Easy Christmas stars from twigs

CHRISTMAS STARS MADE FROM TWIGS- EASY TUTORIAL

Have you made stars from twigs? This Christmas decoration was super quick, easy, and best of all basically FREE!

If you’ve read any of my content you know how I love a good frugal DIY craft. Especially during the holidays when finances can be a little tighter. Like this easy and incredibly inexpensive Christmas tree I spruced up. I fits in perfectly with my rustic décor.

If you have access to twigs, a glue gun, and some jute/bakers twine you can make this twig star Christmas craft.

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HOW TO MAKE CHRISTMAS STARS FROM TWIGS

Here’s what you need

• skinny twigs

• bakers twine or jute

• glue gun

• hot glue sticks

• scissors

• wire cutters (this is similar to what I used but you can use garden snips)

1. GATHER TWIGS

If you don’t have a yard to gather twigs from, or if you don’t have trees in your yard, take a stroll through the local park and you will most definitely find enough twigs to use.

For these mini stars you’ll want to find twigs that are thin, not thick.

2. CUT

I used wire cutters for this step but garden snips will work too.

I cut 4 pieces of twigs that were the same size and 1 piece that was about 2/3 or so the size of longer twigs. I just eyeballed this, it doesn’t have to be exact.

3. MAKE A STAR

Just like when you were a kid making stars that’s exactly how you are going to make these stars.

Make an upside-down V.

Then make an X with the other two long pieces.

Then put the smallest twig going across the top.

I had to carefully move them around till I was happy with the placement of my twig star.

4. GLUE

I had already preheated my glue gun prior to this step so it would be ready when I was. I added a SMALL DAB of hot glue wherever the twigs touched. You don’t want a ton of glue, just enough to keep it in place for now.

5. WRAP

After my glue was dry I wrapped each star point in a silver and white bakers twine. I added a tiny drop of glue then put the end of my bakers twine on it till it was dry.

Then I wrapped the end till I was happy with how it looked.

Then I cut the bakers twine and added another tiny drop of glue to hold it in place.

That’s it. Nothing crazy complicated. I will warn ya, it can get a little frustrating if your kiddos are yelling at one another in the other room and your twigs keep moving out of place from the slightest touch lol! That totally happened a few times to me when I was making these stars for my frugal Christmas décor.

I hope you enjoyed this crafty tutorial. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below.

Happy Crafting!

Check out more DIY crafts below

DIY Dollar Tree work for hire chore chart

Easy work for hire board

I don’t know about you but in my house we don’t do allowance. Well, not the traditional allowance anyway. Instead, we have a work for hire board. And I so wish I would have made this sooner. For years my girls have been asking “what needs to be done” for them to earn money for the not so everyday chores around the house. Of course they would ask at the times when my brain was on anything but that and I would have to stop and think hard about what needs to be done and how much to pay for that chore.

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Now my brain doesn’t have that extra stress (yes, it’s a stress when your sweet daughter is asking to do work around the house so she can make some cash and your brain just draws a blank :(! ) Having this work for hire board is WONDERFUL! I clip the money to the chore that needs to be done. Then they do the chore and take their earnings. This gives them so much independence and instills a good work ethic that they will carry with them through adulthood. Everyone is happy! They get paid and I didn’t have to wash the windows lol!

Now, I don’t pay the girls to do everyday things like washing dishes, picking up the living room, washing their clothes. Those are everyday kind of chores. The chores on the work for hire board are more like washing the windows, wiping down the baseboards, deep cleaning the bathroom, organizing the stockpile, etc.

And to make it even better was that I picked up the metal tin I used for the work for hire boar from the Dollar Tree! All together this DIY cost less than $5 for everything. See more of my DIY Dollar Tree crafts.

FREE PRINTABLE- 36 work for hire chore ideas for you to print off. Click the photo below to get the password for instant access to my free resource library.

