Make a Stunningly Simple Bauble and Light Filled Star
Okay, I’ll admit it. I love homemade decorations. They’re always a huge hit in our home. When the kids were small, we always made our own. Sadly now that they’re older we don’t always have the time. Mommy chauffeur reporting for duty 😀 So this year we cheated a bit and used some of our old store-bought ornaments and sheets of cardboard to make this bauble and light-filled star. That still counts as homemade, right!!!?
And since she’s made from cardboard she’s budget-friendly too.
This is not the first time we used cardboard to make a Christmas decor that wows. And she sure does wow, especially when the lights are turned down low.
Okay, before we get to the tutorial, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!
What you need
It’s pretty simple to make too. All you need is:
- A large sturdy cardboard box or two pizze boxes
- Masking tape, ruler and scissors or a craft knife
- Battery operated string lights
- Christmas baubles
- Spray paint (optional)
- Glue gun
Making the Bauble and Light Filled Star
RightyO, so first things first. We need to make a huge star-shaped box for all those baubles. Grab a big thick sheet of cardboard. The thicker the better and draw a large five-point star as shown below.
Just make sure the tips of the star are big enough to hold your smallest bauble.
Cut the star out using a pair of scissors or your craft knife. Use the other piece of cardboard and measure and cut 8 cm wide strips. That’s about 3 1/8 inches. Place the strips on the sides of the star and mark off how long each strip should be. I numbered the strips and the sides just in case my 5 point star wasn’t 100% perfect.
Attach the strips to the sides of the star using some masking tape. Flip the star over and fold the strips up and tape the tips of the points and where the points of the star meet each other.
Give the star a coat of paint to hide the masking tape and invite one of your purr babies to test it out 😉 Ahhhh, my Cleo. Isn’t she beautiful? She’s always so willing to help out.
When the purr baby is satisfied, use a sharp implement to poke holes into the star.
Push the string lights through from the back of the star. Add as many lights as you can. It just makes it looks so much more special. Time to fill her up. Our baubles were all different colors. Yeah I know, I’m one of those people that used to pick a new color theme every year. Thank goodness Bonnie and Edward Seymour invented spray paint way back when. My heroes!!!! This year I’m kinda liking the whole metallic look.
Spray paint makes everything better. Even Mondays 😉
Once the paint dries, put a small dab of glue on a bauble and start sticking those babies down randomly inside the star. I didn’t have enough to fill the whole star, but that’s kinda okay.
I love how the empty space contrasts with the baubles and light. What do you think?
Ain’t she pretty?
Sorry about the image quality. I take all my photos with my mobile and struggle a bit with the ISO setting when it’s dark. And that’s when the bauble and light-filled star really starts weaving its magic.
If you like the idea of the bauble and light filled star, don’t forget to pin it for later
Sharing is caring 😉
So tell me. Do you make your own ornaments for Christmas or do you prefer to buy them? I’d love to hear about it and if you’re searching for more crafty cardboard ideas you’ll find a whole bunch of tutorials on the blog.
Oh before I forget, if you don’t want to go to the trouble of finding some of the materials we used, we’ve got you covered Disclosure: Clicking on the links below, means we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us come up with more crafty ideas to share with you 😉
And as always wishing you a wonderful, happy crafty week. Thank you for popping in for a visit.
See, it’s that unique spin you put on things that wows me every.single.time. The star idea in itself is very cute but the way you placed the baubles makes it very clever and unique. LOVE this!
❣ Awwwww Marie, that’s so special. Thank you!!!
What do you put the dabs of glue on to put on the baubles. Do you need to use something to put all the baubles on or can you just glue them in. When do you paint the star?
Hey they Norma, we painted the star before adding the baubles and they have just been glued in. Lie the star flat on the ground and then glue them in one by one with a glue gun. Hope that helps
I’m just seeing this now and had to pin it for next year. LOVE your idea! Thanks so much for sharing it!
Oh yay, I’m glad you like it Wendi and thanks so much for the pin ?
Ok will be pinning this for next Christmas, sooo cute!!! And your kittie is the bomb!!!
Thanks so much Christine ?
