These DIY lighted wooden stars make great Christmas decorations & are simple to make from inexpensive hardware store yardsticks, paint, and Christmas lights.
Updated October 2021
I came across an idea via Pinterest last week that I had to try out right away
—huge DIY lighted wooden stars made from 69 cent yardsticks and wrapped in Christmas lights.
Thanks to Crystal from Little Bit Funky for the idea and the easy instructions. I mentioned the wood stars in my newsletter last week and then immediately hopped in the car to go buy some yardsticks.
We’ve since made FOUR, each painted different colors by the kids!. We can’t stop making them. They are the perfect combination of spectacular, cheap, easy, and fun.
Update :: We can’t stop making wooden stars!! We’ve now made wooden star decorations five different ways!
Here’s how we did it…
DIY Lighted Wooden Stars
We started out with our trusty hot glue gun and a stack of yardsticks from Lowes/Home Depot (they both sell similar yardsticks for 69 cents in the paint section—and yes, we’ve tried them from both stores in the last week).
Maia helped me arrange the yardsticks into star shape, did a little bit of the glue gun action, but mostly hung out with me and showed off various gymnastics-type moves while I fashioned the stars.
We made two stars the first time and the girls each painted one using a combination of BioColors and glitter paint. Maia painted hers yellow and gold. Daphne painted hers pink and red with little bits of several other colors to boot.
The markings on the yardsticks show through the paint, which is kind of cool, but with the second round of stars I painted them with a coat of white interior wall primer first.
I wrapped a string of white Christmas lights around the outer edges of the star…
…like so…
And hung it up on our porch. I LOVE it. I want lighted wooden stars all over. Actually, the ideal spot for this star is in the triangular area above the porch, but I’m not sure how to get it up there.
And besides, I like being able to see it from inside.
Here’s a photo showing how well the primer covers the markings on the yardsticks. Maia and I made a couple stars as party gifts, a Star of David painted silver and sprinkled with blue and green glitter for a Hanukkah party…
…and a star painted red and sprinkled with pink glitter for a friend’s birthday.
I highly recommend trying your hand at one of these stars! And definitely check out Crystal’s post at Little Bit Funky for her tutorial and images.
Tomorrow I’ll post another wood star craft inspired by this one!
