Simply Handcrafted Tree Star ~ Christmas Tree 2012

The tree is up and the lights work...

Our 2012 Christmas Tree.

As some of you know - we recently moved into this house...

it's not a permanent residence for us and our Christmas decor is packed all tight and nice.

I dreaded unpacking all of our traditional Christmas decorations and repacking them up again.

So I made and purchased our tree accessories for this year. 

I am featuring the rustic tree topper in this post.

It is big, made of natural wood and makes our tree unique.

It was simple to make - I will show you how I quickly put it together:

The star is made with 2x4's cut into (6) 11&1/2 inch pieces.

This will make two stars...

~One can be a gift and one can be for you!~ :)

Cut the 11 1/2 inch 2/4's into quarters. I used my miter saw and table saw

(cut length wise and width wise).

I made a five point star with two 11-1/2 inch x 1-1/4 inch (approx.)

wood pieces per point (10 qty - you will have some left over).

Nail them together at each meeting point just once so it will move into a good star shape for you.

I used my nail gun and an air compressor for this task.

Once I moved the star into the shape I liked best-

I nailed each point two more times each so it would not be flexible anymore.

Then I used a hand sander to get rid of the wood "boogies".

I painted one white with a sponge brush in an uneven sort of way.

Once the white paint was dry I used some ebony stain on the edges.

Let the stain sit on the edges for a few minutes to soak into the raw wood.

Then brush more stain over the white painted areas and use baby oil and an old t-shirt to spread the stain around so it is "blended" and "glazed" looking.

This is a great technique for "aging" wood projects.

I placed the wooden star ornament on top of the tree and used green craft wire to secure it there.

The 2012 tree also features my handmade Shabby Twinkle Garland.

Vine garland and silver ornaments. I especially like the JOY ornaments.

I miss all of our homemade ornaments from our kids from previous years.

You can see our 2011 Tree of Memories Here.

I draped burlap around the bottom for an inexpensive, natural skirt.

The colors are neutral and the star is rustic. 

It fits this highly visible corner nicely for us to enjoy all season long.

You can see more Christmas crafts Here.

Linking with these parties:
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
SNS #163 at Funky Junk Interiors
Craft-O-Maniac Monday
Keeping It Simple - Motivate Me Monday #150