DIY Shim Sunburst Mirror/Frame

When I am decorating, I love to use or make items that have meaning or tell a story about the person who lives in that room. I like celebrating who people are, where they've come from, and what they are passionate about! For me, that's what design is about- creating spaces that really symbolize and encourage the people who live in them everyday. Tim and I do this in all sorts of ways, like making a table from a piece of family history. We have done this a lot in our own home. Today I am going to show you how I made a wood shim sunburst frame/mirror. The accessory is perfect for a couple that has renovated their entire house and it's style is right in line with the look we like!

So, let me give you a quick how-to for this easy peasy project.

Step 1- Stain your shims. I used to different colored stains to give my frame more interest. . . it's kind of like highlighting your hair. :) The more color, the more interesting but not quite as classic.

Step 2- Find a circular frame or cut one from some plywood. I found mine at a garage sale for $1.

Step 3- Place your frame face down or in a position where the smoothest side is up.

Step 4- Use construction adhesive to start gluing on shims that you have stained. Place each shim to where it overlaps slightly with the one placed before it.

You will still have some empty spots to fill in after the first layer. It should look something like this. . .

Step 5- Now it's time to use your construction adhesive to add the second layer. Simply work your way around the circle filling in the bare spots.

Step 6- When you've finished filling the gaps, set something heavy on top of the shims while the glue dries or if you happen to own a nail gun-shoot some pin nails through the shims to hold things in place.

After the glue dries you can add your mirror to the back of the piece (find these at any local craft store) using more construction adhesive or forego the mirror and stick with the simple frame. A convex mirror would be super cool!

There are so many materials to make awesome sunburst mirrors/frames. I hope you will make one and I hope you will pick a material that tells a story about who you are! Food lover?Use skewers. Book lover? Use old book spines. School Teacher? Use rulers or pencils. Sea lover? Use pieces of driftwood. The possibilities are endless!!!!!

I'd love to make a whole post featuring unique sunburst mirrors that readers have made. So, won't you send me some pictures of your incredible creations?!!! How fun it would be to see everyone's unique ideas and personalities portrayed by their version of the sunburst mirror!