COPYCAT MIRROR HOW-TO...

Hi'ya. How are you all today?  Great I hope!  Me? I'm wonderful...thanks for asking. LOL.  The sun is finally shining and we are looking forward to slightly warmer temperatures...possibly in the 50's...by the weekend.  YAY!!!

Did you all like the little copycat mirror project I showed you last week?  I know it's not a fancy store bought mirror but I think it turned out pretty good and I really like it.  What I like most is that it didn't cost me a boat load of moolah.  I spent a few hours and a little over $10 to make it and that's with buying two different cans of spray paint.  Had I got it right the first time, I would have spent much less time and money.

As promised, I am going to do a brief...somewhat scattered and incomplete (because I didn't get enough pictures) pictorial for you today because I know you all have a ton of time on your hands and are just dying to make one of these for yourself.  Right?  Right!

First, a little supply list...You will need:

--2 white foam core poster boards (I used black because they were out of white but I had trouble seeing my pencil lines...DUH)
--1 12" round mirror
--4 long strands Mardi gras beads or other embellishment
--1 can silver spray paint or color of your choice
--Xacto or utility knife
--Hot glue gun and glue sticks
--Pencil
--16" long piece of string

Breakdown of cost:

$2.50---2 Foam core posterboards (Dollar General)
$1.00---12" round mirror (resale shop)
$1.00---Mardi gras beads (resale shop)
$3.75---Rustoleum spray paint (Wal-Mart)
$8.25


Now I will just tell you that this took some major time and some math skills to figure this design out to get eight even sides.  I ended up freehanding most of the curves...but don't let that scare you.  If I can do this YOU can too!!!

You will want to begin by drawing out half the over all design on one of your poster boards.  First, find the center of the long side of your board (which is usually 15 inches) and make a mark.  Now use your pencil and string like a math compass...Tie the string around your pencil making sure to leave a 15" tail.  Now place the end of the string at the center mark on the bottom of your board and the tip of your pencil on the left edge of your poster board.  Keeping the string taut draw a curved line all the way over the right edge of the board making a half circle.

You will do the same thing for the inner half circle at 7".  Once you have drawn your two half circles your postboard should look like this...

The few inches at the top will be reserved for another piece of this twisted puzzle so cut that off and put it aside for now...

Next, you are going to make a "starburst" template.  Fold a piece of cardstock in half length wise.  Draw your template along the fold and cut it out (I've shown the measurements for your convenience)...

Oops, the measurement on top of the "seven" shape should read 2 7/16".

Place the template on your posterboard at center between the two half circles and trace.  Once traced, position the template over one space to the left and trace again.  Next, move the template over one space to the right of the center and trace...

Next, move your template again to the far left or far right side and trace...(you will only get half the design on the ends...

Now comes the tedious FUN part, cutting everything out...I have placed X's (for your information) in the areas that need to be cut away...Do not cut too close to the points connected to the center circle (noted by my arrow below).  You will want to leave a little of the poster board around them.  If you cut too close your center circle may come out...YOU DO NOT WANT THE CENTER CIRCLE CUT OUT!!!! The center circle is what your mirror will be glued to.

Whew, your half way done!

Now place the posterboard that you just cut your design out of on top of your other posterboard. Trace the entire design and then cut everything out.

With hot glue, glue the two posterboards together along the center to make a big "circle"...

I had already started the next step before taking the picture above...OOPS...but the next step after gluing your two halves together is to cut out your cross bars (which are cut from the reserved top piece of each posterboard).  You should get four  1" x 11 3/4" curved strips from each (giving you a total of eight strips)...

Once all your strips are cut out, weave up and under between the legs of your main design, gluing the points of your strips together as you go until all eight strips are placed and glued together...

You're done!  Welllll, almost...

Next, before spray painting, you will want to coat all the exposed foam edges of your design with a coat of craft or latex paint...

DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!!!  This step is VERY IMPORTANT because spray paint will MELT styrofoam. Regular paint will not so coating the edges first will add a protective barrier from the spray paint....wouldn't want to get this far only to have it all melt away!!

Now you can glue your mirror to the center of the smaller circle and add your embellishments, then spray paint or you can spray paint first and add your mirror and embellishments afterward.  That is up to you.

If you add the mirror first you will have to cover it when it's time to paint.

Once it is dry, glue a picture hanger (or can tab like I did) to the top center of the back of the smaller circle and you are ready to hang and enjoy...

Well there you have it, a few time consuming, not so easy steps to making your very own copycat starburst mirror.  Nah, it's really not that bad, and kind of fun too; besides, I have given you all the measurements and directions so you can whip one of these out in no time!!!

If you do make one of these, send me a picture or leave me a comment.  I would love to see how yours turns out!