String of Stars Tutorial

This is my first foray into Christmas decorating this season.  The Christmas bin is still in the garage, but I was ready to hang something festive in the window.

This string of stars garland fit the bill.  The concept is simple enough to come together quickly.  In fact, it's simple enough that my three-year-old could help.

If you'd like to whip up your own string of stars you'll need:
- wooden popsicle sticks
- glue gun and glue sticks
- yarn in your choice of colours
- more yarn or jute twine (not shown) for stringing the stars

Begin by hot gluing five popcicle sticks into a star shape as shown above.  You'll only need a bead of hot glue at each of the five star points.

When the glue has set, tie one end of the yarn to the star leaving a tail of 2 or 3 inches.

Keeping track of the yarn tail, start wrapping the yarn around the corners of the star.  Wrap around the star in one direction for 3 or 4 turns, then switch to a different corner and wrap another 3 or 4 turns.  Somehow I ended up with a mini star shape in the centre of my star, but random patterns are fine too.

Don't forget to wrap the points of your star too.

Remember that tail of yarn that you left when you first tied into the star?  You'll need it now.  When you're happy with the look of your star, cut the yarn and tie the two ends tightly together across the back of the star.

Trim the ends.  This is the back of your star; the knot is not visible from the font.

Make a constellation.

I mentioned that my three-year-old helped.  After the hot glue was dry, she chose this blue-green yarn.  I tied the first end for her and she wrapped to her heart's content, which turned out to be just one star.  Then the markers came out and she decorated another one her way.

To make your stars into a garland, thread a long piece of jute twine through several strands of the wrapped yarn at the back of each star.  This is easier if you tie a knot near the end of the jute.  The stars will hang more evenly if you thread the jute near the edge of the star as shown above.

Continue in this way  until all your stars are strung.

My garland is hanging in the dining room window, but it also looks nice across the mantel.