DIY Sunburst Mirror

This is a super fun and easy project that only took me about 30 minutes to assemble. 

What you need:

-Round Mirror ( I got mine at Hobby Lobby; it was one of the candle trays for $10 and I used my 40% off coupon)

-10 dowels. I bought mine at Home Depot for $.78 each

-Rope

-Liquid Nails

-Hot glue gun

-Cardboard

-Duct tape

-Wire

These are the dowels I used; 2nd smallest ones at 

Home depot with dark green ends

This is what Liquid Nails looks like if you were wondering

This is what I used for my rope. Its a doggy toy from the Dollar Tree, 

I just unwrapped it. 

Start by cutting 5 of the dowels in half and the other 5 in thirds. I did not measure but just eyed it as I was cutting, I wanted the variety of sizes that imperfect cuts would give me. If you do not have a saw Home Depot will cut them for you :)

Lay your mirror face down on a towel. I quickly arranged all the dowels around the mirror before gluing. That way I did not have to worry about getting to my last dowel and having a huge gap still not covered. 

Now its time to glue :) I was worried about the longevity of only using hot glue, that's why I used the Liquid nails as well. The hot glue gave me the instant bond I needed, and the Liquid Nails will give it more long term strength. I first did little dashes of the liquid nails then did dashes of hot glue in between.  Glue all the dowels around the mirror. 

 Here is a close up of the glue..the white is the liquid nails, with dashes of hot glue in between.

Cut a piece of cardboard slightly smaller that your mirror. Use hot glue (A LOT!) to secure it on the back.

Now you are ready to paint :) Turn your mirror over and cover it with some newspaper to protect it from getting sprayed. I used Rust-oleum Metallic in Gold. 

Let it dry for several hours. Once dry, take off newspaper. It should now look like this:

                                                  

 Now we added a wire hook on the back for hanging. To do this,turn the mirror upside down on towel again, so cardboard side is up. Cut two small squares out of extra cardboard. Wrap in duct tape for extra strength.

 Poke two holes in each square. We just used a push pin.

 Push wire through one hole, bend it around and back through the other hole.

 Then twist wire together. Repeat with other square and opposite end of the wire.

Place glue on both ends, then mount onto back of mirror. 

We added more duct tape..just to be safe :)

Now you just need to add the rope on the front! If you have not already painted the rope, do so now. Once it is dry, glue it around the border of the mirror with hot glue. 

And your done!! Let it dry for several hours to make sure everything is secure before hanging! :)

 Now my boring little bathroom looks at least a little better! The mirror gives it a little interest to hold me over until I get around to  painting it! :)