I would enjoy this all year not just for Christmas! It’s a perfect decoration for sprucing up a bedroom or living room, even a bathroom. It’s great.
Thanks so much Susan, we’re really happy with how it turned out
Just now saw this! It is a piece of art. Absolutely gorgeous. I will most definitely do this next year. Anxious to go through all your posts. Thanks for the inspirations.
? Thank you so much Sandee, I really appreciate that. Let me know how your dresser turns out please
Where did you put the battery pack?
Hey there Mercy, it’s stuck behind the star
This is really elegant and gorgeous Michelle. This post isn’t crafted its art. Love it, lady.
Thanks so much Leanna
Hi Michelle, i just started following you and your husband, i had been perusing hometalk.com and ran across your blog about how to paint eyes on your mossy friends (i think that was the title) but anyway I fell in love with that and here I am. I posted on Facebook the u tube video and told them all about you and Crafty Mix and your husband. I hope that was ok ??? I can’t wait to see what all you both indulge in as far as diy goes. I love it all so I’m sure I’m going to love your whole blog. Happy Holidays to you both and you’re family of furry babies, of course your kitty is adorable but your puppy is beautiful. Love the eyes. See you soon.
Your comments on all our different blog posts really made my day Diena – how do I ever say thank you for each one of them. It means the world to us bloggers when someone shares a tiny piece of themselves in the comment section so THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart ❤️
Wow – I can’t believe I missed this one…this is gorgeous, Michelle!
Thanks so very much Handan ?
Michelle, I love this project so much. It’s simple but so chic. Thanks for sharing your tutorial. Pinned!
Thank you so much Lisa and it’s a pleasure
Ok so silly question….. where do you get the cardboard? Did you just buy a moving box?
A moving box would work beautifully Dana. We had a whole bunch of large pieces of cardboard that we used for other projects so we used that
What can I say… you have this gift to make everything and look so gorgeous! You are an inspiration!
Thank you my friend ?
That looks absolutely beautiful! I have two left hands when it comes to craft. There’s no way I could master this one. 🙂
I’m sure you’ll be able to make it Jas. Those two left hands of yours are super talented. I’ve seen the masterpieces you create in the kitchen ?
How beautiful! Thank you for sharing this post at our Winter Holiday Link Party! I’ll be featuring your gorgeous star tonight on Facebook. -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
Oh Wow. Thank you so much Marci. You just made my day.
Also, I love the kitty. 😉
❤
Michelle, this is stunning. I cannot believe you did this with cardboard! It looks so classy and expensive. I love the metallic color scheme and the empty space is a perfect contrast! I don’t know how you come up with these things, but they are simply brilliant. Love, love, love. Off to make my own. 😀
? Oh Yay Amy!!!!! That’s so great. Thank you. I’m really glad the cardboard star works for you and can’t wait to see how yours looks
It’s beautiful Michelle! I thought that the star would be difficult to make , but you made it look pretty simple. It’s truly an original, and it has the stamp of approval from your pretty purr baby Cleo! ?
It really is simple my friend as long as the points of the star are wide enough for the baubles. The first time I made it, the points were too narrow so I had to make another one ?
Looks so great!
Thank you for the tutorial.
Best wishes
Uwe
It’s a pleasure Uwe, thank you very much
This is gorgeous, I like it half full. And it has kitty’s seal of approval so you know you did a good job. I totally agree with you about the homemade ornaments. Not to say I don’t have store bought but I love the handmade ones the best.
Me too Debra. In fact I still have ornaments that my Ouma made with us when we were kids. The memories they bring every time we hang them up are priceless
oh, yes! It is insanely pretty! And so easy to make! Thank you so much for sharing this – you always inspire me Michelle!
Thanks so very much Maya, that really means a lot to me
Michelle, it’s on! I am making this baby. I love it. More than love it, I have to have it. I’m going to search through my ornaments, they will need some nifty spray paint too. I have tons of them that are all different colors. Can’t wait. I’ll show you once I get it completed. Thanks for sharing, this is gorgeous!
HiiiiiiHaaaaa, that’s so awesome Nikki. I can’t wait to see what yours looks like.
