DIY: "zinc" mirror

There's something about crusty old zinc mirrors that stop me in my tracks.  The price tag, on the other hand, does not.  So I decided to try my hand at reinventing a wooden mirror I got at World Market a few years ago (to sit on my fireplace just until my wooden sunburst mirror from Ballard arrives!)  I'm thrilled with how it turned out:

To start, I used 100-grit sandpaper to lightly sand the wood, then brushed on a coat of this mighty primer:

Once it was completely dry, I lightly sanded again.  Next, I brushed on a coat of Martha Stewart's Metallic paint in Quayside.  I absolutely LOVE this color; I could have just stopped after this step, but I really wanted to get some dark and light color variations, so I bought some Folk Art's Glazing Medium (which I found at AC Moore):

To get the lighter variations, I mixed 1 part white paint (leftover from previous projects) with 1 part glazing medium.  I added a few drops of water to thin it out a bit.  Using a clean, white cloth, I wiped it onto the frame, blending it in in some spots and roughly smudging it onto other parts. 

For the darker variations, I did the same as the previous step, mixing 1 part black paint with 1 part glazing medium and a few drops of water.  Just like above, I wiped it all over in random spots. 

Last, but not least, I smudged plain white paint in random areas to really give it the "chalky" appearance that zinc gets over the years. Finally, I rubbed a little Minwax Paste Wax for protection.  I'm super pleased with how it looks: