DIY Easy Wood Sunburst Mirror — Actually Alli

DIY wood sunburst mirror using popsicle sticks

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Why are mirrors so expensive? Big round mirrors ALWAYS catch my attention at stores, but then I see the price tag and have to shamefully walk away. It’s just not on-budget for some on a reporter salary (lol). So in true Actually Alli fashion, when I can’t afford something, I try to DIY it!

I was inspired by this mirror I found over on The Lily Pad Cottage. She said it came from Pier 1.

While this project looks difficult, it is soooo easy! That’s because I used popsicle sticks to make that gorgeous wood sunburst. I was also able to make it for less than $30. I’ll break down the full cost at the end of this post.

As always, I have a video on how to make this, but of course you can keep scrolling for the written tutorial.

Supplies you’ll need

12 inch circle mirror (I get mine at Joann’s)
12 inch wood circle cutout - like this, this or this.
Popsicle sticks (you’ll need at least 100 sticks for this DIY. I bought 3 packs so i could pick and choose which sticks I used)
2 to 4 pieces of 1/16” thick basswood (found at Michaels)
E6000 glue
Gorilla hot glue sticks
Wood stain (I used MinWax’s Golden Pecan)
Sharp scissors (but ones you don’t mind if they get dull)
Pencil
Ruler and/or a square ruler
Picture frame hanging hardware
Utility or craft knife

Instructions

First, make use four popsicle sticks to make a template to cut the other sticks

1) First, you’re going to need to take 4 popsicle sticks to make your templates. The first stick, I marked to cut just the rounded end off the popsicle stick. I cut the second stick at 4.5”, the third at 3.75”, and the 4th I cut exactly in the middle. I made sure to label each stick as the template to make it easier to work with and then used some sharp scissors to cut them down to size.

Cut all of your popsicle sticks down to size. These will be used to make the wood sunburst.

2) Next, use the template to mark where you’re cutting each of the sticks. I started with the largest sticks, then worked my way to the smallest.

I found it’s much faster to mark where you cut first, once all the sticks are marked, you can trim your sticks to size. You’ll need to cut at least 25 of each size stick to go all the way around a 12 inch mirror.

Tip: I found the Dollar Tree popsicle sticks actually have some beautiful variation in the wood grain. Use a mix of the unique sticks and the plain sticks to really make this piece look more high-end. I was very intentional with what size I cut my popsicle sticks to based on the wood grain.

Tip: if you scissors get dull, I’ve heard to cut some layers of foil with them… not sure if this really made a difference or not, but I figured it was worth a shot to try.

The biggest problem I needed to solve for this DIY was how to frame the mirror. I didn’t want to leave it with a rough glass edge, and I felt like a 12” embroidery hoop wouldn’t look right. So this is what I came up with…

I had two pieces of 1/16th inch thick basswood in my stash. This can be found inexpensively at the craft store. It’s probably better to use 4 pieces, but I’m using what I had on hand.

3) For the frame, first I measured where I’d need to cut my basswood boards down using a utility knife. I cut both pieces to 13.5 inches.

4) Then taped the larger pieces and smaller leftover pieces together so they’d line up. I then found the middle of the large and small pieces, lined them up, and taped them together.

Use a pushpin, pencil and string to make a perfect circle for the outer and inner dimensions of the frame

5) In order to make a perfect circle, I tied a string to a pushpin and then to my pencil, I stuck the pin exactly in the middle through the seams of the basswood, until it stuck into my cutting mat. Then I carefully drew the circle the best I could around the boards to make the outer ring. I then made the string shorter to make an inner ring.

My frame was about 3/4” wide. I made the inner ring slightly smaller than 12” so that it would overlap the edge of the mirror a bit.

Use a utility knife to cut out the mirror frame

6) Then, using my utility knife, I carefully cut out the circles.

Stain each of the wood pieces and let them dry for several hours

7) Once all the pieces are done, it’s time to stain them. I’m using MinWax’s Golden Pecan stain because it enhances the natural color of the wood and brings in nice golden tones. I applied 1 coat of stain to all the pieces and wiped off the excess right away.

Let all the pieces dry for a few hours before moving on.

How to position the popsicle stick pieces to assemble the wood sunburst mirror

8) To start assembling the sunburst portion of this mirror, you’re going to need a 12” wood circle as the base. I found mine at Joann Fabrics, I linked similar ones off Amazon above.

I glued down the first four pieces just to get an idea of how they’ll all fit together.

Begin gluing down the popsicle sticks alternating between the two larger sizes. This will begin forming the sunburst.

9) Alternate between the two longest popsicle sticks going all the way around the wood circle cut out. I made sure the ends of each stick were right up next to each other, but then angled out, with about a slightly less than 1 popsicle stick wide gap between (I hope that makes sense).

Tip: The key for assembling this mirror is Gorilla hot glue sticks. This is my first time using them, and I absolutely love them. They give you a bit more “work time” before the glue cools, and once the glue cures after a few hours, they have a way better bond than regular hot glue.

Add the smaller two popsicles, once again alternating the sizes for the sunburst

10) After the first layer of sticks are glued, then it’s time to glue down the second layer. I glued them down right on top of the popsicle sticks, placing them in the gap between the larger pieces… and making sure to alternate the sizes as you see here.

Tip: If you do make this DIY, make sure you vary the tones of the wood grain to make this look really good.

Glue down 10 popsicle sticks to the center of the wood circle to give your mirror a place to stick to

11) After the sunburst was assembled, I took 10 popsicle sticks and glued them in a diamond formation to the center of the wood cut out. This is because the sunburst adds bulk around the edges, and the middle of the mirror will need something to hold onto too.

Use gorilla hot glue and e6000 to bond the mirror to the wood sunburst base.

12) To attach the mirror, I put lots of globs of e6000 industrial strength glue around the outer edge of the mirror, and on each of the popsicle sticks. In-between each of those globs on the mirror, I added some of the Gorilla hot glue just so there’d be an instant bond while the e6000 dried.

Use hot glue to add the wood frame to the sunburst mirror

13) To attach the frame, I glued 2 pieces of the scrap popsicle sticks to the back of each frame piece to add height (to make up for the height of the mirror), then put Gorilla hot glue on the back, and stuck them around the mirror to finish it.

You’ll want to let the entire mirror cure overnight before hanging it up.

14) My wood round from Joann’s already had hanging hardware on the back, but you may need to add picture frame hardware in order for this to go on the wall.

DIY wood sunburst mirror. How to make a trendy sunburst mirror using popsicle sticks from Dollar Tree. Cheap and easy tutorial.

Here is the finished result! I plan to take even better photos of this project once I finish my dining room makeover, and I’ll update the post with those.

I think this mirror turned out way better than I expected. I don’t think anyone would ever know I used popsicle sticks to make it either.