DIY wood scrap mirror frame

Eek, this is super late today! I am really sorry for that, I had camera issues, lighting problems, kids, my dog ate my homework…you all know how it goes. Either way I am here and beyond excited to show off this DIY wood scrap mirror frame. This is part of the Ready, set, craft challenge! Myself and 3 other blogging friends, Gav & Ro, Amber Oliver,  and XO Kerry are the ladies behind this challenge. Each month we pick a new item to work with and we get to crafting. In the past the themes have been yarn and Christmas ornaments. This month it was my turn to pick the theme and I selected wood. I love to use wood in home decor projects, and have a ton of it laying around my house. Because my name is Emily and I have a crafting supply, paints, wood, and furniture needing to be redone problem. The first step is admitting you have a problem. I do like to redeem myself by using the items in beautiful ways, like redoing an old, tired and simple mirror.

I purchased this mirror from Goodwill with plans to one day do something with it. Today is that day folks! I am want to make this simple mirror shine with a colorful wood frame.

I have all of these scrap pieces of wood. They were purchased in a bundle for $3, Dale thought I was insane for buying these because they are long, thin and just literal scraps. He just mentioned we are going to have to buy another bundle soon because we have gone through them with various projects.  I cut them in half, not perfect halves because I wanted one set of the wood pieces to be bulkier.

Then I went table saw crazy cutting a bunch of different sized pieces from 1 inch to about 6 inches. There was no rhyme or reason to my cutting.

I also cut to size a large plywood piece. The plan is to have two rows of the smaller wood pieces framing in the mirror. These wood pieces are rough so I needed to do some sanding to get them smooth.

Placing the mirror in the center of the plywood and taking all of the slightly bigger wood pieces. Setting them on the outside. I wanted this to have a staggered effect so was mindful of placing smaller next to bigger. No clumping a bunch of similarly sized pieces together.

When I had the desired set up there was a few that needed to be trimmed to have it all fir snugly. Marking where the extra is and cutting it off.

I placed the interior ones into the frame next. Because I plan to paint them with three different colors I am going to have to be careful with the color and placement of these. I did not want to paint pieces before placement because the size and color need to be well planned out. To keep things in this set up I numbered each wood piece. This way when I am placing them back on the same arrangement can be achieved.

I also wanted to have a perfectly imperfect color set up. I chose a light gray, dark gray and turquoise. These are my favorite colors and I always have samples or paint around the house leftover. I blotted a small amount of paint on each wood piece. This way I can plan the appearance of color and when I take off all of the pieces to paint I will know what needs to be painted and put where.

I grouped together all of the colors, turned them over (so I can still see the number on the back) then painted away.

I love the look of projects happening.

I also took and cut down to size more of the same wood scrap boards. These are going to be the outer frame for all of this. I painted these white to help tie in the tiny original white colored mirror frame.

With everything cut and painted it is time to attach it all. I used wood glue and lined up the outer frame pieces. Putting a generous amount of wood glue on.

Using clamped and setting it in place overnight.

I woke up like a kid on Christmas morning, this DIY wood scrap mirror frame was so close to being done! I had already organized the smaller wood pieces in their corresponding order.

Using the same wood glue and laying it over the  plywood. I began placing the smaller wood pieces into their predetermined spots.

Next comes attaching the actual mirror. Using heavy duty power grip glue and slathering it on the surface.

Pressing the mirror down and letting it sit overnight. Because this is going to be hung up and no one likes or broken mirror or 7 years bad luck, let all of this glue set in. Then add a standard hanging back to it.

I hung it up in my tiny little foyer and it adds just the perfect amount of color to this space!

I love the details and rustic look to this DIY wood scrap mirror frame. Because of the colors it has a very coastal feel to it, but painting them a different color will have it feeling fresh and different. Staining the wood scraps a darker wood color would be a very stunning alternative as well.

I am so happy with how this turned out! It did take a few days to make this because of all of the waiting time for paint to try and wood glue to adhere. But the actual working on it was really quick and painless.

Adding a third row of wood pieces would give this a very dramatic effect as well.

I tend to decorate my home with light colors and a lot of white accents. Finding a way to add pops of color is a great way to warm things up and add the casual feel to the space. This  DIY wood scrap mirror frame is a subtle way of adding color and texture to a somewhat boring place in my home. These three colors are my spirit decorating colors, I am not sure if I will ever fall out of love with them. If I do I will have a lot of home decor pieces to repaint because these colors are slowly taking over my home. For now, if loving these colors is right, I don’t want to be wrong! Be sure to go and check out the other ladies Ready, set, craft projects! Next months theme is mason jars and I am already day dreaming of fun ways to use them in some way!

Gav & Ro – Amber Oliver – XO Kerry

Now, it is time to get the rest of my day together. No more excuses, it is Tuesday… lets to this!