Wow, this is a totally cool idea. This would look great on top of a mantle or bookshelf. Love it, will have to try!
Thanks so much Thena ?
Michelle, the star is absolutely gorgeous!! The lights and the metallic finish on the baubles look so incredible!!
Thanks so much my friend ❤️
That is so pretty! I wish I had the time and patience to create DIY home decorations.
Thanks so much Nicole, it’s so rewarding when you make your own
I love this project! I love the simplicity of it. It is truly stunningly simple! What a perfect description. I’m glad you cat verified the stability of it!
Thank you Gigi, I can’t tell how much I appreciate that and thank goodness we have Cleo to help us stress test our creations ?
I love how your star turned out! It is absolutely beautiful and does not cost much, too. I would love to invite my friends over and do this project with them,
That sounds like it could be loads of fun Marie ?
I was trying this out myself and got a little confused. The lights behind the stars, is it covered by the baubles in the end? Are the baubles supposed to give off lights after completion? The candles in front made me wonder about that!
The lights are behind the baubles and I used about 50 lights in total. So in some instance the baubles cover the lights and in others they kinda shine between the baubles. Hope that makes sense
Wow, it looks so pretty! I tend to shy away from homemade decorations because I think they are difficult. Your directions make it look so easy I may try it!
I promise it gets easier Agnes ? and it’s soooooooo much fun
I am sure big brands won’t last too long to create something similar, Michelle, this is so cool! Love it is made out of cardboard; it makes the best DIY things because it’s inexpensive and easy to work with. I have to agree, spray paint is a wonderful thing for humanity 😉
Thanks so much Pili, I still love those the beautiful stars you made a while ago. Cardboard and spray paint – our go to supplies ?
I love this Michelle! Very classic and expensive-looking! I love that the star is only partially filled. About how big is it? Like point to point on the star? Your Cleo is precious too.
Thanks so much Florence. The Star is about 60 cm which is 23 1/2 inches which is nice a big to fit all those baubles
Looks like your kitty wants to shine, too 🙂 That is super creative, I absolutely love the idea. The shiny balls are beautiful and it cost almost nothing to make this lovely piece!
LOL, yes our Cleo is a little super star
I love this! I have some mixed size baubles in this colors already. I do love that the half empty side versus the full size; I think it would look odd if it was all filled. Pinned.
You’re probably right, thanks for that. I really didn’t want to go buy more baubles when we had perfectly good ones already. Thank you
Of course it counts as home-made, you have worked with it! 😉 It looks amazing! Also, I love your kitty. It has such a beautifully coloured coat <3
Thanks so much Flora and I’ll give Cleo a hug from you just so she know how beautiful she is ?
I don’t want to say this is personally one of my favorite things I’ve seenn on your blog because how can I simply pick between the other beautiful creations you’ve featured?! But I really, really, REALLY love this! It looks like it costs a bomb and has such a classy and warm look to it. <3
Ahhhhhhhhh Ithi, thank you so much for that my sweet friend
What a creative way to add you own touch to a holiday season. You creation looks as though it could have been bought at a high end shoppe.
Thanks so much Cia, we’re really happy with how it turned out
Love the look! It is so artistic being only partially filled. I saw your post over at the Christmas blog party.
Thanks so much Gayle. I popped over to your blog and I got completely side tracked. You’ve got a whole bunch of really awesome tutorials. I love it!!!
At first I thought this was made of wood but I was happily surprised! I can’t think of another way to have the beautiful string lights! Nice job!
Thanks so much Katerina ? I would love to try making something similar with wood one day
This is such a great idea!! I love Christmas just because it’s a great excuse to make things like these. Can’t wait to show this to my sister!
Thank you Ana ?
How easy! Love the photo with the cat sitting in the star…typical cat! I have a few places to decorate for Christmas this year, so easy ideas like this will work!
Purr babies seem to love their boxes ?
This is beautiful! Adding the lights is such a good idea. I’ll be on the look out for some baubles I can use to make something similar.
Ahhhh Lisa thank you. I was absolutely enthralled with all the beautiful works of art and your felt creatures when I popped over to your blog. You are so talented
Lovely decoration pieces. And homemade lends an emotional touch too. I like these Christmas stars, will try crafting these.
