DIY Sunburst Mirror {tutorial}

So, after seeing tons of these all over the place, I had to make one too!

Materials needed:
3 packs cedar wood shims
Hot glue gun
round piece of cardboard
mirror epoxy and caulk gun
round mirror
D ring hanging hardware

Instead of purchasing floral rings (I honestly couldn't find them) I traced a dinner plate on the side of cardboard box and just cut it out to start with. I laid the first layer of shims around the base before I started glueing to make sure I had them somewhat evenly spaced. Once I thought it was good, I just used hot glue and went to town!

I started out using the grout lines in my tile floor as a guide! Strange, I know, but it worked. So, as you can see I started with 4, and then added four more to halve each section and slowly added more in so that they were evenly spaced.

I added another layer, and again laid the entire second layer down before I started gluing. The first and second layer all start at the same place on the insde circle. For layer 3, I stared about an inch out from the inside circle, which you can see illustrated below.

Layer 3

I ended up with four layers in all, with the final one extending out past where the mirror was going to be. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about being able to see the edges of the shims instead of them being covered by the mirror, but once I hung it above the fireplace, I was so glad I decided to extend them out and make it larger because it is the perfect scale for above our large fireplace.

For every layer, I used hot glue and after reading a few other blogs, I decided to just go ahead and buy the mirror caulk/epoxy and save myself a broken mirror and another trip to Lowes. It worked perfectly!

I then attached some D ring hangers to the back in order to make hanging a little easier!

And there you have it!

Designer look, at a fraction of the cost!

Now, to do something about that awful ceiling fan!!! :)

Fabric Covered Magnet Board {tutorial}

Even though it's been a while since I've posted, I've been a busy little bee working on LOTS of projects around the house! Here is just a quick peek at a project to help me stay organized in my new basement office!

Here is what I started with...

First, I took some fabric I bought at JoAnn's and cut it about an inch larger on each side than the magnetic board measured. I placed the fabric right-side down on my table and laid the front of the board on top. I then took my hot glue gun and ran a bead of hot glue down the back edges of the magnetic board and pressed the fabric down all the way around the back of the board.

To add the grosgrain trim, I mitred the edges of the ribbon just by using my hot glue gun. I put a small bead of hot glue near the end of the ribbon and folded it over. I pre-measured and cut all four pieces to length prior to this step.

I then glued each piece to the fabric along the edge of the front side of the magnetic board.

I added a zipper rosette to the top corner because it still looked a little plain. (this was an after Christmas Wal-Mart clearance bin find- score!)

And some Michael's dollar bin magnets that color coordinate...

And, voila! Sterlie classroom to chic magnet board!