Forget about bad luck and break that sucker!! Take the pieces and decoupage them to a Styrofoam ball (cheap at Michaels) with any other pieces of tile or broken colored glass...Mix grout of your color and apply according to directions to use for the decoupage...Then grout over the mirror pieces...And there you have a new gazing ball...Allow it to dry more completely before placing outside.

Hi Rmmc,
That is a really good idea, except it a rather thick mirror. It is about 1/4 inch thick. I will keep that in mind for thinner glass I find. I was thinking about keeping it whole and doing something with it. Something for the garden. Or is this piece entirely too large to do something with in the garden. One of the folks here had a pic on their photo album...jeanne I believe where it had a bird pic holding a key in a cage and the background was a mirror I believe. Perhaps the vintage bird holding a key was decopauged on? Any ideas..would love some brainstorming...lol!

I remember seeing a mirror used in a garden - as a "pond" . It was laid flat on the ground & sand or rocks were roughly placed around it , so it made a reflective water effect . That's all I can think of for now .

You can just lean it against a fence anywhere that looks nice in your yard and it will add to the pretty stuff and give it more depth. If you do something with it later, it will still be good. A friend had one sitting around in her yard recently and we moved it behind her orchid plants. It looks really nice. Linda

If you put it in your garden, keep it low enough to keep birds from flying into it. I've seen mirrors in gardens in magazines and they looked really pretty as is.

You might also consider attaching pieces of colored glass to the surface either randomly or in a pattern, leaving spaces between for the mirror to "peek" out at you and allow for nice reflections.

Okay ladies, great suggestions..you are right I would like to keep it whole. In the past I have had used small mirrors in my garden and slowly they aged due to the silver was being destroyed by the elements. What do you think about decopauging some nature elements on it...and still leaning it up against the garden brick wall a little tilted. It would be low to the ground so no birdies would fly into it....maybe I have to have a full garden before I can display it.

I like the idea of putting something in front of it, like said bird cage, to "feature" something...I would spray paint/paint the back to seal it from the weather. Or you could GOG it...or make a frame and mosaic that, for inside your house, I did a mirror for outside(shower door) and have one inside, in my playroom..er, ArtRoom....
{{gwi:142730}}

Love Mirrors!
Put a clear coat on the back to help
preserve the silvering.

Did you search up at top of this site for "mirror in garden"? Someone had 1 hanging in a frame or window I think & there was another large one that looked great think it was surrounded by greenery. Best in shade tho as sun could cause a fire! Jan

I would set it out in the garden. I always love how it reflects the flowers and the sky. Makes it easy to believe in a Alice through the looking glass scenario. I love the picture that Jeanne found of the mirror in the inspiration album. My husband found an old mirror from above a dresser in the garbage. It's painted gold metalic and the paint is chipped. I think it will look awesome in the garden. Now I just need a garden. lol Be sure to post a picture of it when you decide what to do with it!

Etch it w/ a nice design & it will make a lovely garden mirror or table top! Spray the back w black paint to protect it.
OR:

Etch a flower & leaf design on the back Y paint w/ Glass Magic paint; it'll be so unique!

Don't forget to show the pics!

Do you have a wooden fence or wall? If so, mount the mirror flat against the fence. It will enlarge your yard and give you the feel of having a window or door way into another space or garden. I have had one for years and just got 3 more mirror from the recycling barn at the dump (they pull things out of the trash and resell cheap) to mount along our side fence. I visited a small yard that had mirrors solid along one side fence and it made the yard feel twice as big. The lady had added tube lights along top and bottom of mirrors and it was beautiful at night when she entertained. The main thing is to make sure your mirrors are in shady location where the sun does not hit them much as it can start a fire if reflected on mulch or dry leaves. A leaning mirror would avoid this but you don't get same effect as a mirror flat against a wall or fence. I love my mirrors and know you will too.

Ladies, what awesome ideas! Plum please elaborate on this glass magic product please. The person who had the mirror was Linda from CA. It was in her album. I hope she sees this post and responds. You have given me some great ideas. I hope to hear more. I would def put it against the brick wall that is facing North as it gets the least amount of direct sun hitting it. I think I need to fill up the garden more before setting it. The glass etching is intriguing would like more info on that as well.

When I get a wood fence, i want to attach a mirror as a "window", but for now, I have a large mirror from an old dresser leaned against the well house with tomato plants potted in front. It's strictly utilitarian, so no pictures, but the sunlight bounces off the mirror onto the back of the plants so I don't have to turn them to get them to grow evenly.

Decoupaged paper will not last out doors. Even on my porch it fades. Sunlight and uv just too strong outside.

Painting the back to protect silver is a good idea. I don't know what product - should be an outdoor paint I would think. Something clear on the edges would help too, an outdoor product. Wish I'd known to put poly on bathroom mirror edge years ago.

Can't wait to see what you do with it!
Kathy

concrete - you are right anything I have decoupaged for outside has faded away.

