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.
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-oint 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 look 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.
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 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.
Last update on 2026-08-16 / Source Amazon Affiliates







118 comments
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