Are you looking for an accent wall mirror? Follow this amazing tutorial to create your own from dollar store compacts. This easy project is a win.
Have you ever noticed that ideas show up in the most amazing places?
There you are.
Minding your own business.
Walking through the aisles of the dollar store.
When all of a sudden, without warning, when you least expect it…
….an amazing idea just shows up.
A while ago…..I started saving my pennies for a mirror like this.
$248 dollars worth of pennies to be exact.
But really….why?
When you could just make your own.
(and this is where the brilliant part comes in)
You and your totally brilliant self could make a knock-off mirror…..
….from these.
Compacts.
From Dollar Tree.
For umm…..wait for it….wait for it….$19.00.
How to Make a Wall Mirror
(made from Dollar Store compacts)
Step 1: Open the compact
Put on safety glasses.
Seriously….safety first.
Step 2: Separate compact into two pieces
Using pliers, clip mirrors apart.
Then clip off the small pieces of plastic to create two round circles.
Some of the circles had a little character after I finished.
No worries….you are brilliant….remember.
Step 3: Place circles into the desired shape
I started with a central row of seven.
Then added two rows of six. Then five. And so on.
After I laid out my pattern….I traced around with a pencil and cut out the shape.
This is your base.
Step 4: Spray paint compacts silver
Or gold.
Or pink.
Or leave them gray.
This is your mirror.
Step 5: Hot glue compacts to the base
I added a drop of hot glue in between each of the mirrors and painted it silver.
This gives the illusion of soldering (and hides all the extra “character.”)
Hang the mirror and take you and your extra $229 of pennies shopping.
And don’t forget to let the salespeople know…..
…..someone brilliant is in the house. 🙂
You. are. genius. And thrifty. :) Dangerous combo! xo Heidi
I admit it. You are brilliant. And I love the comment about saying what good girls we are. I tell my "girls" that all the time. And they are 27 and 20 - and they are brilliant too!!! xo Catharine (the pretty great herself) :)
Ok, that's an absolutely brilliant knock off!!! And I agree, we should all be loving on each other and ourselves every day. Once when I was talking baby talk to my then newborn daughter (who's 13 now!), a friend of mine remarked, "Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all told each other what a good girl we are?" :)
I like your mirror better than the one from Anthropologie!
I know one thing that is NOT compact... Your Talent! Bravo! xoxo
Ballard has a similar one and this looks awesome! And easy thanks so much.
No words...just WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!! hugs!!!!
Very clever as always, my friend. xo Laura
Oh yeah....that's brilliant!!! I know brilliant when I see it too because I'm brilliant....right? Your mirror is super groovy but your words are even better (if that's possible) ........the blog world, and magazines, and HGTV, and everything else can be pretty darn intimidating! We all need to celebrate ourselves a bit more! OK, I am going to shamelessly tell you to check out my post about making candle covers from PVC.......it's a great idea and you are just the gal to make it! Blessings, Lorraine
Brilliant! Always thinking!
Karianne, I love you. I love that you made a chic, expensive looking mirror for Dollar Tree compacts. AMAZING!!!
Wow! That. Is. Brilliant! No other words...whatdidyoubuy with the extra $$?? ;)
Yes, that is brilliant! I actually like your mirror better than the original.
You are brilliant, and by George, so am I. Now what are you going to do with the other half of the compacts?
That's not brilliant.....it's GENIUS! Thanks for another fantabulous idea!
You ARE brilliant KariAnne! I love this! Thank you so much for sharing this idea and making us think deeper as always. Blessings to you, Patti
Girl this is it!!!!! You are the Dollar Store DIY DIVA... love it!
What a brilliant project! I love it. And I am sure that when you stand in front of that mirror you choose to look only into the round that shows off your good part?! Your earrings! ;-)
You ARE brilliant! I really love this mirror. And Dollar store compacts? I'll say it again - Brilliant!
ok, yes, you are Brilliant!! What a great idea. I am absolutely making this one... Probably several times because it would also be a great gift!
