I had pinned the most darling bear mirror when pregnant with my daughter, having aims of creating a subtle woodland-themed nursery for her. No longer available, I set about trying to easily recreate the bear mirror, finally settling on cork as a substitute for wood (I haven’t ventured much beyond straight cuts with my jigsaw!)

I love how it turned out and hope you do too. I provided a template below for the bear shape, but since cork can be easily cut and manipulated, the options for different animal and shape silhouettes is nearly endless.

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You will need:
7″ mirror (I found mine at Michael’s or order from here)
package of cork board squares
X-acto knife
metal ruler
scissors
cutting mat
tape
hot glue gun
sewing pins
stiff cardboard (mine was the backing to a pack of scrapbook paper)
3M Command wall hooks (size small) for mounting mirror
printout of Bear Template onto card stock

Step 1: Print out Bear Template (2 pages). With an X-acto knife and using your metal ruler as a guide for your blade, trim off the right edge of the paper. Lay this piece on top of the second and tape together. Make sure to tape the papers together on the backside too.

Step 2: Cut out around the template and inside the circle using a pair of scissors. Pin template down on to cork board square.

Step 3: With X-acto knife, cut around the outside of the template. My cuts were deep, but I still had to go around a second time with my knife. Important: make sure the hand keeping the cork board steady is NOT in the path of the craft knife. Safety first! When you’re finished trimming around the bear, cut inside the circle following the inside edge of the template as shown below.

Finished cutting!

Step 4: Protect your work surface by sliding a sheet of paper under the bear cutout. Nestle the 7″ mirror inside the circle. If like me, you find that the fit is too snug, shave off slivers (with your knife) from inside the circle. Try placing the mirror again, shaving off more cork if necessary.

Step 5: With hot glue, apply a thick line where the mirror and cork meet. For me, there were a few areas where the mirror and cork didn’t fit together snugly. Do NOT apply glue to these areas, otherwise the glue will leak through the gap and puddle on the front of the mirror.

Step 6: After you’ve applied the glue and are waiting for it to set, create a sturdy backing for the mirror. Trace the outside of the template onto a sheet of cardboard and cut out. Before gluing to the mirror, lay the backing on the backside of the mirror to check the fit. You may need to trim a sliver off the edge of the backing so that it doesn’t poke out past the cork board.

Step 7: Apply a thin layer of hot glue (be careful — a too-thick layer will end up getting squeezed out the edges) on the backside of the mirror and a moderate amount directly in the middle-backside of the mirror. Affix the backing to the mirror, pressing down firmly, and allow the glue to set for a few minutes.

Step 8: The mirror is lightweight, so a couple of small 3M Command wall hooks are all you need to mount your mirror to the wall.