The Chronicles of Home: DIY 3D Christmas Star Wreath

Hi there!

The ever lovely Alice of Thoughts from Alice had this great idea - round up a group of bloggers who would all go to a thrift store, buy something for under $25, and transform it into a Christmas decoration. The point of which is to show that lovely Christmas decor doesn't have to cost a small fortune.

I loved both the sentiment behind the idea and the challenge of making something pretty and Christmasy out of found items.

But........well, I kind of cheated.

I kept meaning to stop by a thrift store and all of a sudden it was Tuesday, I had two days left, and knew I needed to pull something together. So I started thinking about the idea behind the challenge, the pretty decorations for less than a pretty penny. I was breaking down some cardboard boxes to put in the recycling bin and stopped with a piece in my hand as the idea to make a 3D Christmas star slowly came together in my head.

How to make a 3D Christmas Star by The Chronicles of Home

And it all kind of fell together from there. This project is definitely a work in progress - I'll tell you about a few little issues I had and what I would do differently next time. I'm already thinking about taking this idea one or two steps further!

To make the star, I used a paper cutter to cut nine 3.5" square pieces of cardboard. I drew a straight line from corner to corner and then used sharp scissors to cut each square into four equal triangles.

I separated the triangles into piles of three and used hot glue to attach each group of three into a pyramid.

Then I hot glued the pyramids together in the shape of a star.

After the glue had fully dried I spray painted the star first with gold spray paint and then with gold glitter spray paint.

Now here's what I would do differently next time.

Use something a bit more uniform than corrugated cardboard - either a solid cardboard or even mat board.
I'd spray paint the pyramids before assembling them into a star - the star was really sturdy but the wetness or chemicals in the spray paint must have softened the glue and when I picked it up after the paint had dried, a bunch of pyramids fell off.
I might try a different glue that would allow me to easily wipe away excess.

Even so, I'm really happy with how this came together for an off the cuff project, and it essentially cost me $0. I used cardboard from the recycling bin and all other supplies I had on hand (granted they cost something whenever I bought them!).

To really turn the star into a Christmas decoration, I hung it in front of the boxwood wreath that's always on the inside of my front door and looped some black and white striped ribbon I had around the bottom of the wreath.

(Details on my entry rug can be found HERE)

I love that it's simple but also a bit unexpected, and it is glittery and incorporates stripes which are two of my favorite things.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,

Glittering star shapes and drapey striped ribbon...

That's how the song goes, right?

I'm really excited to play with this idea some more and bring a few other 3D stars into my Christmas decor this year.

On an unrelated note, if you're new around here, be sure to enter two fantastic giveaways I have going on right now - one for a Hoover Air Cordless Vacuum Cleaner (the new home tool love of my life), and the other for a collection of favorite things chosen by me and nine other bloggers, valued at over $300!

Now, you really must hop around and check out what everyone else did with their actual thrift store finds. It's so good, you guys. So good.