I have to admit I have a little obsession with old windows. Much to my partner's horror, I am forever bringing them home and stockpiling them around the house.
As I write this I have just been and collected another stash which are currently in the back of my van….. I mean how could I not, these were FREE…… I just couldn’t pass them up. I am going to just try and sneak them into the carport and let him ‘find’ them later I think.
Anyway, I will be doing different posts on how to use these wonderful pieces of history without losing their character.
Today I’ve gone for a smaller window using a transfer I just love.
Firstly all the hardware has been removed and they have had a good clean, a light sand to remove any flaking paint, and smooth them over a bit. Be mindful that some of these may have old lead paint on them, so take appropriate safety steps when working with them.
Then I cleaned the glass, rinsed cleaned again with vinegar and polished making sure there were no fingerprints etc on the glass. I then covered the frame leaving only the glass exposed on the back side of the window.
Then with some Rust-oleum Mirror Effect spray from Bunnings, I sprayed across and back lightly coating the back of the glass and working my way down. I did 3 coats of this leaving it to dry for several minutes between coats. It was then left overnight to dry properly.
My next step was to lay out the transfer onto it to position and see how it would fit.
It was an almost perfect fit with just part of the whip overlapping onto the frame of the window, so I wanted to make sure I rubbed that piece onto the frame. I didn’t cut the transfer because I wanted to make sure I got it right into the corners, and quite frankly I couldn’t be bothered with all that measuring, I’m more of a ‘by sight’ sort of person.
What I did do was use my transfer tool to get right into the corners and edges and carefully peel away the transfer from there. I like to rub a bit off, lift the paper slightly to make sure it has separated and then gently lay it back down to give it a final once over to really make sure it has adhered.
After doing the bottom section I aligned the top section and repeated the process, but I went up onto the frame around the whip part.
When finished, I found with the glass there were several very small bubbles, there I squashed out with my transfer tool and the back of my thumbnail. Finally
I gave it two coats of Dixie Belle Top Coat in Flat, as I wanted to be able to wipe it over when dusty.
This transfer actually covered most of the glass, so in hindsight, I probably didn’t really need to do the mirror effect, but it probably gave it a nice backing tone anyway.
This one is a keeper for me. I just have to add a chain to hang it, and I’m going to attach some of the old window catches along the bottom to hang keys etc from.
I’d love to see some of your window creations. Be sure to post them up on our Facebook Page or Group.