How to make a kid’s work for hire board

Here’s what you’ll need

• round metal pizza pan, I got mine from the Dollar Tree

• small magnets

• chalk paint

• acrylic paint

• clothes pins

• paint brush

• oracal vinyl (this is where I got mine)

• transfer tape

• vinyl squeegee

• clear finishing spray

• wide ribbon

• work for hire svg

• E6000

Helpful tools

• CRICUT (I use an explore)

• CRICUT CUTTING MAT

• CRICUT ACCESS

ONE-

Use chalk paint and paint the entire front of your pizza pan. I painted two coats on mine, letting the first one dry completely before painting the second coat on. To add a little rustic feel I added some cream colored accent markings to mine. I did this while the second coat of paint was still wet and just liberally added in strokes of the cream colored chalk paint. Let your painted pizza pan dry. I let mine day for several days because I had other things to do before I could finish it up. After mine dried I gave it a quick spray with a clear sealant to give it a protective top coat.

TWO-

Paint your clothes pins. I just used two colors, pink and gray. I painted my clothespins with two coats of acrylic paint to get a good coverage on them. Let them dry.

THREE-

Add a vinyl decal to the top that says ‘ work for hire’. You can make your own or grab one similar to the one I used, get it in my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY. I used gray oracal 651 vinyl for mine. Even though I allowed my painted pizza pan to dry for several days I wasn’t sure if the transfer tape would remove the paint so I applied my decal very gently. I tried not to push the transfer tape down too much and focused on just the decal. Thankfully none of the paint came off of my pizza pan when applying the work for hire decal.

FOUR-

Write the chores on your clothes pins. Ours don’t change too much, they are pretty much the same things that need to be done every month so I used a fine point sharpie to write on mine. When I made mine I wrote on the painted clothespins after I glued the magnets to them…big mistake. It would have been far easier to write on them first, glued magnets second. But now I know for next time AND I know the right way to tell you how to do it so you don’t make the mistake I did.

FIVE-

Use E6000 and glue a magnet to the backside of each of your clothespins. If you’ve never heard of E6000 it’s basically a really strong glue. It does take about 24 hours to fully dry though. Oh, and it does have a bit of a weird smell to it but it is good for crafts lol! Set your clothespins somewhere they won’t be disturbed so they can dry properly.

SIX-

Add a ribbon hanger to the back. Make sure it lines up with the front, you don’t want a lopsided chart hanging up after all this hard work. Use tape to hold the ribbon in place on the backside. Glue to the back side of the pizza pan using E6000. I used the discarded piece of backing from my vinyl to press the ribbon into the glue. I didn’t want all of that on my fingers. That worked great for me! Just like with the clothespins, set the pizza pan in a place it can fully dry without being disturbed.

SEVEN-

After everything is dry hang up and add your clothespins with the money attached to them.

I hope you enjoyed this crafty tutorial and that it helps and inspires you to create your own. As with all of my posts, if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Happy crafting!

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DIY rusty pumpkin from mason jar rings

How to make a rusty pumpkin from a mason jar lid

I’ll admit I have an obsession with MASON JARS!! Seriously though, who doesn’t in the days of rustic décor? But our family doesn’t just do crafts with them like this DIY LIGHT UP FAIRY JAR. Or these adorable DIY GLASS ETCHED MASON JARS. Other than storing food our family actually uses them as our drinking glasses. They are just so darn versatile! You can even buy these plastic mason jar lids so you don’t have to hassle with the two pieces that traditionally comes with mason jars.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

Ok, so enough about how much I LOVE and use mason jars lol! Let’s get to the rusty mason jar lid pumpkin tutorial. These rusty pumpkins will tie in perfectly with your rustic décor. You can place these on the table as a centerpiece, on a mantle, sit them on a deep shelf, you could even put them on your front porch with the rest of your gorgeous fall decorations.

Here’s what you’ll need

• regular mouth canning jar rings

• twine

• glue gun

• felt

• wire cutters

• scissors

• stick

• rustic wire

• pliers

If you aren’t in the reading mood skip to the bottom to catch the full rusty pumpkin video tutorial.

