I just finished this today for a clients mothers 80 birthday. A simple enough project, make a mirror surrounded by some kind of plants.
I got the mirror itself from Ikea, Their furniture is not something I would normally buy as it is very cheaply made but for raw materials they can be a great source. I removed the glass mirror from the crappy frame it came in and built my own custom one from MDF. I used this material because it is cheap and easy to finish, the fact that it was painted black meant there was no point in going for more expensive wood. To make the curves around the edges I laminated several strips of MDF with lots of glue. With lots of sanding it came up quite nicely.
For the plants, I used mummified moss. This material has become very popular for decorative purposes. It is real moss but preserved somehow to make it last forever and still look natural. This I stuck around the frame with glue.
As I said, it was simple enough but a fair bit of making to get it to look classy and clean. I hope she enjoys it.
It is fun to make this sort of project now and again. Any questions you may have let me know in the comments