The Shell Mirror
Over the years, I've become quite obsessed with repurposing. I relish in the thought of transforming something ordinary into sugary, gooey candy for the eyes. In this case, a mirror that came with our first house, over 5 years ago. I love round mirrors. There's something so comforting and sensual about their shape. I keep a mental inventory of all the unused, sad little objects being neglected in my basement. I went through a period of purging most of these items. But for some reason I couldn't part with this plain old, round mirror. Until one day, well, like most days, I felt too cheap to buy a ridiculously priced mirror. Instead I closed my eyes and shuffled through various options. All of which might give this sad little mirror a face lift. Drift wood? Too difficult to affix. Metallic paint? Overdone. Round felt petals cut by hand? Yeah right. The wheels kept turning until I stumbled upon the obvious answer. Shells! I can buy in bulk. The size, texture and color options are endless. Which means I spent countless, wasted hours on the internet in search of the perfect shell. But loved every minute of it. Finally, I rested on white clam shells. They arrived in various sizes which I arranged perfectly. After some trial and error, I settled on a commercial grade adhesive. Gorilla glue wasn't gonna cut it. My excitement rose to an all time high as the last shell was placed. Then it lowered to luke warm once I realized, these shells need some life. I mixed a rosy metallic for the edges. A warm gold for the shell centers. Ahhh Shells. Nature's crafting accessory. This mirror was one shell of a project!
