DiY Lighted Christmas Stars

2 Materials
1 Hour
Easy
Ahhh…the first snow of the season! Although I’m not much of a winter person (too cold!), I love the first snow. For me, it is magical. It lifts me up, and I forget all about my dislike for winter. It also puts me into a Christmas mood. It’s like what they sing in the movie Elf: “the best way to spread Christmas cheer, signing loud for all to hear.” That’s how the first snow makes me feel!


Now that I have the Christmas bug in me and all I see is red, white and green, I thought I should share my DiY Lighted Christmas Stars with you.




As we are yet to put any Christmas decorations up, I had to use the pictures from last Christmas. So I hope these pictures are good enough to inspire you, because this one really is an easy-peasy project. And when I say it is easy, I mean it is as easy as hammering some nails into wood.


You will need 5 thin wooden slats cut to whatever length and width you desire. I used 4 feet long and 1 1/4 inch wide wooden slats, as I wanted my star to be pretty big but not very bulky. The thickness of the slats can vary from 1/4 inch to 1 inch. But you don’t want any thicker than 1 inch, because the thicker the wood is, the harder it becomes to work with. Besides, the star would look pretty bulky with thick wood. My slats were 3/8 inch thick.


Once I had my slats ready, I laid them on the floor to create the star shape. Now here are some hints for you not to sweat too much when trying to achieve the perfect star shape:


1) Work slat-by-slat, and don’t worry about getting the shape or angles right when you lay your slats on top of each other. That is something you’ll be able to correct at the very end. I promise!


2) First, start with securing the corners. Do not secure the inner intersections until the very end, because that will make the slats rigid and will not allow you to correct the angles at the end.


3) When securing the corners, use only a single nail or screw. By doing so, you are allowing the two slats move so you can correct the angles at the end.


4) If you have a brad nailer, it makes everything even easier and quicker. If not, just use normal nails or screws.




Did you get your star as perfect as possible? Good! Now, you need to secure your star at the intersections so it won’t deviate from it’s perfect state.


Once I had the perfect star shape (per the step-by-step guide on our blog) I carried on with the next steps: painting, adding lights and some berries or other embellishments on our star.


I wanted to use some colorful embellishments on my star like berries or colorful Christmas ribbons, therefore I painted mine with 2 coats of flat white spray paint. But as you can guess, the color and embellishment choice is up to your desire. You can go with red, green or any other color you like to paint your star. Or you can even leave your star bare wood as all will look awesome in their own way.


Once the paint dried, I started attaching Christmas lights on it. As I was going to use some embellishments I preferred using lights with white cables. This is also because I wanted the embellishments to stand out more than the cables. But again this is totally up to your desire – you can go with green cabled lights or whatever you have on hand.


I had two options when attaching the lights: either I was to wrap them around the slats or directly attach them on the face of the slats. I chose latter, because I wanted the back to be nice and flat as I was planning to hang it on the walls. But I have to say wrapping the lights around is the easiest way to go.


While I was working with the lights, I also started embellishing my stars. Using wires, I attached red berries on one and Christmas ribbons on the other...and that was the end of this project!


What do you think? That was easy enough, wasn’t it?


I hope you give these lighted Christmas stars a try, because they make really great Christmas decor for indoors or outdoors, and they give a beautiful warm glow to any room you put them in.


Perfect for the season!



Thanks for reading and happy crafting!
Handan, xo
Suggested materials:
  • Wooden slats
  • Nails
Handan & Greg @ The Navage Patch
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 8 questions
  • Jbi10167331 Jbi10167331 on Dec 02, 2016
    How did you get your lights to stay on the star if you did not wrap the lights around the star?
  • Alb10414518 Alb10414518 on Dec 02, 2016
    How did you attach the lights and other decor
  • Linda kelley Linda kelley on Dec 08, 2016
    Where would you purchase these slats...if in a home improvement store...what do you ask for?
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