DIY • Easy Sunburst Mirror

I never thought that it would be so easy to make a sunburst mirror and especially a mirror that would seem nice from very close. The inspiration came from Healthy, Wealthy and Diy’s blog and I decided to transform a beautiful handmade round mirror that the last three years was hidden in my closet because it didn’t match with our current furniture and home decoration. So, the first step was to paint it silver and the second step was to change it to a sunburst mirror in order to hang it over our fireplace. My main problem to this project was that I don’t use spray paint because I can’t handle their flow and I don’t like their smell. Fortunately, the result was very good despite the fact I used acrylics and the bamboo sticks for rays, which here in Greece are the synonym of our famous food “souvlaki”, made the project very affordable.

materials

• round mirror
• small bamboo sticks
• white chalk paint
• black and silver acrylic paints
• brush
• paper tape
• hot glue and silicone pistol
*** instead of acrylics you can use a silver (or gold) spray paint to make the process less complicated.

step one

I think there are two options in making a sunburst mirror. The one is to choose a round mirror without a frame and neglect this step. Or, you choose a framed round mirror, like me, and if it hasn’t the desirable colour, you will have to paint it. With a spray paint, the job is done quickly. Of course, you have to cover the mirror with a round paper taped with paper tape. But, if you aren’t a spray fan like me, the procedure would last longer. Firstly, you will need to paint the frame with a base paint in order to apply the silver acrylic paint above. Here, I used white chalk paint and little black acrylic to make a grey base. When it dried, I painted with a silver paint two times. And, in order to give a textured effect in the surface and to avoid ugly brushes, I took a plastic bag, folded in my hands and pressed it briefly to the frame to make an imprint.

step two

I turned over the mirror and started placing the sticks around it using a paper tape. I agree that this was the difficult part of the project, as I was trying to keep the symmetry. Some of them were moving and falling. When I placed all the sticks – I needed less than on bag – I started gluing them with hot glue.

step three

When the glue dried, I painted the sticks silver with the same method. You can just spray them for a quicker result. Despite closeness, the mirror on our fireplace seems amazing. I always have this doubt with DIY projects because sometimes their imperfections are too obvious. But, I must admit that this DIY project was completely successful!!!