It looks like a peacock

Let's talk about my fireplace for a minute shall we. I like having a fireplace, but the mantel looks like a giant brick H to me. When we bought the house I had every intention of painting it white, but I lost that battle, so I'm learning to love the brick. I would love to tear the whole thing down and replace it, but that is not exactly in the budget.  

The poor space over the mantel has sat bare for months. I had my sunburst mirror up there for a second, but then I found a better home for him. So I have been on the hunt for something else to put there. Since my "H" fireplace is so boxy, I wanted something round to soften it up a little. There are a lot of round mirrors that I like and would work, but I am not about to spend hundreds of dollars on a mirror. Then I saw a picture of this chrysanthemum mirror made out of plastic spoons by Addicted to Decorating. It looked pretty easy and very inexpensive, so I decided to give it a try.

My Version

First I cut the the stems off all the spoons. I used about 300 to make a 25 inch frame.

Next I made a round cardboard frame to glue the spoons onto. In the original tutorial she used two MDF wreath forms and taped them together. I felt like saving a little money and just making my own out of a box I had sitting in the garage. 

Next it was time to start gluing. I just started at the top, leaving a small space between each one, and worked my way down,

After all the spoons were on I took it outside and gave it a couple coats of white spray paint.

I wasn't as careful as I should have been when I got the last row, so after I painted it the inside still wasn't looking so hot. I decided to just cover up the flaws with some white and gray yarn. It worked like a charm; it covered up the ugly and added a little contrast as well.

When I was finished I simply hot glued the frame onto my mirror and hung it on the wall. After I got it hung I asked husband what he thought, expecting him to say he liked it. Instead, he paused for a second and said, "it looks like a peacock." I'm still not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

The project cost me about $15 total. I lucked out and found an 18 inch round mirror on sale at Target for $9. It's pretty much exactly what I was looking for to fill that space.
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