You’re probably wondering…how do I make my canning jar lids rusty? I don’t have a tutorial up just yet for how to make your mason jar rings rusty. But don’t worry I’m working on it and it is SUPER easy! You basically just soak them in a mixture of vinegar and salt for a week or so. Take them out when you're satisfied with the rustiness. Rinse them off. And let them air dry. That’s it!

You can make yours as full as you like but I don’t like that super uniformed look that most mason jar ring pumpkins have. I use a few less rings than a lot of the other tutorials call for but the others are still gorgeous 😍. For mine, I used 12 rings but you can use more if you like that look better :)!

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First, string your rusty mason jar lids on a piece of twine. Be sure they are all facing the same direction

Next, make your mason jar rings curve into a circle and place the stick in the center. Then move your rings around so that they form the circle shape of the pumpkin. Tie the twine in a few knots. Remove the stick. Move the rings around to where you like them.

Once you have your lids where you want them place a ring of hot glue around the base of your stick and place your stick back in the center of the lids.

Then cut a piece of your wire, fold it in half and use your pliers to twist the ends. Place some hot glue on the curved end of the wire and then stick it in where your stick is.

Turn your pumpkin upside down and add more hot glue around where the stick is. This will give it more stability.

Cut a circle out of either fabric or felt and glue it to the bottom. This will give it a more finished look.

Now you’re ready to display your perfectly rusty mason jar ring/lid pumpkin!

Check out the video tutorial below

Check out these other pumpkin themed crafts

Dollar Tree pumpkins, how to give them a RUSTIC makeover

Frugal fall decorating, how to give a Dollar Tree pumpkin a rustic makeover

We’ve all seen them the bright orange pumpkins on the shelves at the Dollar Tree. You think to yourself ‘I could paint that up and make it look soooo much better’. Then fall comes and the darn ugly pumpkin is still sitting there untouched by your creativity. Yep…that’s me. I am totally that kind of Dollar Tree shopper and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

After having several of these little pumpkins sit on my craft room shelf for almost a year I decided what better time to give them a makeover than now?! Fall is almost here and I have been working like a busy crafty bee trying to gear up for this season. Check out my latest DIY, 2x4 candy corn they turned out SO stinking cute! AND you don’t want to miss this frugal find, Walmart clearance shoes, that I gave a total makeover to for my 3 year old to wear this fall. She absolutely LOVES them!

How to turn your DOLLAR TREE pumpkins into rustic perfectly distressed pumpkins

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I had everything I needed on hand, including the pumpkins, but here’s what I used to turn my pumpkin from bright orange into rustic farmhouse.

• Dollar Tree ugly pumpkin

• white spray paint

• skewer

• gold chalk paint

• lagoon chalk paint

• antiquing wax

• chip brush

• paint brush

• paint tray

First you want to paint your pumpkin white. I used what I found in our garage but you can use any kind of white FLAT spray paint. Stick the skewer in the bottom of the pumpkin so you can hold the pumpkin and spray all around it. Let it dry before you put it down. I used a blow dryer to speed up this process.

Next you want to paint your pumpkin with your gold chalk paint. I broke 3 small pieces off of the skewer and stuck them in the bottom of the pumpkin so that it would stand up and not touch the table while I was painting it. Let that dry completely before moving on to the next step.

Once your gold chalk paint is dry you want to very lightly dip the tip of your brush into your teal/blue colored paint. I used a color called lagoon and on it’s own is VERY bright but when used as an accent color it is absolutely gorgeous! You don’t want to completely cover the gold paint but lightly brush over it leaving light streaks of the lagoon colored paint. This will dry pretty quick.

Next you are going to repeat the previous step but instead you are going to use antiquing wax and your chip brush. I added a little more wax than I did the lagoon colored paint to give it a more rustic look. TIP: trim your chip brush down to about an 1” and it will work MUCH better.

Once you’re satisfied with your coverage you are all done! I’m not totally loving the stem on this on so I might replace it with a stick from the yard but for now it will tie in perfectly with my fall décor! I paired it next to the glittery gold 2x4 pumpkins I made a while back.

If you loved this tutorial you will love even more of my DIY fall craft tutorials

Check out the full video tutorial below