I’ve been eye-ing some starburst mirrors…and believe me, there are plenty in blog land! Everyone is so creative- I’ve seen them made from twigs, bamboo…even silverware!

But I have to say the one that inspired me the most was this one from Kristi at Addicted 2 Decorating.

Image courtesy Addicted 2 Decorating

I love the fact that it’s made out of wood shims (you know my obsession with using materials for unusual purposes!). Kristi said it took her 17 packages, and I found that to be the same for mine. I designed mine a little differently, starting with the arrangement of the shims.

I made sets of 5 in sort of a ladder design using wood glue between pieces and painter’s tape to hold them together while they dried overnight.

Then I attached 3 of those sets together in tall-short-tall and short-tall-short combinations, also using wood glue.

Working on a plastic bag, I laid them out in a circle as I went to be sure I made the right amount of each. I used wood glue and hot glue this time, which worked great-you just have to move quickly with the hot glue and squeeze the pieces together until it sets.

You end up with a hole perfect for a single 5 piece which bridges the gap and maintains the pattern (in my case, a “tall”).

I bought an 8″ diameter mirror from A.C. Moore with a 40% off coupon. I used hot glue and gorilla glue to secure the mirror to the shim frame. Because the shims aren’t perfectly flat, I just made sure I got enough glue underneath to adhere wherever it could. The next day, I found it was secured VERY well.

Now this bad boy seems pretty heavy, but the scale told me it was 7.4 lbs. So, I decided to use a sawtooth hanger (made for 10lbs) to hang it. I put some gorilla glue on it too for good measure (it is going over a bed…)

Now here it is in the guest room.

I love it! It’s an awesome statement piece for less than $3o!

P.S. Notice I de-pillowed the bed a bit…what do you think?

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14 Responses

    • Lovely Crafty Home

      Nope, I left it completely unfinished. You could put a clear coat on it though for protection if you wanted.

      Reply
  5. Christine B

    Ummm LOVE IT! I’ve been trying to come up with a way to create a cool diy clock and i think I could def. borrow from your idea. How much did you spend on the woods?

    Reply
    • Lovely Crafty Home

      The shims were $1.35/pack here and I used 17. I think it would make an awesome clock! Be sure to link up here when you’re done so I can see!

      Reply
  6. April

    OMG! I totally love that! I never would have thought of using shims for something so creative! BEAUTIFUL!

    Reply
  7. Cara

    This is so NEAT! I’ve also been wanting to make a sunburst mirror. This is such a great technique! I love the way yours turned out.

    Reply
  10. 10 Ideas for: DIY Mirrors

    […] been thinking about adding a few more mirrors to our house, and having already created a wood shim mirror, I’m pretty confident I can find other neat ones to DIY. Here are some of the ones I found […]

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  11. 10 Ideas for: DIY Mirrors

    […] been thinking about adding a few more mirrors to our house, and having already created a wood shim mirror, I’m pretty confident I can find other neat ones to DIY. Here are some of the ones I found […]

    Reply
  12. Amy Keogh

    This is my favorite sunburst mirror in blogland so far! You make it sound so diy do-able. What size is the mirror and thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

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