Mike showed magic mirrors originally (https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/magic-mirror/). I had a raspberry pi lying around from a failed project, so I figured why not give it a try… how hard could it be?

My mirror shows the time, the weather, the state of my garage door (open or close), and the last 5 pushover notifications I have received.


Taking apart a 32” TV from Walmart, and hooking it up to a pi that I use for Kodi and emulation.

TV taken apart and the beginnings of an oak frame

Oak frame built, glued, and drying

A sample of Dark Walnut stain on oak

The entire frame stained

The TV fit inside the frame. The pine boards on the sides are used to hold the TV in place, and the raspberry pi is sitting on a piece of poplar which will be glued so it won’t move.

The magic mirror ready to be closed up

The pine boards holding the TV down also act as support for the backing piece of lauan.

Closed up with the D hooks installed to hold the mirror up

It works! although so far the full screen website is pretty boring.