Finishing up a Christmas craft project
I wouldn't be surprised if some of you have made stars out of yardsticks, but I'd never heard of this before--and as soon as I happened upon a picture online I wanted to try it. I'd never used a glue gun before either, but I bought one for this project.
I also bought spray paint, but by the time I was able to start work on the stars the weather had turned too cold to use it. So a very nice young Home Depot clerk made up a small quantity of Behr Marquee exterior enamel paint for me in Forest Green. It went on smoothly and had great coverage, but if I ever make more stars I'll spray-paint them in warmer weather. It was tedious painting those edges! I liked the result though.
I'm making two stars--one to give to my daughter and her family, and one for my son and his. After the paint dried on the first one I wound battery-powered copper-wired fairy lights around it. This was an exercise in stress management, as handling 33 feet of skinny wire that wanted nothing more than to coil around itself was wildly frustrating! I don't know how many times I untangled it, only to have it tangle right up again. I'm not looking forward to doing it again with the second one! Still, when the first star was illuminated it all seemed worth it.
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Want to share Christmas crafting ideas?
Comments (33)Sure, caanei, I'm just not sure how well I can explain it. Decide on tail length, and if you want more 2 or 4 tails. If you want two, leave a single length before starting the loops. At the end you'll leave another length which will become the 2nd tail. If you want 4, then start with a big loop which will later be cut to make tails, and you'll finish with another big loop which will become tails 3 and 4. There is, of course, option here for many tails and I often will use a 5th. So with the big length hanging down, now make the 1st loop which will become the bow. Pinch and wrap twice with 24 gauge wire, Make another loop, pinch into place and wrap with wire and tighten. This will be the centre of the bow. I hold the tails in my right hand with my baby and ring finger, pinch with my thumb and forefinger, and lay the paddle wire over the back of my pinching hand. The other hand works the loops. Then just keep making the loops, working around the first two loops, pinching into place and wrapping tight with wire. With 2.5" ribbon, 7-9 loops makes a pretty nice sized bow. Narrower ribbon requires more loops. I like smaller looped bows better than long but that's just my preference. At the end, leave a length for the 2nd tail (or a big loop for the 3rd & 4th tail, or a loop and a length for 5 tails). Give it a final 2 wraps of wire and tighten. Fluff starting from the middle and work out. Cut the big loops to make the tails. And that's it - hope I explained it well enough....See MoreCrafts Ideas for Christmas
Comments (10)I made the sock snowman tonight. Had to change a couple of things,used stretch hair band as gave GD the little rubber bands I had. Then I discovered I have no black pom poms so I dug around & sewed on 2 shiny black shank buttons. My trim for hat is 3 bead leaves with 2 small beads so it looks like a sprig of holly with berries. It's wired together & I glued the leaves down. I used Weldbond-it's never coming apart! That stuff is great. My boot heel broke off & I put it back on with Weldbond, then I managed to back into mom's pole lamp taking a wooden valance board down & break 1 milkglass shade- mom is using Weldbond to put it back together & you can't even tell it was broken. Anyway the snowman is easy & cute! Thanks!Jan...See MoreI'm finishing up some projects now
Comments (1)Yipee! I'll head over to the gallery and take a look. Luvs...See MoreI'm looking for a Christmas Craft project again!
Comments (15)And then there are the cinnamon dough ornaments. We made these at a Sernior Center a couple of times. Easy to do and nice results. Just make sure you have a variety of cookie cutters and ribbon and some paints Preferably white for a frosting look Ingredients: 3/4 - 1 cup (cheap) applesauce One 4.12oz bottle ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon of white glue (the school kind) Tools needed: Rolling pin or a glass Cookie cutters Straw or toothpick Wire rack Method: Combine the applesauce, cinnamon and glue to form a stiff dough. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with a cookie cutter. Make a hole for a ribbon with a straw. Place on a wire rack and let dry for several days, turning occasionally. A Waxed paper lined box can be used to tote home and they keep (dried out) for years and smell good every year....See More- 8 years ago
The yardsticks were $1 each at Home Depot. The paint was another $5 (it could have covered a multitude of stars), and the fairy lights were $6.99 for 33 ft. at Amazon. Here's the picture I took last night right after I added the lights. It's not very good, and as you can see, the lights needed to be adjusted--which wasn't hard to do since the thin wires weren't wound tightly. You can also see that I ended up with too many lights on one leg of the star, but they could be unwound and spread out. Thanks, everyone!
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