Category: DIY

Ghost in the mirror DIY

10/16/2016

Decorating the house is such fun this time of year, I wish I lived in a castle or old farmhouse but I have to settle for my 1940’s little house. However I do my best to evoke the haunted halls of someplace much older. One trick I’ve come up with this year is adding a little something extra to my many old mirrors in the house. Perhaps a ghost?

You can buy some very cheesy portraits and mirrors with ghosts in them in the stores but it screams Halloween decoration. I prefer using something I have up everyday and adding something that makes you look twice. It adds a lot more creepiness factor in my opinion.

This is a very easy project that anyone can put together for under a $1 each.

Materials needed:
- Mirror
- Old black and white photo
- Scanner
- Photo editing software
- Acetate (transparency film)
- Exact-o blade with mat or scissors

Pick out what mirror you are going to use and measure the glass. Add about a 1/4” all around so the image can tuck behind the frame.
Find your image, I prefer old victorian portraits but it’s really up to you. Use one of your ancestors photos by repurposing an existing photo print and scan it in to your computer. Or find a new ancestor online, the New York Public Library has a great digital collection with public domain photos you can download for free. Double exposure shots are also great place to start. Whatever image you choose, a light background is going to work the best.
Now that you have your image it’s time to do a little editing. Open the file using a photo editing software, I use Photoshop but any should really do. You will want to make sure you have it at the final size for the mirror.
Change the image to grayscale and you’ll want to increase the contrast to get deeper blacks.
Now is where we make it creepy, I like to tweak the image using motion blur or gaussian blur to make the facial features out of focus. Not too much as you want it to still read as a face.
Decrease the opacity of the image, usually 50%-60%. Remember you want this to feel ghostly.
Save the file as a print ready PDF and take it down to your local print shop and ask for a printout on acetate or transparency film. All of the acetate I’ve seen only works with laser printers so I don’t print at home. It cost me about $0.65 a sheet to print. The transparencies can smear easily until the toner sets so be careful when handling.
Now take your transparency and cut it out using an exact-o blade or scissors to the size of the mirror. It’s often easier to use the mirror back as a template to cut it out.
Place the transparency between the mirror and frame and reassemble. Or tuck behind the frame edges if you don’t want to disassemble.
Hang up and freak out the household!