DIY Spray Foam Mirror: Do's, Don'ts, and How To's
I've lost count of how many days we've been on lockdown but there comes a point when you become sick of watching TV and being lazy, I mean I've binged Tiger King, the Twilight series, Hunger Games, High Fidelity, Ozark, and others that I know I'm missing.
So I got off the couch and took a trip to Home Depot (which shortly turned into 3 trips as a DIY project always does) to get inspired. After checking out the plant section for half an hour and surprisingly not putting any new babies in my cart, I decided to get supplies to make a foam mirror. Rewind back to December, I was scrolling on Instagram and came across this photo from one of my favorite Copenhagen girls, Anne Johannsen:
OBSESSED is an understatement. LOOK at that mirror omg. After more digging, I found the original artist of the mirror: Anne Thoma and absolutely fell in love with her work and her handmade mirrors:
While I actually considered buying one, I realized she only ships locally in Denmark so I was determined to make this thing on my own. Plus it seemed like the perfect at home DIY project to tackle during this time. I have seen this mirror trend show up on my feed more and more ever since I first saw it a few months ago and I'll bet it will blow up soon because its so cheap, so easy, and the results are amazing.
What You'll Need:
Mirror (I got one off Facebook marketplace for $30)
Expanding Foam (It took 3 bottles of 'Great Stuff Big Gap Filler' to cover my mirror)
Cardboard, Tarp or Newspaper to work on (the foam will stick to EVERYTHING. so wear gloves and clothes you don't care about- I ruined my favorite MadHappy hoodie during this project RIP)
Paint! (However it actually looks beautiful as the natural cream color with no paint so totally up to you and your decor aesthetic)
Step 1: Secure Mirror and Prep Work Station:
This mirror's frame is angled upwards so the part I was foaming wasn't going to get stuck to the cardboard, but if your mirror or frame is flat then make sure to elevate your mirror with shoe boxes or something. The foam is so sticky so just avoid the mess of it getting stuck to the tarp/cardboard or whatever you're using and elevate it before you start.
Step 2: TEST THE FOAM
The foam expands and kind of has a mind of its own, so practice before you just go for it. I had actually bought a different type of foam first and when I first tested it, I didn't like it- it didn't expand and was impossible to squeeze out of the nozzle. So take 2 we went back to Home Depot and got the 'Great Stuff Big Gap Filler' which was great. Just make sure you get comfortable with it before you start! It ends up expanding two times the size it originally comes out so keep that in mind too.
Step 3: Start Foaming!
Don't worry too much because if you make a mistake or don't like a certain area of it, you can just let it dry and go over it again. I did around 2 to 3 layers of it anyways to make sure I covered the wood frame completely and until I liked the texture I had built up. It's SO fun and the noise is SO satisfying just watch this:
Step 4: Let's Add Color!
Once the foam has dried and you are satisfied with how it looks, you can leave it if you like the cream color, but of course I wanted mine to be a pretty pastel color <3 Deciding what color I wanted it to be may have been the hardest part for me....pastel pink? Baby blue? Light yellow? I somehow always land on green so I picked out this really pretty light green paint color from Home Depot called "airy green."
*Note* Make sure to cover the mirror with newspaper or something to make sure you don't accidentally get paint on it. Painting was a bit tedious- there were just a lot of crevices to get into and I wanted to be super careful when I was painting the foam closest to the mirror to make sure I covered it all.
Step 5: Let Dry and Hang!
You're done! Just make sure that everything is dry and then find your favorite place in your home for your new funky little piece!
Would I Do It Again?
A big YES, I will absolutely be doing it again. I definitely want to experiment more with the foam on furniture, vases, maybe even clothes? Random little sculptures? I'm not sure what I will try next but it was the most fun decor DIY project and this is going to look so charming in my apartment.
Cost?
So cheap! Definitely do not buy a new mirror for this, my $30 find worked beautifully.
I bought four $5 cans of the foam and then a small sample size paint color for around $5! So basically $50 total for this designer-ish looking mirror that is one of a kind, so good! I really really love how it came out <3 <3
Follow me on Instagram to see how I styled it in my apartment!
xx,
Josie