sponge instead of a brush to cover the medallion with Antiquing Glaze. You will get a much prettier finish.
Amy will show you how to use Milk Paints and Antiquing Glaze… lots of great tips!
7. Dip a soft lint-free cotton cloth into the Antiquing Glaze and with your index finger around the rag, rub off the milk paint where your piece might have been worn. You can see where I rubbed off the paint, it’s the gray areas that show through. Let the medallion dry. Antiquing Glaze looks so much more authentic than sanding paint off areas.
8. Now it’s time to wax the medallion.
9. I used a coat of clear wax and dark. Start with the clear wax. Using a fresh, clean chip brush swirl it around in the wax getting the bristles of the brush covered. Offload some of the wax onto your cardboard. Move your brush lightly over the piece in all directions. Sorta a crosshatch motion. Only touch the very tips the brush on to the piece. Cover the entire piece. Let the wax come to “tack”. At first, it will feel greasy and then it gets slightly tacky. You can buff it then.
Buff with a clean lint-free cotton rag. Buff like you are buffing a shoe. Repeat the same process with the dark wax. Use it sparingly!!!! Only hit the high parts of the medallion. Let the wax come to tack and buff.
So many tips and great info from Amy! She will show you the perfect waxing techniques!
10. Now one of my very favorite things to do!!!! Dust of Ages! Dust of Ages is just that. A product that will add a patina of dust that has collected in the cracks, crevices, and corners of an old piece. I think it looks like I’ve opened up someone’s crematory urn! I find myself singing “Dust of Ages cleft for me”… Do NOT pass us this step if you want a truly gorgeous, authentic aged look!
11. I layered a piece of parchment paper under my work surface and dipped my brush into the dust and gently dusted over the medallion. The more Dust of Ages applied to a piece the more soft, aged look. I wanted my piece to have that gorgeous look, but I wanted to keep each piece light in color. So I did not apply the dust heavily.
12. Gently brush the Dust of Ages off your piece letting the areas it settles into alone. I then folded my parchment on itself and pour the excess Dust of Ages right back into the container.
Watch and be awed!!!! I love this D-U-S-T!
A little goes a long long way with all these Amy Howard products!
Now let’s make these medallions into mirrors!
13. Have a piece of mirror cut (many hardware stores do this) 2 inches larger than the circle in the middle of the medallion.
14. (You might want to practice centering the mirror to the back of the medallion before you glue it permanently) Turn the medallion over so the back of it is facing up. Put a bead of glue around outside of the hole in the medallion. Place the mirror over the hole with the back of the mirror facing up.
15. Now you have a gorgeous mirror that is one-of-a-kind! And as Amy says, “Enjoy the bragging rights”!
I hope you will try this gorgeous, old world painting technique. A good way to practice and know if you will like the color combinations you choose is to have some decorative trim cut in 6-8 inch lengths. Practice on the trim pieces until you get the look you love! Believe me, you will probably love them all.
Here is a board using the Toscana technique I used “Linen” One Step Paint as a base and “Noir” a dark milk paint over the One Step paint. Do you like the gold leafing (tutorial coming up later this spring)?
If you like Amy’s informative videos you can join her AMY HOWARD AT HOME youtube channel. She is the real, sweet, southern deal! I just love her products and recommend them highly!!!
You can follow me on Pinterest and see all the great things I’m finding to pin every day HERE.
Awesome, Beautiful, got to have them! Thank You.
Love your creativity and talent. They look beautiful in your home! Thx for sharing.
What an amazing post. Lots of fun.
AWESOME!! Thanks for sharing the how to! I think I can do it!
Well, aren’t you just the most clever person in the whole world??!!! I love it!! I can’t wait to make these. They are great. I’ll go back and view the tutorial. Have a great weekend.
WOW!!! What a great idea!!
Love, love this idea… thank you.
Very clever….great inspiration!!
Beautiful medalions! I would love to try it.
