Monday, December 20, 2010

Raffia Wrapped Stars

Another one of the things I was inspired by in Pottery Barn's catalog was the lighted snowflakes and star votive holder.

Vine Star Wall-Mount Votive Holder, Antique Bronze finishWoven Twig Decorative Snowflake, Large

My original plan was to make a few lighted stars.  But then I started worrying about how I was going to hang them (I knew I wanted them hung from my curtain rod) and still get access to a plug.  I thought about going the battery powered route, but then found out that a string of battery powered lights uses 2 C batteries and has a ginormous box that I would have to hide.  So in the end I decided to keep it simple and nix the lights.

Here is what I came up with.





Wanna know how to make your own? I actually made these several weeks ago and have since seen a few variations around the blog world but here is how I did mine.  While it was a relatively easy and inexpensive project, it was a bit time consuming so you are warned.  Lets get started.


I started with 5 three foot dowels. (A)  This will be enough for three stars.  You need to cut your dowels down into 1 foot sections, or whatever size you want your stars to be. (B) I used my pruning sheers to cut them and it worked like a dream.  I then printed off a "prefect star" from the internet because I was worried about my angles being off and used that to line everything up. (C)  You just hot glue the dowels wherever they touch to get your star frame.  Remember that some of the dowels can go behind.  The more connection points the better. (D) You may notice in the pic that I used some wire on the joints, this was total overkill and I only did it on one. Once complete, these babies are surprisingly sturdy.   You then take a chunk of raffia and start wrapping, using hot glue to secure as needed. (E)  About an hour and several blisters later you will have this. (F)  It needed a hair cut so I trimmed a few of the stragglers. (G)  Then just tie a loop of ribbon to the top so you can hang (H) and then repeat two more times. 

If you want to attempt a lighted star, just wrap in Christmas lights before you wrap in the raffia.




So there you have it, raffia wrapped stars!  I know I've said it before but who needs Pottery Barn?!

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Creations by Kara