craft mirrors

[Suzizila]

Hello to all! I was just bumming around in Hobby Lobby a few days ago & found those lovely little mirrors people have been using in projects. Now that I know where to get them, I need to know what the best thing to use, so the mirrors won't fall off my projects. What do you all use?

I also found some nice little Swarski (sp?) sew on rhinestone type things which I can't wait to try out. Yes, I could go broke at Hobby Lobby. :D


Thanks!

[spottedeagle]

Suzilla the mirrors I have seen come apart One side has the mirror and the otherside (backing) has a couple holes drilled through it so you can sew it down. Then the pop back together. The backing kinda looks like the backings for the metal buttons that have the safety pin through them.

[Mato Winyan]

noooo... she is talking about the little tiny mirrors that are used in beadwork with the rhinestones... there are some photos in the gallery.. :D

http://www.powwows.com/galleries/sho...cat=517&page=1

[Suzizila]

Too many mirrors.....I guess....:D lol

Mato, I've seen those mirrors being used a lot in beading (such as in the crown in the gallery and in Ali Denny's stuff that she's wearing in that jingle dress video) and would love to try using them. All I need to know is what to use to attach them to my project securely enough so they won't fall off.

If anyone has used these mirrors in their projects, what did you use to attach them to your project?

I also plan on playing around with the sew on Swarski rhinestone things. They would look really good in the center of a rosette or some other project.

[spottedeagle]

:Chatter Oooops!!!! :Chatter

[Singing Otter]

LOL Hobby Lobby is the SPAWN OF SATAN!!!! hehehe :Chatter :Chatter I went to Tx one summer and loaded up! You couldn't say hobby lobby without my eyes glazing over and dancing. I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuv beads. *twitch twitch*

[Dat1NdnGuy]

i've tried them swarovski sew-on rhinestone things...and they are pretty kool but they come off the prongs or whatever u call them things...the rhinestones pop out anyway...but its not that hard to fix that...then the mirrors I think the best thing to use is 'Aleenes OK to wash it' I think thats how its spelled...I used that and my mirrors haven't budged for years now, even after the hell theyve been through...:)

[apache_grassdancer]

Me I just put super-super glue my mirrors down and when i do my beadwork i also do peyote stitch around and over the edge of the mirror and then i don't have to worry about the mirror falling out :D

[oOoSouthernStyozoOo]

I use mirros..but i don't put to much on a single project...I use super glue to hold them on...and it hold pretty goot. mine are diamond shape...i wish i could find the little circle one's some where around here!

[Blackbear]

527 Bond.. dries clear, flexible and you can bead through it... also it's sold at walmart and is good for stone and glass both

[Suzizila]

apache-hopigurl, I found the round mirrors at Hobby Lobby...and other shapes as well.

Dat1NdnGuy, the rhinestone things I was referring to aren't set in any metal. They are just the stone with holes so you can sew them on. Some of them only have one hole going through the center. Many of the have a point sticking out instead of being flat on both sides. I definitely want to try them out.

Thanks to all of you who have replied to this thread. I'm ready to try other stuff to jazz up my beadwork. :)

[apache_grassdancer]

Me i like the heart shaped mirrors and for me they're not hard to find since it's just at a store back home on the rez and before i came back out here to school i bought like about 2 dozen heart shaped mirrors:Chatter

[aknative]

I've used Leather cement. You can get it a JoAnn fabrics. A little goes a long way. It is a white bottle with a yellow label. Trust me, nothing will budge if you use it.

[walela49]

I use the little round and the little square mirrors in some of my beadwork, usually in the center of rosettes and such. But I guess I'm way more of a perfectionist on how to attach them. I just hate the thought of the sharp glass edges scratchin and rubbin on my good beadwork or takin the chance of cutting through threads. And I hate the thought of wads of glue dryin and cracking under a mirror, cuz eventually the glue if it cracks or whatever, will also crack or degrade the silver coating on the backs of the mirrors....yikes!

So here's my no-glue-method: cut a "thong" of thin white buckskin to stretch around the edge/s of one mirror. Cut the thong a tad shorter than the mirror's circumference so you can streeeeeeeeetccchhhh the leather around the edges and then sew the ends together with about three stitches using your bead thread and cinch it up TIGHT! This creates a super snug but soft white ring around your mirror. Now you can sew it down to virtually anything with little hidden whip stitches on the underneath side of the mirror. This all takes more patience and effort, but it's so worth doing. I usually buy lots of mirrors and spend a couple days sewing them into the leather just so they'll be ready to go when I'm ready to bead.

[walela49]

OH yeah....the "thong" width should be a little wider the the thickness of the mirror, so that when the leather stretches around the mirror, it'll kinda curl around the glass edges protecting your beadwork (and fingers)!