Mini Sunburst Mirrors

I know, I know...I bet you're wondering when I am going to get to that room!  My excuse is, it rained all week long.  Today was our first day of great sunshine and hopefully it will continue so I can get some good pictures.  Plus it was spring break and I couldn't torture my kids while I fluffed my room!

I have been wanting mini sunburst mirrors for a long time. I love the sporadic look of the small mirrors on a wall.  Sadly for me, the mini mirrors are hard to find and expensive.

I stumbled upon tiny convex mirrors in the auto section in Wal-Mart!  You know, the mirrors that go on a bus or a RV, or the mirrors that catch people stealing in a convenient store? :)  

There are a couple different varieties, the mirrors pictured have a slant to them and were difficult to get out of the casing. The best mirrors are the rubber rimmed, they pull out easily. 

I traced some of my favorite sunburst images onto paper...yep, right off the computer screen!

Then I traced the shapes onto mdf and cut them out with a scroll saw.  I didn't take any pictures of the cutting process, because this was REALLY impulsive and I wasn't sure if it was even going to work. 

I had to break off my plastic slanted casing, so I replaced it with cording. 

On the "spikey" mirror, I drilled holes and added skewers. 

Then I covered the mirror part with paper and gave them all a good spray of gold paint.

For any over spray I found that finger nail polish remover cleaned it off easily.  I was surprised that it didn't ruin the inexpensive finish on the mirrors.  The mirrors do scratch very easily.

They turned out fun- for an impulsive, sidetracked craft.  I was able to use scraps and paint I already had, so the only cost for me was in the mirrors, about $10.00.

I will be back soon...(I promise)...with the room! :)

A Smaller Sunburst Mirror

So, I learned a thing or two about scale this week....

I realized that the sunburst mirror I made last year and put hours of work into- is seriously too huge to hang above our bed.  My hubby might be a little irritated if he had to sleep with golden spikes poking down near his head!

Good thing I spotted a similar (and smaller) version of the mirror at Hobby Lobby. 

It only comes in brown, but hallelujah..the mirrors are already in place and it was 50% off. 

The only thing I had to do was spray it gold and embellish with plastic rhinestones.

Don't worry...I left out the hearts, butterflies, and flowers.

I used E6000 to glue the rhinestones to the metal.

Then I gave the mirror a couple coats of Rust-Oleum gold spray paint  

Thank goodness the little mirrors each had a little plastic film

 to protect them from the spray paint. 

I wish I would have gone this route the first time, it took me about an hour to finish.

Next time, I will be sure to use a measuring tape before starting a project!