12 Days of Crafting: Day 1, Twig Stars

Welcome to the 12 Days of Crafting on Dwell Well! I’m glad you’re here.

Often, the holiday season is considered a busy, stressful time full of frantic shopping trips and overbooked schedules.

But the holidays are an ideal time of year to slow down and simplify. Ignore the pressure to buy your loved ones the biggest, most expensive gifts. Turn it into a time to make thoughtful gifts for each other. Enjoy an old tradition or start a new one, like cooking a favorite recipe or making crafts with your family.

That’s where I come in.

Between today and Dec. 17, I’ll be posting one craft tutorial each day that’s somehow related to the holidays. It might be an ornament, a greeting card or a gift you could make for someone. Check in each day. Make along with me or tell me about the handmade treasures you’re creating at home by dropping me a line (megan.cooley@comcast.net) or leaving a comment here.

Let’s start with an easy one—those twig stars I mentioned a couple weeks ago. Read the instructions below, and then watch this step-by-step slideshow .

You will need twigs or thin tree branches, a pruning tool, a hot-glue gun and glue for it.

1. Cut five twigs to equal length—six inches long works well for a Christmas tree ornament, but you can use longer branches if you plan to turn this into a wall display or door hanging. Allow the twigs to dry. Warm up your glue gun.

2. Begin gluing the twigs’ ends to each other with a pea-sized dab of glue, creating a 36-degree angle between each pair. There’s no need to measure the angle. The equal lengths of the twigs will help you shape your star correctly.

3. Continue gluing the twig ends together until all five twigs are attached and the end point and start point meet up. As you go, also add glue to the points where the twigs intersect in the center of the star.

4. Once the glue dries, tie ribbon or twine to one point of the star and hang it on a Christmas tree as an ornament. Or, make several stars and connect them with ribbon or twine and then string them like garland across a fireplace mantle or over a doorway.

Note: If you celebrate Hanukkah instead of Christmas, make Stars of David with twigs instead. You will need six twigs of equal length instead of five, and you’ll form two triangles that you’ll then glue on top of each other.