Happy Getting Ready for the Holidays Everyone and Welcome to the DIY Christmas Ornament blog hop!
Just like our Fall hop, this is hosted by Rachelle at My Hubbard Home! We had so much fun, we’re continuing on with the seasons!
If you’re just coming over from Chloe at Celebrate and Decorate, I know you loved her beautiful lantern DIY!
The Mantel and Table DIY Christmas Ornament
As you can no doubt tell, my DIY Christmas ornament is this silver and crystal star.
I think I kind of went the long way around the track for this super easy ornament. However, I’ll tell you about the process anyway, so you can do it the super easy way instead!
Supplies
So my original concept was to use silver leaf to make my tagboard star shiny. I’ve had one sheet left from a long-ago project, that I’ve been dying to use. That’s the little packet up in the right corner.
I gathered up all the other supplies I thought I would need and laid them all out. I like to do this so I’m not running all over hunting up my supplies, and it usually works. But not this time, as you’ll see.
A Star Stencil
I started out by downloading a star stencil printable online. Then I cut it out and traced it onto the back of a piece of white tagboard.
There’s my fancy little star!
Silver Leaf
As you might know, you have to be so careful with silver leaf! When I started this project, I had the doors on either end of the room open for a nice breeze. It had just started cooling off though, and the furnace had just kicked on. So there was lots of moving air.
There was no way I was opening that silver leaf packet with that much breeze. It only takes one little waft of air and you’ve got thin precious leaf pieces floating all over! So before I opened the silver leaf packet, I closed all the doors and turned the heat down.
But after all that, the silver leaf didn’t even THINK of sticking to my glossy tagboard! So don’t try this at home, it’s totally a waste of your supply!
Silver – Plan B
Now below, you can see my DIY Christmas Ornament Plan B – regular old aluminum foil!
I laid my star cutout on the foil square and cut in between the points so it’s easier to wrap.
Just wrap snugly and gently, cut the excess, and voila! A silver star!
But It Doesn’t Have to Be So Tricky!
Here’s a tip though. You can actually get shiny silver card stock right from Amazon! Just order a pack when you order your chandelier crystals – it’s really just too easy.
See below for the links, and just skip the star-wrapping part!
But Onward!
In any case, if you make your star shiny, or you buy it already shiny, the next step is to punch your holes.
My holes are the standard size, and my star was about 3.5″. I really liked how the holes seem a little big, though. I thought they gave our DIY Christmas ornament a little more professional look, somehow.
Anyway, punch three holes at the bottom of the star for the crystals, and one at the top for the ribbon.
Attach the Chandelier Crystals
Ok, I’m not sure how I managed to only take one super-blurry photo of attaching the crystals! But, there you have it. You get the gist – the next step is to put the crystals on!
A Wide Sheer Ribbon For Our DIY Christmas Ornament
After that, the final thing is to attach the ribbon through the top hole. I had originally planned to use the thin silver ribbon in the top photo. However, after messing around with that for about 10 minutes, I realized it just wasn’t the right scale.
So I went downstairs to my gift wrapping area and found some wider, sheer wired silver ribbon that worked much better. (I use this ribbon all the time, like on this mantel.)
(See that mangled up little one? I had to actually cut it off the star!) Plus it had tons of sparkle on it – what a mess! I had sparkle all over my face and I’m not sure I got it all off before I went in to work. But nobody said anything, so I guess it was ok!
Just fold the wide ribbon and put it through the top hole. Leave some room for hanging, then tie a nice bow. I like to leave the ends pretty long so they drape gracefully around the star.
You probably know the trick of folding the ends longways and cutting on the diagonal to make a pretty bookmark-type end. I did that on these. (Unfortunately, you can’t see the ends in any of the photos. But trust me, they looked pretty!)
The Holiday Look
Then I made up a little fresh greenery swag with some faux holiday colored berries, and hung my DIY Christmas ornament on it.
I experimented with a couple different places to hang it. However, I eventually settled on the top corner of our black floor mirror. The black was the perfect background to show off our shiny star! Also, the nearby light made the crystals sparkle.
This DIY Christmas ornament was so fun. And honestly, if you get the silver tagboard, it’s just the easiest thing in the world!
Of course, if you have kids at home who like wrapping aluminum foil, you can have a great crafty time with my longer method!
Shop the DIY Christmas Ornament Post
Click on the pictures for links to pieces I used for this DIY Christmas ornament. If the exact item isn’t available any more, I chose a similar option.
* This post includes affiliate links for your shopping convenience. If you click on a link and buy anything from that site during your visit, I get a small commission and there’s no extra charge for you! It really helps toward the cost of publishing Mantel and Table, and I seriously appreciate it. (You can read the whole disclosure policy here.) Thanks so much for shopping with me!
And remember, a portion of anything you buy from MANTELandTABLE.com goes to Habitat for Humanity and Proud Ground. With our purchases, we get to help people build homes for their own mantels and tables!
Pin The DIY Christmas Ornament For Later
I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think in the comments – I so love to hear from you!
Next DIY Christmas Ornament Inspiration
And now, our next DIY Christmas Ornament stop is Lori at Southern Nell’s Gracious Living. She has another beautiful project for you!
Happy Crafty Holiday Prep From All of Us!
