DIY Fluted Wall Mirror

This DIY Fluted Wall Mirror has a high end plaster look, but you can make one yourself for way less using foam! A big thanks to Floracraft for sponsoring this post. This post contains affiliate links when possible.

For this month’s Make It Fun Crafts team challenge, we all received a box of foam sheets and were tasked with creating something new for our home decor. Honestly, I was stumped for a while, but eventually I remembered an awesome paper mache mirror I had seen at West Elm, and I thought maybe I could create something similar.

I am really happy with the way my little mirror came out. It has a nice modern shape, but it also has a earthy, handmade texture, which I really dig.

I am constantly moving things around in our home, so I’m not 100% sure where this mirror will end up, but I’m thinking it would be a great way to add some dimension and texture to a gallery wall. 

If you want to make your own fluted wall mirror, here’s everything you will need:

Supplies:

• 2″ Floracraft® Make It: Fun® Foam Sheet
• Floracraft® Styrocutter® Plus
• StyroGlue
• Floracraft® Smooth Finish
• 10″ Round Mirror
• 12″x12″x1/8″ Plywood
• Super Glue
• Foam Filing Tool (or sand paper should work well too)
• White Chalk Paint
• Command Strips for hanging

I started off by gluing the mirror to my plywood backing. I used super glue to get a nice strong hold.

Next, I cut my piece of foam in half widthwise and glued the two pieces together using the StyroGlue to create a piece of foam wide enough to cover my whole mirror. The StyroGlue takes a couple of hours to fully dry and set.

When the foam was ready, I drew the mirror’s basic doughnut shape onto it. I used a bowl to trace out the inner circle, and then measured out the larger circle from there, making sure I made it large enough to cover the mirror backing. (I ended up having to clip off the corners of my plywood with a saw to make sure they didn’t poke out from behind the frame.)

Then, I used the StyroCutter to cut out the doughnut shape. You could also use a serrated knife, but this special tool heats up which makes it go through the foam very easily.

Next, I divided the circle into somewhat equal sections and marked those out with marker. They weren’t perfect, but since I was going for a handmade look I wasn’t too concerned about it.

Once I had it divided up, I used the foam cutter to cut out wedges between each mark. I made a cut halfway between each mark going about halfway down. Then cut on a diagonal from the marks down to that first cut.

I used the foam filing tool to smooth out my cuts. I think sand paper should work well for this too.

The next step is where the cool plaster look comes in. This Smooth Finish stuff is pretty cool. I’ve used it before (here and here), and I love it because it totally transforms the look of foam. I find that the best way to apply it is to put on some gloves and just use your fingers. Push the paste into the foam and smooth it out.

It took me two coats and a little more than one tub of Smooth Finish to get the look I wanted. Use sand paper or a damp cloth to smooth everything out after it dries.

I also gave the whole mirror a coat of white chalk paint to make sure everything was completely covered and uniform. Once that was all dry, all that was left to do was attach the foam frame to the mirror.

I used super glue for this, and it worked like a charm. I hung the mirror up using command strips, which work great because the mirror is really light thanks to the foam frame.

So, what do you think? Does it look like foam or did I pull off the plaster look?

Happy Making!