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.
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.
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.
So pretty! Love it! And was just wondering if I have the same black and white rug as you. Never noticed before.
I think it is the same, except mine is just a mat by my back door :) I need a simple geo rug for a second seating area in my family room, maybe I will hit you up for your contact :)
Super cool. Love it on the wreath with that ribbon! This project has so many possibilities – tree ornaments, tree topper, I think it would be awesome to even have tons of them in different sizes hung on the wall! And please tell me that IS cardboard from boxed wine. :) Tee hee.
You are reading my mind – I’ve been tossing all those ideas around in my head! And do you know how much I want to tell you the cardboard is from boxed wine?! It was from a stemless wine glasses box :) You are quite the eagle eye!
Super cute Jen :) xoxo
Thanks, love!
So clever. x
Born of necessity! But thank you :)
I cannot even believe that this started as cardboard! I totally love that you “cheated” ;) and made something so amazingly inspiring! Awesome job and thanks for taking the challenge with me!
Haha – well thank you. I was feeling guilty about my cheat but I sort of “thrifted” the cardboard :) And thank YOU for being such an extraordinary organizer!
This is so fantastic, Jennifer! And so great that all of us probably have most of the supplies on hand to make one ourselves!
I really can’t wait to play with the idea some more. I have some dense cardboard on hand that I think would be perfect. This isn’t helping my supplies-hoarding tendencies…
Love this Jennifer! Wow! I can’t even begin to imagine what else is stored away in that brain of yours! So creative! Happy Friday, love! xo
You are funny :) You don’t want to know what’s stored in my brain – I imagine it looks something like tie dye.
this is awesome and totally thrifty even if not from a thrift store entirely!
That’s what I was going for – thrifty :)
This turned out really cute, so how cares if you cheated a bit =) I love that ribbon and I’m so happy you put the link to your rug post! OMG! Show stopped! LOVE IT!
I’ve had the rug almost a year now and still pause and pet it practically every day. Totally my favorite.
This is so clever Jennifer! I never would have come up with this concept. It is a bit unexpected, and I love the dimension to it. Great job!
Thanks, Nicki. Thank goodness the idea struck me, I was getting a little stressed!
This is so so clever! Love that it’s a bit of the unexpected and super fun!
Tammy
Thanks, Tammy!
I absolutely LOVE this geometrical stroke of genius! Beautiful.
Genius – nice, I’ll take it! Thanks :)
Great construction. I love all the dimension it brings.
Thank you! Me too, I love the dimension of it.
So pretty! And looks so complex but sounds easy enough to make. I may have to give it a try!
Seriously simple, and not even that tedious like some projects like this can be :)
The star really is elegant and I love the dimension! Very creative! Thanks for the tips.
hugs,
Jann
Thanks, Jann!
I love this start and with the wreath and ribbon it’s the perfect piece!!!
My first little toe into Christmas decorating!
Oh right… cardboard box = amazing gold star. What?! I LOVE the idea of making a big ol’ giant one to plunk somewhere… looks like it could be terrific busy work! Better get over to Amazon so I can have some cardboard boxes to work with. The things I do for crafting… ;)
Yes, me too – I definitely have a giant star on the brain!
Love it Jennifer!! It looks great, and you can’t beat $0!!
Husband is a big fan of anything around here that cost me $0 too :)
Very pretty!!!
I would’ve NEVER guessed that this was made from cardboard!!! Incredible!