How to make a Rustic Octagon Mirror
Hello! Tomorrow is the LAST day of school for my kids! We are SO excited for this summer, and I am thrilled to have a break from all the end of the year insanity!
Since I have been so busy, I decided to share my post on how to make an Rustic Octagon Mirror! I made this project as one of my contributor posts on My Repurposed Life last year. I am happy to finally share it with you today!
Can you believe I made that?! I know, I still can’t believe it, and it really wasn’t hard! Seriously.
As you may know my bedroom has been an ongoing project for me for over a year now…but I will let you in on a little secret…it is almost done! Maybe I will actually FINISH it this year…fingers crossed.
Anyway, when I finished my Plank Wall I started thinking of different decorative pieces that I could add to the room. Of course with little to no money for decor, I have been searching for DIY projects that use things I already have.
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I found this random piece of wood in my shed and inspiration struck! I knew it would make a perfect decorative mirror and I had just the shape in mind… an octagon.
After some figuring I decided I needed 8 pieces cut at 22.5 degrees ends NOT parallel.
I only had one board and it wasn’t very long so I calculated that I could get all 8 pieces out of it, if the long sides were cut at 8 1/2 inches. I set my Miter saw at 22.5 degrees and cut an end, then flipped my board and cut the other end. You can see after the first piece I used previous pieces to measure and cut.
Notice the one side is long and one is short, I just measured the long side and it was 8 1/2 inches. You could make it smaller or bigger to fit your needs. 🙂
Of course I knew attaching the octagon frame with pocket holes would be the best way so I set to work with my Kreg K5 Pocket-Hole Jig. I drilled 1 1/2 inch pocket holes (since the wood was 1 1/2 inches thick), and used 2 1/2 inch screws to attach them together, and of course I didn’t forget Gorilla Wood glue.
It is important to always clamp your boards when attaching wood with pocket hole screws, trust me!
I ended up using a scrap piece of plywood for my center piece, and traced the octagon shape with my newly built frame. Don’t you love the cool wood it is made out of? I do!
Then I cut it out with my Ryobi Circular Saw, the laser helps to get nice straight cuts.
This time I drilled 3/4 pocket holes into the plywood, and attached it to the back of the frame with glue 1 1/4 inch screws.
Now to venture into an unknown territory…Cutting glass. Dun dun dun!!!!
I was feeling pretty good about this project until this point. I have never cut glass before and I was a little scared. I had gotten a piece of mirror off the side of the road in someone’s trash a few years back and it has been collecting dust in my garage ever since…well not anymore, time to woman up!
To cut glass or mirror you need:
- is a simple Glass Cutter
(I got mine at Home depot for a project I haven’t done yet, ha ha, so I was glad I had it on hand, it was less than $5)
- some oil (I used vegetable oil, that is what is in the yellow bowl)
- some type of ruler or straight edge to run your glass cutter against
- glass or a mirror
- safety goggles and gloves, gotta be safe.
- a few good how to cut glass youtube videos 🙂
I ended up making two attempts at this. The top two photos above were of my first attempt and I used black marker, I couldn’t snap off the small piece on the bottom of the mirror it was too small (top right photo). Let’s just say using a hammer wasn’t my brightest idea…
For my second attempt I used a blue dry erase marker to trace my shape and made sure that I would have enough room on each end to snap off the mirror.
I lined up my straight edge to where I need the glass to be cut (bottom left above), dipped my glass cutter into oil, and scored it down the glass. Then with the scored edge on the edge of a table I snapped off the mirror (bottom right, I was wearing goggles, but I had forgotten my gloves, oops). It came right off, if I applied enough pressure, it was a little scary at first!
While my second attempt went better…it wasn’t perfect, I will share in a second. I am not giving a full tutorial on cutting glass, I watched a youtube video, or two…and suggest you do the same.
I messed up on one side of the mirror and had to try and clip off a few pieced to make it fit, it wasn’t too pretty so I ended up purchasing this decorative trim to hide my messy edge. I think I am still in my learning curve on this glass cutting, but it really is pretty easy…after a few tries. Maybe I should have practiced first! Ha!
I cut the trim so the long ends were about 6 1/2 inches after measuring the inside of the frame. I did a dry fit to make sure it was going to work.
I used my “natural stain” that I used on my Camping Crate, to stain the plywood and the new “hide my mistake” trim. This was just after I brushed it on, it darkened a little more after this shot.
I brushed some black paint on the bottom of the trim so it would not reflect wood into the mirror. I was now ready to install my mirror into the octagon frame.
Right….I think this picture says it all, except I have no idea what happened. My caulk gun went haywire or my mirror glue container did…not sure which malfunctioned. A plastic fork saved the day and I smeared the special mirror glue all over the plywood. I love happy endings. 🙂
After I quickly washed my hands from the glue mess I set the mirror into place. You can see my messy mirror edge on the bottom right. You know…I am glad I made that mistake, cause the trim really added that finishing touch!
To attach my trim, I ran a small line of hot glue on the mirror and put the trim in place. Done!
I did it! I made a mirror, and kind of learned a new skill in the process! So awesome.
I have been loving this in my bedroom!
I think the reclaimed wood is really what gives it the character and charm. All I spent was just under $2 for the trim!
I found it kind of difficult to take pictures of the mirror because of the reflection, but at least you get a pretty view of my old drawers into porch planters that I made a few years ago!
So do you think you would attempt this? I promise it is easier than you think!
Hugs!
Mindi
I will be linking to these parties, Savvy Southern Style, and Bloom Designs
I remember that, just beautiful! Children here go to school until the end of June and start back in Sept., so they still have a month to go!
Your mirror looks great.
Thanks for sharing with SYC.
This is stunning! Your happy accident with the trim was a good one, I think it adds another layer of character.
Looks like a great project! It turned out so nice. Thanks for sharing at the Inspiration Spotlight party. Pinned & shared. See you again soon.
OMG this is super cool! I would be so scared to try to cut glass. I love the rustic look of the wood and the shape is great.
Thank you for sharing this week at Brag About It link party on VMG206 (Mondays at Midnight). I plan to feature you next week!
~ Megin of VMG206