Giant Sunburst Mirror for a Large Space

Last Spring I made Giant Wall Art using sticks. Click HERE to read that!

Honestly, that worked well, until Big A walked by it last week and if came tumbling down off the wall and needed to be replaced. It's not the first time, we all bump it. So, I came up with:

 

Plan B.

 

Bear with me, with this tutorial - there's a moral to this story.

 

I took off all of those sticks (the ones that weren't broken) and decided to re-do this as a sunburst, only using a mirror). I also made sure to secure the sticks, very well. And here's the finished product:

 

Another sunburst mirror, using a dollar store mirror, rope, and sticks.
(*For me, of course, this is my second round of this project).

 

First, I bought a mirror from the dollar store. The kind I bought has the little suction cups on the back. At first I tried to pry them off, but then I realized that I could use picture hanging wire to wrap around two of them, for hanging the finished sunburst mirror.

 

The mirror I bought was green, so I painted it black - but as it turns out I didn't need to. I was worried the color might show through the rope, but it doesn't in the end.

 

Take the glue gun and wrap the jute rope around the outside of the mirror. You can see the rope here:

 

 

Next you have to gather your sticks (or in my case, pry them off of the original, broken project). You can buy a bundle of sticks (the craft section of Walmart has them), or just gather them around your yard. Trim them and cut them to the length you want. You can see some of my sticks are curved and have some bumps, but they should be fairly straight. I used needle nose pliers and cut them to two different lengths.  Most people would use pruners, but I couldn't find mine!

 

Turn the dollar store mirror over, and use a glue gun to glue the sticks to the back side of the mirror. (Notice I am working on the very clean surface of my kids homework!)

 



 

Once the glue is good and dry, go over it again, to make sure the sticks are VERY secure before you pick the sunburst mirror up and try to hang it. 

 

 

Above is a picture of the wall as seen from our kitchen archway into the hallway.

The sunburst measured about 5' by 5'.

(Notice my subtle use of the past tense?)

 

I was very happy with it - especially for that large space.

 

THEN.

CAME.

BIG A.

 

Again.

 

Big A looked at me nervously and then laughed. And I laughed too. (Not a hearty belly laugh - more of a maniacal cackle.) And then I solemnly took my smashed to smithereens sunburst mirror and threw it in the trash. I felt better after my temper tantrum sulk, I then I really did laugh. And I realized that not all of my projects are going to work.

 

The moral of this story?

 

DO NOT hang giant sunburst mirrors in a high-traffic hallway. Seriously. I LOVE this project, and it looked impressive. However, if you make one, it needs a secluded spot where people aren't walking by all the time. It's light and easy to knock. The sticks are, well, sticky. They almost grab onto your clothing - and it doesn't end well.

 

It's a fail. At least for that hallway. Time to come up with Plan C.