So incredibly creative, girl! You and your mirror are both brilliant. (And I love the pinky lamp shades!)
I love this mirror idea, especially for my daughter's dorm room!!If I can get compacts from the Dollar Tree that are white, black or silver on the back, I think I'll skip the painting part.
Too cute! Can't wait to see what you do w/ the 19 makeup pads that go in the compact! ;o)
BTW, if I haven't told you before, those lamp shades are pretty brilliant, too!
Super cute brilliant lady!!! Blessings, Cindy
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh Karianne, you're such a little Doll - This is brilliant!
Very cool, brilliant. Have a question in regards to painting the compacts tho. I can see it would be easy to lay them upside down to paint the backs, if needed, but to get the rim on the fronts, did you have to tape off all those little compacts? or did you just use a small brush to paint the rims? Just curious, thanks. This looks awesome tho. I love your creativity!!
I have the same question! Thanks!
I still do not see an answer to Jane's question here. If there were one, I would have clobbered together a mirror before breakfast today (I'm brilliant, am I?). Cutting a circle and using it to cover the mirror before spraying seems tedious... especially if I have to do it with 17+ tiny mirrors.
Julie, I cut out a piece of paper the exact size of the mirror and taped it to the inside of the compact! Then I spray painted the front (I didn't worry about the back because it was already gray and glued to the wood). I removed the circle and finished the project! Hope this helps! karianne
That was my question also! Great mirror!
I know where I am going today!!!
you're a genius..very cute
Very, very clever...looks wonderful, Karianne!
This is brilliant Kari Anne, you are brilliant and talented. I love a dollar store project. I want one too! BTW a little added character is always a good thing.
You did not oversell - it is brilliant - and all from the dollar store - even more brilliant!
You are definitely brilliant! And yours is SO much better than the other one!! Thanks for the inspiration, today and everyday!
Brilliant! Always.♥
That. Is brilliant! Super cool idea! You may just have convinced me that I CAN find good junk in dollar stores!
That is simply amazing. I love your creativity and how your brain works, share some of that brain power with me!?!
It took a brilliant mind to dream up up such a brilliantly brilliant idea!
Not just brillant but, "Bloody Brillant!" Must be said in a British accent, i.e. Sherlock Holmes, Jason Statham, Robin Williams on a roll, you get the idea. :)
This really is clever, you crazy girl! And I love that you and Marianne are promoting each other. And you thought you were the blog cupid for me there. Looks like you made your very own blogger bestie match. Funny lady. I'm here trying to figure out how to fit in a 12 Days of Christmas blog walk in the week before and week of my show. Why do I get myself in over my head every single time? The Other Marian
PS. did you see the pics for the show yet? They are A-maz-ing, and best of all, shot by someone else. I do love delegating when I can. https://www.cmshawstudios.blogspot.com/2013/10/wanna-see-goods.html
What a great and easy tutorial! I never would have thought to do it myself!
you are both brilliant and amazing!
Your cleverness is off the richter scale!
Sooooooo clever! I almost stopped at the dollar store today, but ran out of time. Then I come home to read this - now I will walk through with a whole new perspective! Thanks :)
I've said it before and I'll say it again...YOU ARE BRILLIANT and I'm so thankful for you and your inspiration!
i actually like yours better!
KariAnne, This is fantastic. I love your inspiration mirror and could have never come up with a way to DIY it by myself. Yours turned out so fabulous. Thank you for sharing your amazing idea.
You are one brilliant lady :) Super-cute, thrifty and amazing!! Cindy
KA- no one EVER told me I was a brilliant DYIer - um, nope not gonna happen. in this lifetime. I have possibly heard it whispered softly about a design or two maybe, when I cleverly got the look for less thing down right, but YOU, my dear are absolutely and totally brilliant, there is no denying that fact. Your latest project is just awesome - such fun. You go girl. Seriously this is just clever as heck.
I would have never guessed this mirror was made with compacts. Brilliant!
