{Sunburst Mirror}

Censational Girl did a fabulous sunburst mirror out of free paint stir sticks.  Her project turned out great, not to mention it was pretty much FREE!  Free, because she just collected a handful of paint sticks whenever she went to the paint store.  Genius!  And free is for me! 

So, I got to thinking...uh, oh...here I go again with that "thinking" stuff I told you about before... 

We had a lot of extra wood from the fireplace redo.  A few pieces of lattice, and some thinner cuts from when Justin had a couple of 1x4's ripped at the Home Depot.   Maybe, I could use some of that extra wood and make my own version of a sunburst mirror?

They are popping up everywhere in the blogosphere and absolutely I love them!  They feel so happy to me! 

Left to Right: Danielle Oakey, Censational Girl, Isabella and Max Rooms

And, not to mention, they can get little pricey.  This one from Ballard Designs runs for $349.  Now, even with a coupon, that's a little out of my price range.  But I love it...

So, here is how I made mine...

First, I cut all the extra lattice wood and the extra trim pieces into different lengths.  I used our miter saw, but you could use a miter box if you aren't down with power tools.  The back layer are alternating 16 and 14 inch pieces.  The thinner pieces for the top layer are alternating 10 and 8 inch pieces.  I laid them out on cardboard to stain.

While I waited for the stain to dry, I screwed a picture hanger on a 7x7 inch square of wood.



Then, I glued the mirror on the other side of the square with Mirror Liquid Nails.  With a hot glue gun, I glued the embroidery hoop that I had already painted with Folkart Metallic Taupe.

Then, I just laid out my wood to make sure everything fit.

Once I got the position of the wood where I wanted it, I glued them down.  I used Liquid Nails for the lower layer, and Gorilla Glue for the upper layer.

As you can see, I cleaned out my pantry to weigh them down so the glue could adhere!

The results?  I thought it turned out pretty fantastic!  What a wonderful thing to look at when you wake up in the morning...a happy, cheerful addition to our bedroom.  I think it looks like a smile on the wall...and smiles are for me!

Cost for stuff I didn't already have: Embroidery Hoop $3, Stain $4; Mirror $2; Wood Base and Lattice: FREE!   Total cost = $9

Erin