This Post Shared With
- Sundays on Silverado – Hosted by The House on Silverado
- Metamorphosis Monday #615 – Hosted by Between Naps on the Porch
- Charming Homes & Gardens #33 – Hosted by White Arrows Home
- Centerpiece Wednesday 11.11.20 – Hosted by Karin’s Kottage
- Thursday Favorite Things #465 – Hosted by Follow the Yellow Brick Home
- BFF Open House 12.05.20 – Hosted by The Answer is Chocolate
- Metamorphosis Monday 11.28.22 – Hosted by Between Naps on the Porch
- Tuesday Turn About 11.29.22 – Hosted by My Wee Abode
Such a cute ornament Barbara and what a great idea to use the aluminum foil when the silver leaf didn’t work. (After everything you said, I’d be tempted to use the silver card stock lol) Your ornament looks great on the black mirror and I love the little crystals. So pretty. Thanks for sharing and I hope everything is well with you my friend!
Hi! All good here – hope you’re well too and getting ready for the holidays. I thought of you this morning when we had a tiny bit of snow at the base of the mountain! 😊❄ Thanks so much for stopping over- I always love to see you!
All the ornaments turned out amazing. I love making my own and usually make a few styles each year. 🙂 Happy Holidays
Hi Lisa – I’ve seen some of yours – they’re so fun! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Beautiful pieces!!Love them!! Thanks for sharing your ideas and God Bless and Merry Christmas to you and your family!!!
Hi! I’m so sorry I missed your comment earlier! So glad you like the ideas, and thanks for leaving a comment. I went to your page, and your ornaments are darling! Merry Christmas to you too!
I really love this Barbara! It just looks so incredibly pretty and the crystals make it very ..you’re right …elegant is the perfect word! Thanks so much for the inspiration.
Denise – thanks so much! Nothing like a little sparkle, right? 🙂 I’m sorry this is such a late response – my spam filter caught you for some reason – but I’m so glad you stopped by! Hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving!
What a beautiful DIY! Thank you for sharing at Charming Homes & Gardens!
Thanks so much Kristin! I didn’t mean to ignore you for so long – my spam filter got a little over-exuberant for a while there! 🙂 So glad you liked it! Happy Monday!
Barbara, I love your ornament! The silver sparkle just makes me smile! It is a beautiful ornament to make for the holiday season. Pinned!
Hi Lynne! Thanks so much for pinning, and I’m so glad you like the ornament. Anything with sparkle, I always say! 🙂 See you back around!
I LOVE an ornament with a little “bling” to it! This one certainly fits the bill! Thanks for your detailed instructions on how to make it.
Fun “hopping” with you! 🙂
-Niky @ The House on Silverado
Hi Niky – Thanks so much for stopping over! So fun hopping with you too, and I just saw your Sunday link up – on my way over now! 🙂
I just love those crystals! Beautiful touch my friend 🙂
Thanks so much my sparkly friend! 😉
Barbara, what a unique and glamorous ornament! I love crystal chandeliers, so I was instantly drawn to your shiny star with crystals. I’ve never worked with gold or silver leaf before…it sounds very tricky. Your result with aluminum foil is just as lovely. It was a pleasure joining you on this hop!
Hi Rebecca! The silver leaf is actually really fun if it’ll stick to whatever you want to put it on – you just have to keep it out of the wind! 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by and so glad we got to share Rachelle’s fun hop! Happy Friday!
Barbara, I love you – thanks for telling it like it is. Figuring out a craft can really be a exercise In patients. But in the end your diy ornament turned out lovely. And I bet those ribbon ends look beautiful as well.
Thanks for giving this wonderful craft your “all” for the blog hop!
Hugs
Rachelle
Ha – the detours are part of life, right? 😉 So sweet of you to organize this great hop – I get so much inspiration from you all! Thanks so much!
I love working with silver and gold leaf. You’re right about one puff if breeze. You can’t even take a deep breathe and exhale.
I have to turn my head in the opposite direction. When the project is done leaf is beautiful.
Live the crystaks you added to the star. Very glam.
Cindy
Hi Cindy – I love the leaf too, especially the gold on chocolates! 🙂 So glad you like the star. I’m trying to decide if I go more that way for Christmas or something completely different. So many options! Thanks for stopping by today – hope you have a great weekend!
Barbara, I have never worked with silver leaf and now I am even more afraid too! Your star ended up beautiful, I can see this even larger with more crystals. I really enjoyed hearing about your process! Enjoy your shiny star! See you very soon!!!
Ha – you’d be great with silver leaf, we just won’t do it outside in the wind! 😉 Yes – a bigger star with more crystals would be so fun. I’ll have to give that some thought. Counting down!!
Your posts are all so elegant. I like the idea of adding crystals to the bottom. I can picture a whole tree covered in these. Very pretty! I’ve never seen shiny card stock. So happy to be hopping with you.
Andrea! Isn’t that shiny card stock so cool? Sure saves on aluminum foil too! 🙂 It was totally fun to share the hop – I love your music ornament! Popping over there soon!
I love your elegant Christmas ornament. I never would have thought to use what you did to create such a beautiful ornament, so creative.
It was fun getting creative with you in making our ornaments.
Hi Sonya! Thanks so much – it’s so fun to mess around with household supplies! 🙂 And lovely to share a hop with you too!