Several weekends ago, we checked out the newest West Elm store out in Leawood, Kansas. In the same day we also stopped in at the hardware store to pick up a few things. What do the two have to do with each other? Click through the jump to find out....
How To: Turn Dowel Rods Into Faux West Elm Decor
We came across this mirror that was made of small sticks cut into discs, adhered and then lacquered. It's priced at $150, which isn't bad. But we think you could do it for less! Much less!
Use a small saw (scroll, band, jig... whatever you happen to have) to cut twigs from your own back yard, or for more consistancy, dowel rods from the hardware store. Try to make the pieces uniform in length and adhere them to an inexpensive mirror (try stores like Old Time Pottery or Big Lots, even big boxes like Target or WalMart to find a mirror with an small price tag).
Hot Glue or Craft Glue can be used to adhere your new small wooden discs to the mirror.
Check out the paint aisle for a can of spray lacquer (typically with the clear sealants for about $5 a can). You may of course kick it old school and use an actual can of sealant and a brush... but we do love our spray paint here at AT:Chicago.
All that's left to do is stand back and admire your handiwork. If you don't feel like taking on such a large project, you can scale down the same effect to be used on a photo frame, end table top or even a coaster or two. Don't forget to have fun, and please remember to follow the safety precautions on your power tools!
Photos by Sarahrae
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How To..., DIY, West Elm, Wood, Mirror, Branches, Hardware Store, SticksRelated Links
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To make it smoother, just set up a jig to keep the sticks the same length. Something as simple as a block of wood that is exactly 1/4 inch from the saw blade.
In all honestly, for $150 I'm rather buy it than spend 5 hours gluing all those parts down! But I suppose it would be very meditative.
view Craftypants's profile
My time is worth more than that. I love DIY, but I think $150 is a pretty good price?
view LBhirise's profile
i think you can actually buy the already cute discs - i saw them somewhere...
view houseno8's profile
cute = cut
view houseno8's profile
and I would think that some kind of math would be involved here to make sure that the discs fully cover the mirror...with my luck I'd end up with a big gap on the edge...
view amiencc's profile
i think $150 is a reasonable price, actually.
view Pistachio's profile
Or you could shove all the discs together on a flat surface, apply glue to the mirror frame, turn it over and put it onto the discs.
Thereby glueing them to the frame in *much* less than five hours!
view JG's profile
150 is a good price for all the hours of work you would do. Plus these are cut tree branches not wood dowls. The look would be very different indeed.
view poptart's profile
which one is the example of what you made? or is it only a suggestion?
view charlenemcbride's profile
Yeah, time consuming. Depends how bad you want something and how interesting you could continue to find it until it's done. I see an enthusiastic start and an unfinished project here. I think the authentic sticks look relatively nicer than dowels because of the rings in the wood that dowels wouldn't have.
view K T G's profile
I just saw this in the catalogue as well and thought about creating something similar with cork ends.
view A S C's profile
Oh, I like the idea of cork ends.... but I'd probably just end up pinning stuff to the mirror frame...
view r.b.z.'s profile
Ditto. I like the cork idea. Throw in a few slices of Champagne corks too for texture. Otherwise, I'd just pay the $150. That's closer to a 10 hour job.
view quiltmaster's profile
if you're going to the craft store anyway just pick up the little discs they make for children's art projects they're all a uniform length and they come in a diverse number of sizes add that with a little brown paint thinned to a glaze and this project has gone from 10 hours to 2. and twhen you use the glaze it'll pick up the wood texture you'll never miss the bark (or the mold the will come in with it as a DIY)
Also this would be even more fun using stamped brass discs. Availible at Metailiferous and probably cheaper than the wood. http://www.metalliferous.com/images/BMC2125.pdf
view pheonix1027's profile