Photo by Forrest Nguyen
Here is a fun take on a starburst mirror that is inexpensive but stunning. Its large size and colorful variety of fabrics make this an impactful and whimsical decoration. Get used to hearing, “Where did you get that mirror?”
What You'll Need:
• Small framed circular mirror
• Wood circle for backing
• Wood shims
• 1/4 yard of 5 or 6 different patterned, lightweight fabrics
• Quick grab craft glue
• Instant grab adhesive, such as DAP Strong Stik
• Nails and hammer
• Picture hanging hardware
• Scissors
• Ruler
Photo by Sarah Walor
Instructions:
1. Find a small framed circular mirror. This will be the center of the starburst.
2. Buy a circular piece of wood and some wood shims from the hardware store. One pack of wood shims will probably be enough. Look in the lumber section to find a piece of wood that has been cut into a circle to use as the backing for the project. The wood circle should be at least 4- or 5-inches larger than your mirror.
3. Measure the wood shims. You may need to trim a little off the ends. Place a shim on top of the wood circle backing and under the center mirror and decide how far you want the shim to stick out from the mirror. Remember to leave a few inches to go under the mirror. If you need to trim the shims, you can use regular scissors, as they are made of soft wood.
4. Cut the fabrics to cover the wood shims. The fabric should wrap around three sides of the wood, leaving about ½-inch of extra fabric to glue to the back of the shim. The fabric does not need to wrap around the bottom of the shim because the mirror will cover that end.
5. Glue the fabric to the wood shims. Put craft glue just on the back of the wood shim. Wrap the fabric around the front of the shim and glue the sides of the fabric to the back. The last step is to glue the fabric to the exposed end. Wrap the fabric like you are wrapping a gift, with neat corners.
6. Glue the wood shims to the wood circle. Place the framed mirror in the center of the circular wood backing and draw an outline of it in pencil. This will help you to place the shims correctly, so the mirror covers the bottoms of all the shims. Start gluing the fabric-covered shims around the circle, making sure the fabric patterns are in an order you like. Use the instant grab adhesive on the back of each shim and then secure it with a nail or two at the end, making sure the nails will be covered by the mirror.
7. Attach the mirror over top of the wood shims. Use more of the strong glue to attach the mirror over the center of your wood shim circle. Attach picture-hanging hardware to the back of the wood circle for mounting.
Karen Guard is the blogger behind Darling Octopus (darlingoctopus.com). In each issue, she tackles a new do-it-yourself project for R•Home.
