DIY Stained Wood Shim Starburst Mirror

http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/diy-stained-wood-shim-starburst-mirror/

Supplies:

Loctite Power Grab adhesive (pressurized can)

Loctite PL 520 Mirror adhesive

8 packs of 12” wood shims (Lowes – $3.87 each)

4 types of wood stain (I used Minwax Natural, Early American, Puritan Pine, English Chestnut ) <—Amazon affiliate links)

electric sander with 150 grit sandpaper

gloves and an old t-shirt for staining

scrap piece of 1/4” luan

jigsaw

French Cleat

14″ Round Beveled Mirror

1.  I started by sanding each of the 315 wood shims I used.  You don’t have to do this but some of them are really rough so I thought to make it look as nice as possible I would spend the time sanding them.

2.  Next I stained all of them with the 4 different shades of stain.  I didn’t stain the entire thing just the edge I was using, the tip and down the sides (this saved on stain).

 

Here are the the colors so you can see the different variances in the wood tones.

3.  I put them together the way I liked them.  I tried not to make a pattern and be as random as I possibly could – which was hard for me.  I used a paint can in the middle so I could line them all up.

 

4. I grouped them together in stacks of 9 and glued them together with the Loctitie Power Grab Adhesive in the pressurized can.  It was awesome and super easy to use.  Because it did such a great grab of holding I didn’t have to use clamps.  Bonus!  On each additional stack of nine I used the previous stack to line up the shims so they were exact to each other.  No worries if a little of the glue seeps out, go ahead and wipe off the excess – it does dry clear.

5.  Then I cut out a circle-ish piece of 1/4” luan with my jigsaw.  I flipped over all my stacks of shims (so the unfinished side was up) and glued each of them with the Loctite Power Grab together.  Then I glued the luan on top of that.  I let it sit overnight with some weight on it.

6.  The next day I glued the mirror on with the Loctite PL520 Mirror adhesive.  It is very important to use the right kind of adhesive with mirrors or else it can pull up the silvering on the back.  I let that sit overnight with some weigh on it to. 

7.  Since it weighed a ton, I used a french cleat on the back of mine.  All you have to do is attach it to the mirror and attach the other side to the wall and it locks in place.

 

I was going to put it over my bed but it was too big so I ended up putting it in my guest room with the serpentine dresser and coral lamp.  The overall finished size was 34” in diameter.