Feeling not brilliant today. My son brought his project back home from school He worked really hard on it and I helped him and he got a "gulp," 73. I feel a little offended by this grade. I thought it was , well not quite brilliant, but nice. It was a project to make your own island. He worked his little heart out on it. Somewhere we went wrong but I'm not sure where or when.
I never would have guessed...and now I want one! Thanks for the tutorial!!
Beyond brilliant! I am currently trying to think of a place to make and put one of these!!
This Tutorial is so smart and inspiring. I have always been a fan of wall mirrors. And this trick is the coolest. One question: Does Hot Glue make it stick to the wall? I had a real bad experience once. It didnot stay for long. Love Jessica x
So Freakin' Brilliant! Just a thought.... you can buy mini glue sticks that are all different colors (even some with GLITTER already in them!) gah! That way you don't have to paint.....and could go with silver compacts with fuschia pink glitter glue. STOP. THE. BUS.! It's headed to Crazy Town!
You are brilliant, no doubt about it! :-) ~Sarah
It's brilliant! Love it! You're brilliant. Love ya! Fabulous job, Karianne - compacts? Genius!
KariAnne you are more than brilliant and amazing....... well on a scale of 1 to 10, you are at least a 21. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this and I so hope to get to the store to buy the very same compacts and make one just like you showed us. I am a big time, mirror flippin freak. I would have a solid wall mirror on one wall of my tiny half bath if I could. But this one is so adorable, genius, cute. Thank you ever so much for letting me copy from you. (grin, smile, giggle)
Genius! This is flat out genius!
Brilliant, in more ways than one! (referring to you and the mirror, of course lol) I am def. going to try this.
I love your Brilliant Mirror made by a Brilliant Woman :-) The Big Sur mirror for nearly $700 would be a good one to do if one could find beautiful pieces of timber and one of those long, slim curvy mirrors from Ikea - an idea is already happening :-D
I totally love your version better! Definitely a brilliant idea. We'll be featuring this over at Someday Crafts tomorrow :)
Brilliant is an understatement.. I want to just stand close-by to you and hope some of your ingenuity wears off on me!
Did you spray the board? Can't tell from the pictures.
great job love how this turned out and ohhh the white milk glass love love love it
You are so totally amazingly brilliant!!!! It is simply stunning, you are my hero!!
LOVE and want to steal....errr...borrow this brilliant idea. Question, did you paint your wood before attaching the mirrors? I can see one in my office, one over the buffet, one on the mantel! At only about 20 bucks so doable :-)
Does your brain ever stop churning out brilliant ideas? Do you ever sleep at night? I love you, Kari Anne. Annie XO
How did you get the hinge part off the compacts so that they were all equally round? thanks!
That is brilliant. I never would have guessed that is what they were made out of!
Truly brilliant. LOVE the lamps!!
This is a fantastic idea! Pure genius!! ~M.
I love this! I had to pin this one! I love the lamp shades and milk glass display with the mirror! I love the colorful and classy style. I will probably do this! Thank you.
Hi! Saw this on Pinterest, and Oh My Goodness! I LOVE IT. And am going to do it!! Why? because I am brilliant!!!! Now here is my question. Where did you get the wood circle base, that you are gluing the compacts onto? Did I miss that part on the tutorial? And how would you hang it-meaning, would you add a hook or something? Thanks so much for this link, its great!
Hi I have the same question as Mel. I am thinking of doing this project. Please lemme know "Where did you get the wood circle base, that you are gluing the compacts onto?" And "How would you hang it-meaning, would you add a hook or something?" Thank you :)
I found some mirrors at my dollar store that are a slightly different shape, and i can't wait to try this! Question: When you spray painted them, how did you avoid painting the mirror itself? Did you cover it with something? Since mine aren't nice and round, i'm not sure the best way to avoid painting on the mirrored part. Thanks!
Well doll you're brilliant! :D This mirror WOAH! It's quite amazing! Adore it!
Well, that's absolutely brilliant! I'm always telling my handsome hubby that he's brilliant (and it's usually a justified statement), but now you get to join the ranks of the brilliant, too! It's super cute - love it!
Absolutely love this!!! Another diy project :-)