Starburst Mirror

This Instructable will show you how to build a custom Starburst Mirror. I found this tutorial online and decided it lacked some pictures and a few instructions so I am re-posting it.

I don't have a picture for every step as I was not planning on making an Instructable, but this is a pretty easy craft so you will understand the concept.

Step 1 Go shopping

You might have a few of these things around the house (as I did), but you can pick up everything from a craft store or better yet, Wal-Mart. I will list where I got mine and where I could have gotten it cheaper.

Before I list off materials, I will give you a few options. The site I got this from used silver leaf to cover the dowels and I thought that would take way too long and be a pain, so I bought metallic craft paint and applied it with sponge brushes. This was okay, but it took 4-5 coats. I think metallic spray paint would have been a lot faster, so that is up to you.


You will need:

-Scissors
-Scrap Cardboard (anything around your house will work)
-A pen
-Hot glue gun and glue sticks
-Sponge brushes
-Metallic craft paint (97 cents a bottle at Wal-Mart)
or
-Metallic spray paint
or
-Silver leaf (I didn't do this so you're on your own if you want to use it)
-15 Kabob skewers (I had these at home but Wal-Mart had them for $1.97)
-15 12' wooden dowels (I found a bag of 20 at the craft store for about $3.50)
-2 packages of craft mirrors (Wal-Mart had the various size bag of 25 for $1.97)
-A convex auto mirror ($1.97 in the automotive department of Wal-Mart. My best purchase!) -Mounting hardware

Comments

[palindrome388]

Thanks so much for sharing! I finished mine, and I absolutely love it! Everyone that sees it is so impressed that I made it myself!

[gegeprada]

 Thank you so much! This is absolutely gorgeous and mine is now hanging in my apartment!! :)

[oneprimalscream]

This is awesome! I'm going to attempt to make some mini versions of these to decorate my office space with. Thanks for a great tutorial that achieves the look of an expensive item without draining your wallet.

[jessandsteve]

We had tons of fun doing this! It was our first instructable to make!

[bebopsamurai]

an idea i had, take it or leave it. the craft store i went to had a bag of uniquely shaped mirror pieces, including squares, diamonds, and teardrops. they were small enough that i could put them onto the piece amongst the skewers, and they didnt give it a cluttered look.

[HippieKender]

Thanks so much for sharing this! I just finished mine and I love it! I forgot to pick up something to hang it on the wall with, but will be running to the store soon. I can't wait to see it up on the wall. I've already had requests to make more.

[artistikuul]

I have done leafing projects before and its really not too difficult or time consuming. You can substitute aluminum leaf for silver, it is shinier and less expensive. The leaf comes in a pack of 25 sheets called a book with each square separated by a piece of tissue paper. To apply you would paint your dowels w/ a special glue called (size) that is sticky after it sets up (after approx 15-30 mins). The hardest part is handling the leaf, it sticks to your fingers easily and is very lightweight so you want to be sure there is no draft in the room while you are doing it. I sometimes wear clean cotton gloves to avoid it sticking to my fingers. You could cut into strips before adhering to the dowels just be sure to use really sharp scissors or craft knife. Once your dowels are covered use a soft dry paint brush to brush away any excess where it overlaps and to smooth it out. Great project btw, I have always wanted to make a mirror like this.

[southphillyitaliana]

I am doing the project a bit easier. I plan to get a block of styrofoam and stick the dowels and skewers into it and use regular metallic paint to paint them, that way there's no fuss about making a mess with the paint. The part sticking into the styrofoam wouldn't need to be painted since I would be gluing them directly onto the back of a larger round mirror I got at IKEA years ago. I found small round mosaic mirror tiles on ebay for pretty cheap. I am trying to make a very large version of this mirror, with the main mirror being 20" in diameter. Good thing I had the wherewithal to even think that this could be a DIY project and searched for it - I almost purchased a $200 starburst mirror online that was much smaller than I wanted!

[genesplicer]

Wow! This is a cool project! I had a bunch of brass rod stock lying around, so I did it in brass and used two-part epoxy to hold the rods to the main mirror. Thanks for the idea/instructions!

[PindaHoofd]

Do u have a Lg Chocolate?

[usedtobelieve]

LG Keybo

[PindaHoofd]

Ok

[Mattrox]

very cool 5 stars

[Angeldeplata]

Beautifull work :)

[MaxineLaRue]

I love your instructable! What a cool decoration. Thanks!

[cybermaven]

That is so cool. I'll be making one this weekend! Thanks!!!

[RichardBronosky]

For years my wife has wanted the mirror is the JPEG attached this comment. Unfortunately it was (a) 3 inches too wide (b) $600+ (c) gold YUCK! So I set out to make it. I traced out a pattern of it in Adobe Illustrator (Mirror2.pdf attached) to get the proper scale. Then I tried to be more symetrical because that is my perfectionist way (Mirror.pdf attached) and we both hated it. I intended to buy a convex hall safety mirror, aluminum or stainless TIG welding rods, pre-cut 1 inch and 2 inch mirrors, JB Weld (because it is AWESOME!) Unfortunately I never could find a source for 2 inch mirrors. I drew these plans in 2006-2007 and never got to act on them. I would LOVE to find a reliable source for the 2 inch mirrors.

[camscam]

"I would LOVE to find a reliable source for the 2 inch mirrors" At the automotive store they have ones you can stick on your side rear view mirror to give you a bigger view. Also at the bike shop you may find round bicycle rear view mirrors. Woman's compacts also have small mirrors, if you you can extract them from the case without breaking them.

[betty2dogs]

I love this look. I can't wait to make one or several for my sun porch.

[nak]

If I were alive in the 70s I'd say "That reminds me of the 1970's"

[drishya]

nice work...keep it up

[RedneckAsian]

would it be possible to ad like a sliding sleeve (no jokes please) to make the smaller mirrors able to slide

[j-bar03]

This is absolutely beautiful. Stunning.

[flytape8490]

This is going to be a great gift for my ladyfriend.

[Bindweeds]

Gold on the sticks might be nice too. Maybe add another dimension to it

[jacqvb29]

Looks great! I'm gonna trie to make one.

[DIYDragon]

Awesome - I'll be making one of these as soon as I have a place to put it. I just add projects to my 'favorites list' for later. ; )

[usedtobelieve]

I'm glad you like it that much ! Thanks. :-)

[hg341]

wow this is simple^{i love it and it look GREAT!!}
Thanks for posting this^{and looks like you paid a lot for it like 50$-165$}

[lemonie]

Looks great (and expensive). L

[Kiteman]

I'll say - you can buy "proper" versions of this in Habitat.

[lemonie]

Don't have a Habitat near me, I thought they'd gone but years ago (shows what I know about home-furnishings...) L