The Making of the Hummingbird Hand Mirror

There are times when an item shows the potential to be transformed from its original purpose. Found this small hand mirror, most likely at an estate sale, that showed signs of age but was still holding together well. The metal frame and the tabs holding the mirror in place are still strong, and not overused (you know, bent a lot). I guess the ‘crafty’ thing to do would be too bling it up somehow but since sand craving is our thing, I wanted to give this mirror a new presence and purpose. I wanted it to be a talking point. With the vintage character and newly applied sand carving, it could be front and center. But what to sand carve on the mirror? If you can wait, check out the gallery of photos at the end of this article.

Back Story on the Hand Mirror

We often visit estate sales and Good Will stores to find treasures and even get ideas for projects. Seeking raw materials like glass and wood is a primary source for our projects since we do sand carving and some CNC-type work. I try to collect enough information about each item we purchase to catalog and identify characteristics that we may use in our selection for future projects. I have a database of items that I try to manage and help with building a knowledge base for our crafting and DIY business. The hand mirror was no exception. Entered in as a 5 x 2.5 metal framed hand mirror. Who knows, there may be other items that will be recruited for a similar project based upon similar characteristics once the hand mirror is complete.

Selecting a Theme for the Mirror

Before getting involved with the tactical steps of sand carving the mirror, a theme, image, or message needs to be determined. I first thought of a grassy field silhouette, or even a cotton stalk (from Texas so a field of weeds or cotton comes to mind). We have previously done the artwork for a hummingbird, and I thought that may be a good choice also. So, I put the two ideas up to vote for my wife and the hummingbird won. I did work through the grassy field artwork design enough to get the artwork done, and honestly, it wasn’t quite like my mind’s eye had seen it anyway. So, the hummingbird won over the silhouette of weeds! Now to get started on the sand carving process.

Process of Sand Craving the Hummingbird

These steps apply to almost any sand carving we do on mirrors, picture frame glass, or glassware. For mirrors most of our work is done on the back of the mirror, the reflective material is exposed to the abrasive steam thereby eroding the surface and leaving a frosted glass surface. This process leaves the exposed glass with a frosted surface. More about the size of the grit used for sandblasting and the effects of the sandblasting later in this article. For now, it’s about checking to see if the selected hummingbird silhouette will fit on the mirror and what will be the best origination. Like I mentioned we already have a template made for a hummingbird. We decided to center and point the bird flying to the right as though he/she is about to feed on a flower.

Surface Preparation and Materials

First, we removed the mirror from the frame. The mirror, or the back of the mirror, needs to be clean and oil-free. We use a photoresist film process (RapidMask) to apply the image mask onto the surface of the mirror backing and it needs to stick to the surface. You might think of it as something similar to the Cricut system. But that’s where the similarity ends. There are differences between the process we use and Cricut such as the weeding process and clean-up process after the sand carving is complete.
We cut out a piece of the photoresist film the same size as the hummingbird, and in this case, we will make it rectangular like the size of the mirror. This will help with the alignment of the film. Since this is on the back of the mirror, we need to pay attention to reverse the image so it will appear correctly when viewed from the front of the mirror.
We cleaned the surface with alcohol and made certain it is dry.

Apply the Mask/Stencil that will be Sand Blasted

The stencil of the hummingbird starts as a two-tone image printed on transparency sheets (brand name is AccuBlack) with an Ink Jet printer. These are high-resolution printouts and as you see later, this is a benefit to the sand carving process because there is no manual weeding process as with vinyl. They are also reusable, and they do not degrade with use. For the hummingbird, we actually had two stencils a positive and negative image. We’ll use the negative as the clear area is the portion that will be etched away during the sandblasting process. Now we need to transfer the image to the photoresist film. This film will be applied to the mirror backing.

The stencil and the photoresist film are exposed to UV light making the areas of the photoresist brittle that will be sandblasted away. I’ve shortened this portion of the story because it is already getting long and doesn’t want to lose you in more details. Perhaps for another article. Now we position the photoresist film with stenciled image onto the mirror backing. And Head off to the sandblasting.

Sand Carving the Image

Why sand carving and not just say sandblasting? Well, we aren’t cleaning rush from a carburetor, but we are crafting an image onto the mirror/glass and directing and guiding the sandblasting with the use of a stencil. Cleaning carburetors is good, it’s just not our thing. The machine is a bit more complex and refined for this type of sandblasting and making high-resolution images as the result. That is determined by the size of the grit we use and the nozzle size for the sandblasting. This is not a picture of the hummingbird, I didn’t get a picture when completing that project. But it sandblasting working through the stencil.

In Conclusion

The Hummingbird hand mirror was sold to a hummingbird enthusiast that has a wall of mirrors. I don’t know if they are hummingbirds on all of the mirrors. I’m excited about how that little hummingbird looks on that wall of mirrors.

Our designs are primarily on glass and some wood surfaces. The ability to give an image more character with the sand carving technique is something we feel gives the piece more value. Check out some of our other items and keep an eye out for another one-of-a-kind piece like this Hummingbird hand mirror.