A few weeks ago, our full length mirror was mysteriously knocked over and cracked. We’ve narrowed down the suspects, but our main lead has done a pretty good job of expressing her innocence.

The accident cracked a whole corner off of the mirror, so I cut the mirror and sanded the edge so it could still be used. Unfortunately, no one in our house is under 4 foot tall, so it looked a little silly propped against the wall. Emily was gone this weekend, so I figured it was the right time to do something about it. Besides, my tools have been feeling a little neglected in the garage.

My idea was to take a pallet, break it down, and build a frame for the mirror. I had two pallets on hand, a pretty new one and one that had some wear on it. I decided to break down the older one. Once I got it broken apart, I found the number 98 printed on it and decided that was just too cool to cover up.


So instead of trying to sand it down and make it look like new, I decided this pallet was going to stay in it’s weathered condition.

I did some quick measurements and cut 45 degree angles for each of the pieces.


As with most of my projects, I generally have an idea of what I want to do, but figure out the details as I go along. For this project, the “details” were how I would connect the pieces and how I would hold the mirror on the frame. The solution was pretty simple. I cut some “L’s” out of plywood and used them to both hold the corners of the mirror and help hold the frame together.


I glued the frame together then attached my “L” pieces to it, then clamped it up and let it dry.


Next I had to cut down the mirror to fit in the nook in our bedroom, where I thought it would look the best. An even 3 feet was just about perfect.

I cut the mirror, put it in the back of the frame, then used another piece of plywood to hold it in place. I added a simple hanger, and this project was ready to be displayed. Truly, until it was hung, I wasn’t sure if Emily would like it or think it was “a little too dirty to be in the house.” To my relief, she loved it when she got home.


Let me know what you think about this project. Would you have liked it better nicely sanded and stained, or is the weathered frame more your style?