Starburst mirror envy

We have lived here for over four years now. Many of our walls look like we just moved in. This one is pretty representative of most of the house :)



That, combined with my love for starburst mirrors, helped to get this project going. However, I have spent way too much time trying to mimic those that I see. I have been thinking, and thinking, and thinking about how I can get metal strips to use. Then, like she always does, Miss MustardSeed created one in brilliant fashion. I then realized, “DUH!”, it doesn’t have to be metal.
So, I started with this….


(One package of bamboo kitchen skewers, one candle mirror, and one jar of stain we already had.)

Did a little bit of this….



Fought off the thieving kitten because of this…..
 
*The jury is still out on whether or not kitten spit helps or hinders stain from sticking to bamboo skewers*
Wished I had thought to bring the mineral spirits up because of this….



(Yes, I know. Painted nails and DIY do not go hand in hand. I’ve quit biting my nails, for the 100000th time, and painting them helps me leave them alone.. until it starts to chip…which is it now.. AH)

I let it all soak up and dry like so….



And then came the tricky part: assembly. I started with Gorilla Glue. While it is AHmazing stuff. It takes too long to dry for something like this. So, I used hot glue.



With no planning whatsoever, I started gluing.

 

Because I used wood stain instead of paint, each one it a bit different in color. Luckily, that’s what I wanted :)



The photos don’t really do it justice. Once Dustin gets home, we are going to find something to attach to the back to make it more secure and attach a hanger to that.

A few weeks ago, I saw some similar to this at an antique store… for $25. Although that was a good price, my grand total for this is a WHOLE lot better :)

This is a great way to fill a wall with one piece. This started with a 5 inch mirror and is now 28 inches.
I have enough materials to make one more. I think I might paint the skewers silver this time to mimic all those metal ones I’ve drooled over for so long. I’m also going to change up the pattern to make it different from this one.

I know, I know… the anticipation…. :)