If you are like me and have an ugly old mirror at home that is too dull and boring, this tutorial is for you. All you need to turn your mirror into a statement piece is a mirror, some board and lots of junk. When I say junk I am talking about those really small offcuts of wood you would normally throw away. Besides the scraps of wood, I also added other bits of junk I found laying around at home here are a few examples.

broken door handles
beads
Pebbles
ping pong balls
buttons
thumbtacks
curtain rings
wooden biscuits
Christmas baubles
upholstery studs

You can use just about any small items you find lying around your home. I have used this technique before to create this wooden wall art, check out more ideas for items you can use.

If you have a plain wooden mirror you can just ignore this first step. I am only adding it because it will explain why I had to do other steps for my mirror.

Step 1: Build a Frame

I had a mirror at home that I was given which I used for this project. I use recycled materials in my projects and at the time I did not have plywood big enough to have the same gap all the way around. The top and bottom are 8cm wide and the sides are 12cm wide.

The mirror was still in great condition, but it did have some metal hinges on the back that had been glued to the mirror surface. These are used to hang the mirror horizontally or vertically. The issue I had was I could not get them off and they protruded too much to glue the mirror directly onto the plywood.

My only option was to router out the section where the mirror will go and sink the mirror into the frame. You can skip this step if you can just glue your mirror to the plywood. I started by putting the mirror in the correct position on the plywood and marked around it with a pencil. I used a straight piece of wood as a fence and used a wood router to router add a lip in the plywood. The lip depth was the thickness of the mirror and about 15mm wide for the mirror to rest on. I then used a jigsaw to cut away the middle. In hindsight, I could have just cut out the area around the hinges.

The mirror now fit perfectly into the plywood. I did notice here that the plywood was warped, but I would sort that out at the end.

Step 2: Recycle Your Scraps

Most of the scraps I used in this project were from the following projects. I have no idea why I keep these, I just take the offcuts from my table and mitre saw and drop them in a bucket in my workshop. The stained pieces of wood were the offcuts from the Shou sugi ban wall hanging I recently made. The larger pieces were offcuts from a small barn quilt hanging and the round barn quilt table. Once painted and highlighted these are stunning. With this technique, the more detail and texture you have on the surface the better the look.

Step 3: Cutting Your Scrap Wood

If you have some longer pieces of wood you can cut them down to size with whatever saw you have. I did cut up a few of my longer damaged pieces of wood. The damaged pieces look great once painted.

Step 4: Glue the Scrap Wood to the Mirror Frame

To attach the wood to the frame hot glue works perfectly. I also prefer to use the large glue gun or you are constantly adding glue sticks. Don’t worry about adding the glue perfectly because the messy glue also adds to the effect. You will see it at the end.

You can start adding all the scraps of wood to the frame. I like to keep the inside and outside of the frame straight if possible, using the smaller pieces to fill the gaps. The idea is to create lots of different shapes and textures by layering the wood scraps and glueing them in different directions.

I kept adding scrap wood until the frame was completely covered. Some small gaps between the pieces are no big issue.

Step 5: Add Other Bits of Junk

To add some extra character to the frame I also added some random junk I found lying around my home. A few examples of items that I used were

Decorative wood stubs
glass beads
pebbles
broken drawer pull
thumbtacks
buttons
resin embellishments

Step 6: Close Up Image of Scrap Items Used

I have added some close-up images so you can see all the items used and how randomly they were placed.

ping pong ball cut in half
upholstery stubs
pebbles
plastic beads
Christmas bauble cut in half
curtain rings
buttons
glass pebbles
wood biscuit

Nothing that I added to the mirror had any real value, so this is a great way to achieve a cheap makeover.

Step 7: Paint the Frame

When I made the wall art using the same method I painted all the wood using black gesso and a brush. This was time-consuming and boring as hell. For this scrap wood mirror, I used quick-drying black spray paint. This worked so much better because I was able to get into all the small gaps. I added 2 coats of spray paint to the frame. If you like the gothic look you can stop here.

Step 8: Adding the Copper Wax Paste to the Mirror Frame

This is where the magic happens in my opinion. You are now going to highlight the raised surfaces using the copper wax paste.

Dip the top of your finger in the wax paste and rub your finger lightly over the raised surfaces. You are not trying to cover all the black or the effect will be lost. This is where all the different textures will show up in the wood. You can also make your own wax using this method.

Step 9: Seal the Wood

To seal the wood and prevent the copper wax from going dull over time, the mirror frame needs to be sealed. You can add 2 or 3 coats of clear spray polyurethane. I added 3 because on close inspection I had missed some areas.

Step 10: Fixing the Warp

To flatten the warp in plywood, I added some strips of wood to the back. I cut 2 strips of 2cm x 2cm x 4cm. I added wood glue and screwed them in place while the glue dried. If you do have to do this, make sure you drill into an area that has a solid piece of wood on the other side. I glued the mirror into the frame using “no more nails” and sealed the back using thick cardboard and MDF. For a nicer cosmetic look, I covered the back with kraft paper to hide the dirty MDF.

Step 11: Finished Product

The scrap wood mirror frame was now complete and we have a mirror made from all recycled materials. I have very poor lighting inside my house so some of the photos are not a true reflection of the colour. I had the same issue taking photos outside, the sunlight altered the colour. The most accurate photo of the final product is the last image.

Step 12: More Great Ideas

Here is another great project idea you can make using scraps of wood, a simple wall hanging. The barn quilt headboard was another source of my scrap wood for this project. If you like my project please can you vote for it in the scrap contest? You can find lots of great unique ideas on my website Unique Creations By Anita.