Here’s an easy makeover for a mirror to hang in the guest room and unnerve visiting relatives. It’s not only a very uncomplicated project, it also has the advantage of being cheap: You can look in thrift stores for (depending upon the method you use) mirrors that already have some of the silvering worn off or glass-fronted picture frames that have been banged up a bit; either should be sold at a discount.

There are two main methods to achieve the effect; the first one involves removing some of the silvering from the back of a mirror and pasting a picture in the clear spot. Mitzi’s Collectibles has a good tutorial for that method, and suggests using oven cleaner to help remove the silvering (you’ll probably have to scrape or scrub a little, too). You’ll want to take care not to make the scraped-off edges too jagged, since the effect you’re after is a sort of ghostly fading-in.

The other method involves a product of which I was hitherto-unaware: Looking Glass spray paint by Krylon. It can be sprayed on glass surfaces to “mirrorize” them, which is pretty neat (I can think of a number of other applications for this stuff). You simply spray several layers on the back of a glass picture frame, adding less where you want the image peeking through, then finally attaching the image. Cre8tive Compass has a fairly good tutorial for that (and I like the idea of misting water in some spots to create a more “antique” effect), but is somewhat unclear on the image placement. Domythic Bliss has slightly better instructions for that (and I like her image choice).

The only other thing you need to do is a choose an appropriate picture. You can google around for vintage-y images, use a copy of a family photo if you’re lucky enough to have an acceptably-creepy one, or create something using an image tool like Photoshop. I like the Victorian kids with blacked-out eyes that Ghost Hunting Theories did (shown above), and you could also alter an image in a Travis Louie-esque fashion.

This would, of course, be a wonderful Halloween decoration, but if you choose an attractive mirror (or frame) there’s no reason why it couldn’t be left up year-round.

Bonus Link: For a different, more complicated (but also cooler-looking) effect, check out this haunted mirror using two-way glass done by Aidtopia.