Reverse Christmas Tree Topper Tutorial

This week I'm linking up with an awesome lady whose blog I stalk over at NewlyWoodwards for the Dare to DIY Christmas challenge.


A few weeks ago I was thinking about Christmas decorations and how much I was dreading putting them up since it's not a holiday I have been looking forward to this year. However I found myself on Pinterest one day perusing the "everything" board and came across a tutorial on how to make paper stars. I am a bit of a crafting nut when something gets into my head and here is how it went:

That star tutorial is really cool, I love stars!

What could I make them out of? Ohhh, vellum, I love vellum!

Then what would I do with them? If they're vellum I should hang them somewhere!

Where to hang them...where to hang them...oh! I could make a mobile!

No...maybe I could hang them above the tree since my star always falls over...

OMG I COULD MAKE A REVERSE TREE TOPPER!!!! AND I MUST DO IT RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND!!!


So I did. And other than being covered in glitter for 24 hours and having to hone my fine motor skills to tie thin thread onto an embroidery hoop, it was pretty easy. It also got me excited about decorating which is good because my living room looks wonderful now and I am hating Christmas a lot less so mission accomplished.

Here's what you need:
-Paper of your choice (I used vellum because it's translucent and pretty and some thinner paper with gold accents, make sure it's not thick card stock or it will be difficult to cut)
-Thin thread or clear fishing line (I wanted fishing line at first but opted for a goldish silver thread for the sewing section at Joann's for a bit more sparkle)
-Embroidery hoop
-Glue
-Paint brush
-Glitter (I used Martha's Stewart glitter in Copper)
-Scissors
-Tiny hole punch

First cut out your stars in different sizes. You can do any shape you want or cut them in any way you want (origami stars would be more substantial if you wanted that look). I used this tutorial.

Then punch a small hole in the top of each one using a small hole punch and tie thread through the hole in a knot (don't worry about the length because you can adjust it later).

Prepare your embroidery hoop by covering it with glue and then glitter. Get glitter on the cat for sure so you find piles of it when you go the bed that night. Let it dry for a few hours.

Tie the stars on in varying lengths. I fought with them getting tangled for a while until I had the genius idea of putting the hoop over the top of a lamp shade and tying them on there so they would stay spaced evenly and I could see what lengths I needed. I will have glitter on that lamp shade for life but whatever.

Glitter, glitter everywhere...

There are probably a million different ways to hang this but I just wanted it up so I just wrapped some thread around the middle of the hoop a few times and secured it to the ceiling with thumbtacks. Classy, right? You really can't even tell unless you're looking for them.

And that's it! The whole thing cost me maybe $10 and took about an hour total to complete. And I probably won't want to untangle the stars next year so I will most likely throw it away when I'm done with it. Or never take it down. Both are solid possibilities.

And here is my fully decorated living room!

The other thing I made this year was that garland which is just felt circles glued to baker's string. Last year I made the mason jars filled with glitter and trees and also the Christmas lights with ribbon (although I had to retie all the ribbon on new lights this year when the bun chewed the cord one too many times).

Trixie is still pretty ticked to find out there are no gifts for her, though.

I can only have a small tree on a table to discourage kitties and buns from ingesiting fake needles.