Researching How to Make a Rope Border Mirror

Well, wouldn't you know it.  A few days ago, while I was looking at this and that, I came across -- somewhere and for the life of me I don't remember where (Wayfair???) -- a photograph of a beautiful and very expensive rope-border mirror.  The one I saw was rectangular.  I thought to myself, Gee, self, I'm surprised someone hasn't come up with a DYI for this.

Ha ha ha, Jan!  Of course they have!  It was maybe all of 30 minutes later that I visited The Shabby Creek Cottage Blog and lo and behold!  There, right before my bedazzled eyes, was a complete pictorial tutorial (rhyme!) on how to make your own round rope mirror! She even cut her own dang mirror to the size she wanted from a Goodwill purchased mirror!  This woman is like Super Woman, let me tell you.  The resulting mirror sure is beautiful!  June 11, 2012 How to Make: Rope Mirror.  This mirror cost $21.50 for materials.

So, as my plans for trying to buy candle sconces for the upstairs bathroom have come to naught (that's a whole 'nother blog post, darlings!), tonight I went looking for that rectangular rope mirror and of course, couldn't find it! 

But I did find this big round beauty at Pottery Barn:

It's a big whopping 32" in diameter and $349.  Ahem, I would love it, but no way am I going to pay that kind of money for a mirror, unless it's signed by Marie Antoinette herself.

Here are some other DIY rope mirrors.  I do not think I will ever get over being absolutely amazed at how ingenious you all can be when it comes to doing things like this.  I'm just ga-ga over these mirrors, not just because they're so pretty -- I actually embarked on a totally separate and totally unrelated project recently to give a new look to my mantle area in the front room and it involved working with what I already have in the house -- some round brass trays and decorative brass plates, a smallish bullseye mirror, a sphereis (that's what I call it -- they're used a lot as garden decorations and I believe it's an old symbol for the now defunct Atomic Energy Agency, LOL!)  I'm sure I'll kick myself when I remember the proper name for this simple 3-dimensional hollow globe-y thing tomorrow at 3 a.m....  Now darlings, I'm telling you, a rope mirror -- well, a reasonable facsimile -- would look just great on that wall above the fireplace -- except I'd probably paint my rope gold -- I'm a sucker for some glitz and glimmer :)

Nate Berkus mirror

Check out this pictorial tutorial (har! - see rhyme above) at The Nate Berkus Show.  I have no idea who Nate Berkus is, and no idea what the date is on this project, but I've got to tell you, he (if it is a "he" -- well, the hands look like man hands, but darlings, everything can be faked these days...) makes the project look so easy -- even easier than The Shabby Creek Cottage project (see above) because you know, I don't mess with power saws!  Nope, no way.  This one uses a cut out of CARDBOARD and hey, I can do that with a good strong pair of scissors or an exacto knife.  Hmmm....  The Nate Berkus Show: How to Make a Rope Mirror (couldn't find a date).  Nate, I hope you won't mind my showing a photo of the final product -- ingeniously constructed with it's own rope hanger!  This mirror cost about $35 for materials. 



Rope border/rope hanger mirror project,
Martha Stewart

Well, this next link only goes to show you how hopelessly behind the times I am, because it's from 2011!  It shows Nate's mirror (above), and two others:  one using an IKEA round mirror as a "base" and a Martha Stewart project:  From Shelterness, 3 Cool DIY Rope Mirrors.  FYI, the IKEA round mirror project should more correctly be called "a rope-hung mirror" (with the rope attached to two sides of the mirror).  Link from the original instructions at Apartment Therapy.  The Martha Stewart project uses a 10" mirror as a base and no hot glue gun!  I don't own one of those and the thought of attempting to use one scares the crap out of me, truth be told.  Martha comes through for those of us glue-gun challenged chicks!  Her instructions are exquisitely simple to follow with some photos -- there are not so many steps and actually, after looking at Nate Berkus' rope mirror, I think combining Martha's instructions with Nate's technique to make a fully-incorporated rope hanger as part of the rope "frame" would make things even simpler.  Hmmm....  

Oy, just saw that the rectangular rope border mirror I came across a few days ago was from Ballard Designs.  Well of course it was.  Duh, Jan!  And, what's more, it's been around since 2011.  Oops -- just found a site that dates back to November 3, 2010 that's talking about the exact same Ballard Designs mirror and Nate Berkus' design take-off on same.  LOL!  Well, a good idea is just damn timeless, darlings.  That's all for tonight.

Seriously, I'm going to take a good hard look at ordering a round mirror from IKEA, and using a combination of Martha Stewart's and Nate Berkus' techniques to create a fabulous rope-bordered mirror to hang above my mantle.