I started by taking pictures of her room, noting colors and other objects on the walls. I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out a way to make it less heavy. My husband even tried routing out some of the plywood so the mirror would sit snuggly inside, but that didn't seem to work. I finally surrendered to the idea that it was going to weigh as much as an average third grader. Now I could focus on the fun stuff: I collected ceramic tiles, glass tiles, marbles, shells, watercolor paper and handmade papers--anything I thought would work.
I embellished the larger tiles with some torn paper and resin. I also found that my nature-hoarding (seeds, pods, shells, etc.) came in handy. After much inner debate, everything was arranged and glued securely on the plywood and then the dark sanded grout was applied followed by the slow process of wiping it away...done!
If I were to do this again I would do things differently (and probably faster!), but I appreciate this project for its structural and creative challenges and I know what I learned will show up on my gourd work!