Jeannespines, you made my day. I was looking for a new place for my mirror and so I came across this post. And there it was, a picture of the exact mirror in my yard that I was planning to move! TOO FUNNY! I appreciate that you liked the placement of mine in the yard so much you wanted to share it. My problem is that it looked so nice when it was leaning on the horrid fence that we finally replaced this year. So out went the ugly rotting fence and the ugly overgrown ivy! And I guess that's why it looked nice, a little more rustic. Then I had to rip out that whole garden because of overgrown mint from my neightbours yard. Trying to pull out every root...not a chance! So now the garden is gone, the fence is gone, the ivy is gone, and the mint lives on! LOL. So now the mirror doesn't look quite right so I was trying to get a new idea. Too bad, because I do miss that garden how it was.

That being said, mirrors can be moved and moved again. So I thought I would add a new idea for the original poster. I have an easel that I always place a mirror on. Let me see if I can post a few pics so you can see what I have done with an easel that cost me only $2 in a yard sale. The mirrors I always get cheap. (garbage or yard sale) The one below wasn't placed in its final resting spot, but it gives you an idea. This particular mirror got ruined in the rain, which is quite unfortunate. But then I found an ugly ornate one last year, spray painted it white and it stood up to the elements all summer. Of course I put it away in the winter. I will post a picture of it when I get a chance.

{{gwi:142732}}

Use Auto under body coating to protect the silver backing of your mirror from the elements. It comes in a spray can for about $6 0r $7in the automotive dept. It's kind of thick and tar like and will not peel off, once applied.

slr - what I liked about your pic was it seems you had a burgandy Japanese maple blending in with the burgandy frame of the mirror. That's what I liked best in the pic. I betcha you can develop the same look/feel again!

taz - that's a great suggestion!!!

Good point Socalliegal. Perhaps you are right. I did like how the burgundy of the japanese maple was reflected in the burgundy edged mirror too. And now that Japanese Maple pops right out off the light colour of our new fence, perhaps it will really look nice once the vegetation/plants mature There are a lot of taller flowers that will fill in late summer so that will help to add more height against the fence. Thanks for that...I never thought about that being why it looked nice.

You will have to almost get your magnifying glass out to see this mirror on the easel, but I wanted to show it to you anyway. So just right of the yellow magnolia and the red maple tree you will see it. I thought that this might be a good way to reflect light and plants, but give the area height as well. You can magnify the picture once and see it better. Have you decided what you are going to do with the mirror yet? You have a lot of ideas to choose from! :)

{{gwi:142733}}

slr8...your mirrors are awesome in your gardens! And the new fence is beautiful...yes, the Japanese Maple still looks wonderful...even knowing you're moving the mirror! It's early yet...so knowing your fence gardens will be lush later in the season! TFS! Jeanne S.

Nope right now I don't know what I am going to do with it. I do want do something around the edges....maybe glass etch? I have never done that. Anyone done any glass etching here?

This would make a nice table. Put your photos on the glass and cover it with plexiglass. Made one several years ago. The base is a piece of driftwood. I would post a picture but can't figure out how to transfer them to this site.

No easel?....try an old ladder and add a piece of wood to set it on and maybe the metal L brackets to hold top....easy to move and place to hang plants or set pots.

I saw a cool mirror project on a blog somewhere, where they used oven cleaner to remove the silver backing around the edges of the mirror, then covered the entire back of the mirror with floral fabric, so you could see the print through the glass where the silver was removed. It was very pretty, but would probably be best for an indoor mirror.

A few ideas at the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: mirrors in the garden

Stencil a lovely garden design on it! Easy as pie!

socallie- I have one like that from an estate sale and I took an idea from one of my mosaic books and mosaiced around the mirror, on the mirror with different sized river rocks and gravel. It was left plain at the bottom and placed against a fence so it looked like an arbor or a short pass thru to someplace. Fun fun

we all have mirrors in our gardens. Rosalee recently used shells her kids had collected 40 years ago, her husband mounted the mirror on their brick wall under the covered patio. She has a couple more scattered in the yard. I have 4 or 5 in my yard, one shell mirror hangs on a post where it reflects the chicken coop, a broken mirror leans against the fence behind the bamboo, small mirrors hang here and there. I am currently making a driftwood mirror with a huge framed mirror I got for $10 at the resale shop, it is from an old dresser. When I am done my dh will hang it behind the pond we are digging and it will reflect the waterfall. Darn the luck I have to go beachcombing tomorrow for more driftwood.

One thing, make sure it does not hang where the sun will reflect it and cause a fire!
Mirrors are so fun in the garden.
Tally HO!

I hung mine on the shed. Just give some thought to the location....a southern exposure could start a fire from the reflection! Don't want to create a "blind" spot either! Anyway have fun with it, mirrors are great additions to your outdoor space!

I have a photo of Roselee's mirror with shells that Beachplant mentioned in this post on my blog. It is gorgeous. Scroll down to see the photo.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to R's garden post

This mirror is 4ft tall and 2ft wide...
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh38/calamity-j/2012097.jpg