How did you hang them?
Can’t wait to try this. They look beautiful.
This is a fantastic idea for those plastic medallions! Do you come up with these ideas Yvonne? I love it!!!!!!!! Thanks again for another great idea!
Beautiful medallions – you did such a great job.
This is not a new idea, there are many uses for these medallions . however you did a very nice job aging them,
So pretty!!!
Brilliant idea! They are beautiful and look like the real deal. Congratulations!
I really think to try this. They are so pretty!
Beautiful!! Can’t wait to try this!! Thank you!
Love the medallions. I might just have to try to do this project. It has been a hard winter…itching to tackle a project:)
Great idea!!!!!!
The medallion mirrors look amazing. I love the color and watching them come to life. Happy weekend, Yvonne!
Great idea and you have shown a good tutorial easy enough to follow. Thank you.
Thank you for the Pnspiration I was needing for a mirror and a couple of lamps I need to give a new look to. Perfect!
They look really nice, thanks for the great ideas!!!
Another great idea. Love your creativity. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy the weekend.
I am definitely doing this.
Thanks for the inspiration.
They are gorgeous.
This is a fantastic idea! They’re simply yummy. We purchased an Old World style home about eight months ago, and I’m definitely putting this project in my pocket for later. They’ll be so fun to make!
Thanks for all the wonderful videos too!
The steps you used created a beautiful patina on the medallions! I am sure the videos were helpful, and I will plan to watch them later.
Enjoy your Saturday!!!
I have walked by those at Lowes and thought about doing something with them too! Thanks for the tips! I love how yours look on the wall!
Love the medallions made into mirrors, they look so beautiful 😉
When we think outside of the norm, the decorating palette has endless possibilities. These are beautiful. Tucking this one back in my files for inspiration! Can’t wait to see what other trick you pull out of your hat!
I just received mine from Amazon to use in my master bath. I like this painting technique much better than what I had planned on doing. Yours look fantastic.
oooh, from sow’s ear to silk purse! They really look expensive! Gorgeous!
Yvonne, you really have an eye for DIY. They look like a million bucks!
I love the medallions. I think they just make the fixture look finished.
This is such a timely post for me! I just tried my first chalk paint project (I know – late to the party!) and I just think it looks flat – I’m going to try these layers to give it the look I was craving! I also have a mirror frame that I (gulp) spray paint a few years back that I want to give new life to! Thanks, Yvonne!
Mirror,mirror on the wall who s the fairest of them all,it is clever Yvonne! What an awesome project. Have a good weekend.
Those are really pretty, who knew you could do that with plastic!? On another note I love that pompom pillow on the chair, do you recall where you found that?
Thanks, Pat
What a great idea,beautiful and I plan to use this one.
Hope you are all well,happy and full of energy
Love these! How did you hang these?
I used DISC hangers. Find them here: http://amzn.to/2mQxzoK
What a great idea! Love them!
Glad to hear of other like minded people out thhere! I also did this a couple years ago!!??
So beautiful! I think I’ll do three for over my curved headboard. I’ve been looking for the perfect series of pictures but this will be better as it reflects light from the window. Thank you for the detailed tutorial.
I like the mirrors. Something different than pictures
great idea and thanks for sharing all the steps!
Really, really, really, really cool. Seriously cool.
You are just so talented! I will pin for a future project
Absolutely love those and only wish the look went with my Southwestern decor!
What an interesting painting technique! Your diy makes it so easy to give it a whirl !! Hugs, Dorinda
The medallion mirrors are beautiful and unique. It would be a project I would take on. Thank you
Simply lovely.
ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS as always.
Love medallions! Thank you for the idea to used as mirror’s frames.
Lovely, I will have to give it a try!
Very helpful and informative and the results are beautiful!
The medallion mirrors are beautiful!!!
