So, I have quite a bit of free time this summer and I'm using it to take on little home improvement, home decor, and home renovating projects. My goal is to give you specific easy to follow steps with all the details (I hate seeing an awesome idea and not being able to follow because the directions are lacking). This one started with some basswood and paint tester.
Supplies:
Basswood of varying widths
Circular Mirror
Embroidery hoop
Hot glue gun
Saw-edge hanger (like those on the back of picture frames)
Paint
Everything can be obtained at Hobby Lobby 50% off. The basswood cost about $10 for 16 pieces (8 half-inch and 8one-inch pieces, each 2 feet long). The mirror and hoop were about $1 or $2 each. I already had the glue gun, so no expense there! I will be painting them Orange Marmalade by Glidden, using a free tester I got about a year ago (yay for free supplies!). This will be going in my orange/blue guest room once finished.
I have already completed one project similar to this, on a smaller scale. I used half-inch and fourth-inch pieces of basswood to complete and some Peacock Blue paint (another free Glidden sample!). First what I did was saw the pieces approximately in half. The material is so thin you really could probably use scissors. It's ok if they're not exactly the same size because you will be varying the lengths of them around the mirror anyway.
Next I needed to paint the wood pieces. It took some maneuvering to make sure the entire length was painted (I really wanted a finished look, even from the back). I discovered painting the wide side along with the skinny edges first worked best. I held the piece of wood at the very end so I could paint as close to the end as possible while holding it. Then, I laid the piece down and painted the small thumb-gripping part while it was laying on the ground (plastic tarp down first)! I left that to dry overnight, then painted the other side the next day. You probably only need a few hours for drying if you are doing this during the day, I just got a late start.
So, once everything is dry all there was left to do was glue the pieces on. Being the math nerd I am, I really wanted there to be some sort of symmetry. So, I drew out perpendicular lines through the center of the circle. How you may wonder? Well, first draw a line all the way across the circle (lay your ruler anywhere on the circle and swing it around a bit until the measurement read on the other side shows the diameter of the circle. Then draw your line. Next, mark the halfway point of that line. You will draw a perpendicular line through this point.
' You do this by lining up one of the tick marks on the ruler with the line you have already drawn. Draw your line, and your perpendicular! See those fine perpendicular lines!
So, I used those as guidelines for laying my first four large sticks. Then, just go around the mirror and place the other pieces. If you want, once you have a patter you like, make little tick marks where you want your pieces to go. Next, get out the glue gun and start going! I placed the glue directly on the wood pieces, then attached them to the mirror. Next, attach the hanger to the back. I just used hot glue. Since the wood is so light, I don't think there will be a problem with it coming off. Here are a few pictures of what the back looks like:
See my mishap? My husband accidentally stepped on one of the pieces (which were so carefully laid in the middle of the basement floor...). So, I had to repaint a new piece and was too impatient to wait another day for the whole thing to dry, so I decided I would just paint it later. You can't see it from the front, so I haven't been too worried!
Once that has a little time to dry, flip it over. Next you have to place the embroidery hoop on the front. This was the most frustrating thing ever trickiest part! You really could skip this step if you wanted, but I was determined to make it work. So, basically you have to put hot glue on the outside edge of the mirror, quickly enough to cover the entire outside without it drying and to be able to put the hoop on. If you mess up are too slow like me then the glue should just peel off. Once you get the hoop on, there may be excess glue. Just take a box cutter along the edge and cut it out. Now, you should be finished! I used a command hook to hang mine. Here's the finished product! I am thinking about adding another layer of bass wood to make it a little heftier of a piece, but we shall see!
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