Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Lots of ugly things to distract, but notice
her feet are NOT on the floor.

Months ago, I took today off work in anticipation of talking to a couple of parent groups about extreme couponing. (I was rescheduled to later in February, which is going to work out better.) What to do with a random Thursday off work though?

Eating bon bon's didn't last as long as I thought it could. So why not replace the mirror in the bathroom? My favorite bloggers are going to think I've lost my mind. I decided to replace a wooden framed mirror with a builder-grade ginormous monstrosity. Why would I do such a thing?

For starters look at the "before" photo. Yep, I'm laying in the tub to show you how my kids get ready in the morning. They have to stand on the side of the tub, in order to see their reflections in the mirror. Not cool.

So I got on Craigslist and started looking. It took a couple of months, but I found one nearby for free. I brought it home and realised that it was just a bit too large. I would have to cut a hole for the outlet, move the light, hang it oddly too far to the left, or get it cut.

My Vet voted for hanging it oddly too far to the left. (I think he was worried about getting roped into any, more complicated, solutions.) I voted for cutting a hole for the outlet, it will look so nice. I started by hanging the mirror in place, then tracing around the mirror on the wall. I removed the mirror and measured from my pencil marks to the receptacle and then drew the lines on the mirror with a Sharpie. Easy Peasy.

I then Googled "how to cut a hole in mirror"... what's a tube drill? Where do I find glass cutting oil? Better read the reviews... "go to a glass company, well worth the $50." What? $50 to cut a hole in a free mirror?

In a moment of pure inspiration I called the local hardware store. The lady that answered said "Sure, we cut glass. It wont cost more than $10) Yippee! Let's go kids. I carefully navigated the sheets of ice on my side walk and in the parking lot at the store. Carried it to the back counter, were a man with a southern accent told me in no uncertain terms, there was "no way he could attempt to cut mirror this thick, can I help you get it back to your car?" Ugg now what?

Normally, I am pretty resourceful, but I was feeling defeated. It's bad enough I am replacing a framed mirror with a frameless one, I just couldn't bring myself to hang it oddly off center. We live in a fairly small town, and I didn't want to drive 40 plus minutes to find a glass company, so I threw a Hail Mary Pass (Getting myself psyched up for the one game of football I watch a year. Go Commercials! I mean team, which ever one of the 2 that are playing.)

I stopped my our local Auto glass place. The young man that was there, didn't want to attempt to cut an outlet hole, but thought he would have no problem cutting the mirror down by roughly 6 inches so that it would fit without the aforementioned odd hangover.

There are still more things I want to do in
here, just taking my time to find the deals.

I was nervous as he got out his tools. I really didn't want to spend months looking for another mirror on craigslist. I just prayed I wouldn't get charged if he broke it. I did notice he used glass cutting oil, now I'm so glass cutting smart. I walked a safe distance away and closed my eyes to prevent flying shards of glass from blinding me, and to hide any possible tears. I heard the loud cracking noise and looked. It was a clean break! He cleaned up the edges with a belt sander and carried it to the Honda for me.

I followed him back in to pay, and was told no charge. Just be sure to come back there when I need any auto glass repairs in the future. Like I would go anywhere else? Have I ever told you how much I like this town?

I brought my mirror home and installed it using 4 mirror clips that I already had in my tool box. Wiped it with some glass cleaner, and called in the girls to see.