You gave me a new idea for one of the large tin ceiling panels. I have one currently on the front of my house. It looks OK between the two windows. I have wanted a rustic,primitive, vintage clock for the family room, but yikes have priced them? Soo, I’m going to the craft store before my coupon expires and buy the clock works.
Waiting in the wings is a 38″ lighted star to fill the space between the windows. I’ll have pictures when all is completed. You do inspire me quite often,wish we were neighbors! Having you blog in my email is the next best thing, I guess. Thank you 🙂
Clever idea and a very beautiful application!
What a great idea!! I’ve always loved medallions and now I love them more!
Great idea and great tutorial! Thanks!
they are so pretty!
Awesome idea! Mirrors are beautiful!
I just love your clever ideas! Thank you!
Smartie!!
Love it!!
Thanks for keeping the inspirations coming!
Where do you find these wonderful ideas?!!!!! You are so talented!! The frames are a sure thing for me and my home!!! I love the mirrors too, have to think about where to place them first though! Thank you sooo much for the ideas and the instructions too!!! These are wonderful! This is why I keep coming back to Stonegable!!!
They turned out beautiful! What a great idea!!
Lovely post – great idea!
What a great idea!! I definitely will be making me some pretty mirrors. I have been searching for ever for something like this to go above my bed. Thanks for the great tutorial.
What a great mirror idea! I was looking for a mirror for my master bedroom and now I will make one!
These mirrors are lovely but seem labor intensive.
Looks great, Yvonne.
Love your mirrors ,trying to figure out where i would put them lol…
Great tutorial, Yvonne… very precise! Great idea, too! Love the little bit of blue peeking through. 🙂
Great idea beautifully done! I have been pouting for a year that I’d have to drive 80 miles in any direction to get to an Annie Sloan stockist; but I am very impressed with the Amy Howard video you included and the products.
Your medallions are simply perfect for that space in your foyer–have a couple of similar spaces in mind in my little cottage.
Those turned out great! I’ve seen round mirrors at Michael’s (near the candle making stuff) that could be glued on top for a different look/larger mirror.
Love your style, those blue pillows need to come live at my house.
What a fun idea. Ingenuity!
Love, LOVE the mirrors!
So beautiful! I would love to make one of these Yvonne!
Questions: what is a chip brush?
Is Dust of Ages one of Amy Howard’s products too?
Where do you get the wax? is it floor wax?
Is this a one day project or longer? With all the drying times, just wondering.
I ve noticed the mirrors in your pictures and admired them so much. congratulations! Great diy project!
Lol! My headache ls the wall above one sofa. Have tried many “wonderful and perfect” pieces I was sure would work only to have them down sometimes within minutes. I want small 3 mirrors but many are heavy looking or with price tags equally heavy! I love the look of your trio and the idea it can be customized so… tomorrow I shop. Thank You
I love eureka moments and finds! Your mirrors are beautiful! Thank you for the very complete tutorial.
I love the way your mirrors turned out. I have used Amy Howard chalk paint, but have never done this technique. Thank you for including the instructional videos.
I love the medallions. I think I will do a version of this and use around my dining room light.
So pretty! Was it you that said every room needs a mirror?
Thank you for the step by step! Going to give it a try:)
Nice job Yvonne. It appears nothing slows you down, you must be on the mend.
Great idea! Beautiful finished product!
Wow! You are so clever! They came out beautifully.
So pretty, I can’t wait to try to make one myself!
Those are really pretty hanging on your wall.
I have a wall in my living room that is in need of something. These medallions will be perfect!!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
I just stumbled across you blog during a coffee and pintersest session. I am in love !!! Beautiful work!
Welcome to the StoneGable family Alisa! We are thrilled you found us too!
Happy Easter Yvonne!!
I love, love these mirrors!! As soon as I can get out to get the supplies, I am going to make some. I buy these medallions for my bedroom chandeliers, so I know exactly where to buy them!
Thank you for this great post!!
Best regards, Barb