Turn Old Blinds Into A Modern Mirror Art Piece For Your Home

An artsy mirror changes the vibe of a room. Unfortunately, store-bought mirrors like these can cost a pretty penny. We're talking $1700 for a simple oval sunburst mirror in some retail establishments. The good thing is that, if you have some old plastic blinds that are ready for upcycling and are willing to take a trip to the Dollar Tree, you can make your own version of the modern mirror art piece for a fraction of the cost. Learn how to transform a cheap Dollar Tree mirror into an expensive dupe.

The blinds you use for this cheap Dollar Tree dupe are the white, pull-string kind made of PVC plastic. If some of them are broken, that's okay. They'll still work. As far as the round Dollar Tree mirrors go, you have a couple to choose from. One is a plain Round Mirror in Assorted Colors. The other option is a Round Mirror Candleholder with Glitter Accents. Pick the one that fits the room you're decorating. Rounding out your list of raw materials is a piece of scrap cardboard. It should be larger than the border of the mirrors by several inches. Finally, this simple DIY requires only a few tools. You'll need a pencil, a pair of scissors, a glue gun, and some D-ring picture hangers.

You'll use the plastic slats on the blinds to create the sunbeams for this sleek mirror DIY no one would guess comes from Dollar Tree. They'll need to be trimmed down a bit and should be of different lengths. They shouldn't be too long because once you hang the mirror up, they could end up bending due to how flimsy the plastic is. In light of that, the longest ones should be only about a foot or two in length. There are no rules for the shorter ones, except to say that they should look visually appealing next to the long pieces. Your eye is the best measurement for this.

Next, use the mirror as a pattern to draw a circle in the middle of the cardboard. Before gluing the sunbeams onto the cardboard, glue the D-ring picture hanger on the back of it. Once that dries, glue the blind slats onto the cardboard, centering them around the drawn circle. If you're not sure about how well the pieces go together, play around with the arrangement of the sunbeams until you find a configuration you like. Don't glue the pieces down until you're sure it works.

Finally, add a line of glue all the way around the back of the mirror, and then place it in the center of the plastic sunbursts — you may need to press down on it until all of the glue dries. Finally, hang it up on the wall to add a bit of flair to the space.

If you leave the plastic slats as is, you'll have all-white sunbeams around your modern mirror art piece. However, it's possible to paint the plastic blinds if you want more pizzazz. You just need to use a paint like Rust-Oleum Pure Gold All Surface Metallic Spray Paint. This choice ensures that the color sticks to the blinds. As for the color choices you go with, that will depend on your personal aesthetic. Gold is highlighted here, but you're not limited to that. Paint hues in yellow, orange, and red would also look lovely and bring a modern aesthetic to the DIY.

You could also introduce visual contrasts into the art piece to make it more interesting. For example, instead of choosing a mirror with a plain, round frame, opt for a Special Moments Mirror with a Decorative Border. One with a hurricane-design sunbeam frame would look amazing next to the straight blinds, for example.

Finally, if the blinds refuse to stay glued to the cardboard, work in a practical design feature, like decorative Piutouyar Daisy Antique Bronze Upholstery Tacks. Place them around the mirror at regular intervals to add another decorative element to the piece. They'll surely amp up the Dollar Tree DIY mirror's luxe look while keeping the blind slats solidly fastened to the cardboard.