Wildflower: DIY Sunburst Mirror

There are certain design elements that I am drawn to every time I see them. I love mirrors! Not necessarily looking IN them, mind you, but I like the way they embellish a room. In a couple of weeks I'm going to be doing another mirror project...well, I'm getting ahead of myself. Most of the sunburst mirrors I have seen are quite pricey, so I decided to try one of my own. I saw a few ideas out there which were great, like this...

Photo by Isabella & Max Rooms

and this...

Photo by Nesting Place

and this too.

Photo by Under the Table and Dreaming

I decided to head out to Home Depot and use a little of the above inspiration and little of my own. I like my version too!

Supplies

Plumbing equipment from Home Depot (I'm sorry, I cannot tell you what they are, exactly. I found them in the plumbing section with bins of similar equipment. See pictures below.)
Round wooden clock base from Michaels
Craft mirror
Hot glue gun & glue sticks
Spray paint
Hardware to hang pictures
Craft paper (optional)
Mod Podge (optional)
Beads (optional)
Sandpaper

Directions
1. Collect supplies. Peel tags from plumbing pieces.

2. Lay out the desired spacing around wooden circle. For those who are more patient than I am, you may want to draw lines on the back of the wood circle to be exact! I just "eyeballed" it.

3. Start gluing the copper plumbing pieces around the wood circle. I started by placing two pieces across from each other. Imagine a line going from 9 to 3 on an analog clock, and then two more pieces placed at 12 and 6. These are your base pieces. It is easier to fill in from these starting points.

Note: Since the copper parts have a curve to them, it was necessary to elevate them on a pile of books while gluing. I started with a stool but the books worked more effectively. I also found that the curved shape of the pieces made it necessary for me to hold them securely in place for about 15-20 seconds before I let go.

4. Once the pieces are glued on, you may choose to cover up the holes in the copper pieces with beads or another embellishment. This is optional--I just preferred to add another detail to my design. Using the hot glue gun again, I circled around each hole with glue and then placed the bead over the top of each hole.

5. Now that the gluing is finished, the pieces can be painted. My pictures don't show this, but I used dark grey spray paint first and then white on top. I knew I would use sandpaper to distress the mirror, and I wanted a uniform base color of dark grey to peek through the white when sanding.

6. After the paint has completely dried, it's time to begin distressing! Take the sandpaper and sand as much as desired on the wood. A VERY light rubbing across the copper pieces which are your "rays" (as well as the beads) will also result in an aging effect.

7. (Optional step) I took a piece of craft paper, traced it to fit the circle and cut it out. I spread mod podge on the back of the paper so it would adhere to the back of the mirror. It's not perfectly flat, but it gives a more finished appearance.