I hope you do Indu and please share how yours turns out
I love this! It’s so pretty! It almost seems like something I could do myself. ? I have made ornaments in the past. My sister and I took clear ornaments and used glitter to decorate in the inside and glass markers to draw/write on the outside. Most of our ornaments were purchased.
Ahhhh my sister and I used to do the same. Such beautiful memories
Wow this is so pretty! I am from Texas so I am totally loving the star!
Go Texas. I’m glad you like it Brigette, thanks so much
Yes, this DIY Christmas star is really pretty. The good thing about your blog is that you explain so nicely that even a layman like me can understand. My grandkids are also busy in decorating their Christmas tree these days.
Bahut dhanyavaad Sadhna, I really appreciate that so much
I forgot to mention your purr baby is so cute and adorable.
She is ❤️ Thank you Sadhna
I love your cat…she found her spot lol. This Christmas decor is simply stunning! I’d love to try and make one. Everything you create is absolutely beautiful!
Thanks so much CarolAnn. Isn’t she just beautiful. One of our four rescue purr babies, but she’s always out there getting involved when we’re making something ?
I love homemade decorations! This one glows so prettily in the candlelight. Wonderful job!
Thank you Emily ?
Wow, Michelle! Very creative and stunning!
Thanks soooooo much Gail ?
Your images are purrfect! I think this is a very original and unique idea cause I’ve never seen it before. It is a great way to show off your baubles while bringing some atmospheric light into the project. Michelle, I try not to buy ornaments I think it is much better to take your old ones and make them over. After all there is no fun in just going into the store to buy them.
LOL Mary, I love your purrfect comment and the fact that you make your own ornaments. It is way more fun
This is beautiful!! ….and I think it may just be easy enough for me to attempt!
Go for it Shana, it’s real easy to do
Oh my gosh that is so cute!! I just moved into my new home with my daughter this weekend and I really think I should make one for us! What a fabulous idea and looks shop bought!
Thanks so much Mel ? I hope you do get round to making one for you new home
Oh my Goodness, this is so so gorgeous! I love everything fairy lights, you know that and how you added the baubles to the star is just the most beautiful way! It looks stunning and amazing Michelle! One of my favourites!
Thanks so much Katrin, that really means a lot
Awww, sweet Cleo found a box. 🙂 Not for long though. This decoration could be right out of a PB catalog, Michelle. It’s awesome!!! Pinned of course. I never thought of spray painting baubles and gave away the ones from my pink phase some months ago. I’m just slapping myself on the forehead now, lol. I love that you added lights to the star. It must look even more amazing in real than in your pictures.
Have a great week!
LOL Julia, did you also go through a pink phase ? Why do we do that? Thank you for the pin and for being such a stunning supporter. When blogging becomes difficult and time consuming, you’re one of the reasons I keep going. Hope you have a beautiful week too xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxo
this looks so cute! the diy itself looks rather easy to do as well so I’m seriously considering giving it a try. the little details of the lights definitely set the mood.
I’m so glad to hear that Maria. Let me know how it turns out
I love homemade decorations….well I love everything homemade really….your decoration is stunning….it is a great idea and it brings a great Christmas spirit into the room….I bet even the cat had a lot of fun! 😀
? She did Paola ?
Your bauble filled star looks like a decoration you’ve just bought from a fancy and expensive shop! It looks fabulous, and knowing that you’ve made it yourself and it was so easy to do, gives us, the 2 left handed people a chance to know that we could create something like this as well. 🙂
That’s so special Joanna, thank you. And yes you can do this too ?
That’s a super cute idea! I think sometimes I get carried away with planning projects. But this seems so simple!
It is DeDe. All in all it probably took about an hour to make and that’s only coz I had to wait for the paint to dry ?
It totally counts 🙂 My mom used to be into arts and crafts … I think if I had company I would love to do it as an activity … but to do it all on my own seems like quite a task. However, I LOVE this idea and the end result looks SO good. You are an art genius.
Aaaw Tanvi, how I wish we stayed closer so I could do it with you. You’re right crafting on your own isn’t always fun