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Wednesday, November 6, 2019

3-D Silver Stars: Scrap Paper, Glue & Spray Paint


Silver, gold, and all that glitters belong to the holiday season. For the color palette of my living room, featuring creamy whites, shades of tan, and seaglass blue with silver and glass accents, silvery three-dimensional stars make festive seasonal decorations. I'm very pleased with how these turned out and love them for several reasons. One, they fit with the glittery, shimmery holiday season. Two, they were free for me to make. And three, I love using something that would otherwise go to recycling or into the trash.


A couple of years agoI showed you how I make 3-dimensional paper stars, using the covers to catalogs (any stiff paper will work), glue stick, hot glue, and scissors. Aside from the cost of the glue sticks, these are basically free to make, putting something like junk catalogs to good use. 



The other day, I had my can of silver spray paint out and thought it was time to give these a coat of color.


Out in the garage, I gave five large, 8-inch diameter stars a couple of coats of matte silver spray paint, front and back.




Using some white quilting thread and a needle, I transformed the stars into suspended decorations. After I threaded the quilting thread through the tip of each star, I tied a knot in the thread at the length that I felt was right for the area above my mantel.

Craft and discount stores (like Michael's JoAnn's, and Walmart) sell a double-sided removable adhesive that is safe for painted walls, Removeable Glue Dots Adhesives. (Here's what they look like -- I have no affiliation with Michael's BTW.) These dots are a lot like that sticky substance that you find holding a new credit card or gift card to its paper backing. Here's how I used the glue dots to suspend the stars from the ceiling. With one glue dot for each star, I pressed the knotted end of the length of thread into one side of the glue dot, then pressed the other side of the glue dot onto my smooth, painted ceiling.

From a normal distance, when standing or sitting in the living room, you can barely see the thread hanging from the ceiling, and you have to get very close to see the glue dot (or else my eyes are getting really old.)


I'll be making 4 more stars in a scaled-down version, so that I have a display of 5 large stars and 4 smaller stars suspended from the ceiling above the mantel. As I continue to add to the holiday decor in the living room, I'll update you on how these are all fitting into the mantel's scheme.

6 comments:

  1. Smaller versions of these would be great for Christmas tree ornaments.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Live and Learn,
    Absolutely! A little glitter on some small white stars would be really pretty as an ornament or package decoration in place of a bow.

    Have a great day, Live and Learn!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very nice! I think you could use these for decorations beyond Christmas and New Year's Day. I like to have something fun up around my house during the winter to brighten my days (I have a few snowmen that I scatter around). Your stars also look snowflake-like to me (you could probably use a paper punch on them before assembling if you wanted to enhance that effect). Anyway, I'm hoping you share a picture of your fireplace mantel with us when you have it all decorated. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Kris,
    That's a great idea to make them look like snowflakes. I originally made these stars for the 4th of July. I strung a bunch across the backyard for our BBQ/picnic. I didn't get to painting them that year, but these would be great 4th decor painted in red, white, blue.

    I think keeping some winter decorations in the house for January and February is a really good idea. I have another good friend who also keeps snowmen decor up all winter. Winter decorating helps to chase away some of the seasonal blues, I think.

    Speaking of snowmen, I've been working on a snowman design for a pair of earrings for one daughter. Have you ever tried wire wrapping jewelry-making? I'll post a picture when I get a better snowman worked out. And yes, I'll definitely post a photo of the completed mantel later this month.

    Have a great day, Kris!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm laughing at the mental image of me making jewelry. "Seeing" in 3D is not my strong point so, no, I've never tried it before. It sounds fun and kudos to you for doing so well with your hobby.

    Many of my snowmen are creations that my kids and I made when they were younger. While they aren't pretty, per se, they are fun and remind us of happy times together.

    There is a bakery/restaurant which has a gift area in it near me. They have what looks like giant versions of your stars which they use as pendant lights. They can be purchased. The lights have a punctured pattern on them, which is what made me think of making them look like snowflakes.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Kris,
    oh those snowmen that you and your kids have made are treasures. Reminders of happy times together bind a family, I think.
    I can imagine those pendant lights that you've seen. My imagination sees them as very pretty. Good idea to added some tiny holes to the star ornaments. I'll try that when I make a smaller one.
    I hope you're enjoying good weather in your area. Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete

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