Broken Glass

[guavagirl.livejournal.com]

Whilst in the tryings of settling my room and making it livable, I broke stuff.

Namely, my wall mirror and my antique-style banker's lamp. I cursed the goblins that have been plaguing me, but soon enough realized the creative potential in my blind destruction.



So, the lamp's glass "shade" is cracked open on the left side, top-down all around. I'm thinking of just simply fixing it, I don't really see anything crafty that can be done to it to make it look interesting or what-not.. but if you all have ideas, I'd love to hear!

The mirror got crushed by my insanely powerful ass, so slightly less than half of it is shattered in thin strips, wider in the left and converging together on the right side (if you put the shattered side as the bottom). I see very crafty potential with this thing..

For the mirror, my basic ideas so far include getting corkboard and wood framing. The mirror's current backing is cardboard and its framing is cheapo faux-brass, so.. I'm thinking of scrapping that and replacing it with the corkboard and wood. I'm left with 3 components to the mirror: two unbroken pieces, the large one is 36"x12", the small one is 6.25" tapering down to 3.5 inches x 12", and the shattered pieces that make up the rest, in total the mirror was originally 48"x12".

I still want the mirror to be 48"X12"-ish, so that I can still look at myself in outfits.. the corkboard will be the backing and will extend beyond the mirror so I can use it as a message board to tack stuff on to, the wood framing may just be decorative in sectioning out pieces of corkboard..

I'm also considering fabric to maybe decorate some parts like those quilted-fabric message boards? Maybe netting, or even sturdy paper to make boxes to pin on to hold hair pins/twisties/etc, make-up, lotion, supplies in general.

I'm also thinking about staining/etching the shattered pieces.. I think the "glass" is actually plastic, so is this possible, and how?

How would I go about putting the mirror and wood framing (if I decide to do that) on the corkboard? Glue? What kind? Or would I have to frame the mirror to keep it from falling off if gluing it alone to the corkboard isn't strong enough?

Also, what do I use to actually mend the glass? (I've still got that lamp to fix along with putting the shattered pieces together) The corkboard made me happy because now I have a reason to make marble magnets/push-pins (--ooh, metal.. maybe I could stick that on the corkboad too), which made me wonder if that silicon gel I read about can be used to mend glass? It doesn't necessarily have to be a clear material, although that might be best for the lamp.

As for supplies, I'm thinking I'll just get old frames from thrift shops, and the corkboard along with whatever else I need from a hardware store. I just had two more ideas hit me: a piece of metal that can hold magnets and a mini-chalkboard. What kind of metal and where can I get a small piece, or where would I get the piece cut and have holes drilled into (I guess this means doing the same for the corkboard, or if the metal isn't too heavy maybe I can just nail/tack it on through the drilled holes). What do I use for the chalkboard? I've read about a chalkboard spray?

Any special tools that I might need?

Any special considerations about the plastic-glass/etching/staining? What kits to use, can I just paint it?, etc?

Anything else to worry about?

If you're from the Los Angeles area I'd LOVE suggestions about where to buy tools and supplies, especially if they give student discounts. Preferably anything close to USC (for fabric I'm thinking of checking out the fashion district downtown) but I'll take the bus..

Is all this feasible? What do you think? Thank you so much to everyone that replies!

*edit*: I was just thinking that with the frames, I could get glass (or sheet plastic? that might be better/easier? where could I buy that?), and have photo frames on the corkboard.. what tools to cut wood/glass? that I can safely use in a kitchen or living room? Or places where I can have this done for me?