Embellished Frame Inspired by Bergdorfs

I saw the _{holiday windows} at Bergdorfs this December and wanted to create my own mirror inspired by what I saw!

Story time: Right after Christmas, I met a friend in the city to see the musical Shucked. It’s since closed on Broadway but if it ever comes to your city, RUN to go see it. So charming and fun. After the show, we walked uptown to see the holiday windows at Bergdorfs on our way to dinner across the street. These windows were absurd in all the best ways possible. Imaginative, whimsical, clever, SO over the top. We loved them and I was particularly drawn to one window with this amazing embellished giraffe. I wondered aloud whether that would be a fun project to recreate at home on a frame or something. Which is where we are today!

Step 1. Procure the _Mirror

I found this mirror on Facebook marketplace for $10 or $15 and it turns out a ton of you guys had the same one in your house growing up. Ha! I liked this mirror because it was cheap and it had a simple flat frame. I have plans to beef that up.

Step 2. Build Out the _Frame

I used basic poplar hobby board from Home Depot to fatten up the frame. I primed the boards first and then used liquid glue to stick them onto the mirror.

Step 3. Add Base Layer of _Texture

What I loved about the inspo giraffe was the base layer of that raised floral pattern. I grabbed old cardboard and cut it into floral shapes before gluing it in place onto the frame.

Step 4: Adding _{More Texture}

The inspo giraffe also had some doodles and swirls in the background so I used a custom mixture of thinset and caulk to pipe some patterns onto the mirror.

Step 5: _Paint/ White Wash

The final step before embellishing was to paint/ white wash the texture I’d placed on the frame. I mixed up a combo of joint compound, white glue, white paint and baking soda so that I had a thick flat white textured “paint” to smear ontop of my texture. I wanted this to be thick enough to fill in the cracks but also to look like a plaster wash.

Step 6: Add _{Embellishments}

This was the final and most fun step of the whole project: adding the bling! Honestly, the biggest challenge was figuring out what embellishments to use and where to get them. I picked up some sparkly beads and pearls and the dollar store and then got the rest on Amazon. That was clearly where the artistry on the giraffe occurred: the variety and quality of bedazzling.

Mirror _Reveal

This is the finished mirror. I probably could have added even more embellishments but at some point I ran out and I decided just to share it without spending another $20 on jewels and to call it a day.