How to Make an Amazingly Simple Wooden Christmas Star

There’s something about Christmas that makes me so happy.

I love coming down the stairs on a December morning, and seeing the room warmly lit with the glow from the Christmas tree. I haven’t heard a Christmas carol that I didn’t like, and don’t even get me started on those Hallmark Christmas movies. 🙂

Needless to say, Christmas is my favorite.

Here’s my door decor project which will show you how to make a simple wooden Christmas star for your door. This project cost a whoopin’ zero bucks because they were all items I collected from around our workshop and craft room.

How to Make a Simple Wooden Christmas Star

The below instructions will show you how to make this easy holiday star.

Materials for the Wooden Star

The star itself is made just with ribbon, plywood, and greens. However, I did stain and wax the star, too. Check out the materials below.

• Scrap plywood
• Ribbon
• Greens – Read below on how I got these 🙂
• Wood Stain – I made my own!
• Wax – We used Daddy Van’s Beewax, provided to us by Old Fashioned Milk Paint.

Optional – Jingle Bells or other fun accessories.

Tools Needed for the Wooden Star

• Scroll saw (jig saw or even a handsaw will work too)
• Orbital sander (or you can just sand by hand)
• Hanging hardware

Draw out the Star

The first thing I did was grab a piece of scrap plywood from the garage, and I drew out a star. I didn’t want a perfect star, but one that had character – so I intentionally exaggerated some of the points.

Cut out the Star

Once I was happy with it, I used my scroll saw to cut it out.

If you haven’t used a scroll saw yet, ohmygosh, you are missing out! It’s super cool and super easy to use. It’s kind of like a sewing machine, but with a little blade instead. The cuts take a little practice, but it’s definitely a low-pressure tool.

After I cut it out, I rounded over the edges with a light sanding from my orbital sander. This made the star splinter free and easy to handle.

Stain & Seal the Star

Next, I stained the star with a homemade stain mix. I love making my own stain, and you won’t believe the materials I used. 🙂

After staining and letting it dry a while, I sealed it with beeswax that Old Fashioned Milk Paint provided when we did our mudroom makeover. I like to use all natural ingredients, so you won’t find many chemicals here.

Decorate the Star

Now, for my second favorite part (first favorite part was the scroll saw). I took out my Christmas ribbon collection and starting looking for the perfect one.

I’ve bought all of my Christmas ribbon from Michael’s 70% off last year, during the Black Friday sales. I didn’t have any projects in mind, but rather I gravitated toward the ribbon I loved and saved them for the rainy day 🙂 That’s one of the best ways to save money with DIYs and it saves trips to the store later on.

After I chose my ribbon, I started looking for greenery. I didn’t have any of my Christmas decorations out yet, and although they are labeled and stored in a pretty easy spot, I only had 10 minutes before I had to start to dinner. So I grabbed a Christmas wreath that was easier to reach and clipped a few pieces of greenery from the back.

Not yet happy with the results, a tree outside grabbed my eye, and next thing I know, I was clipping off some greens.

So there you have it, a mix of real and artificial greenery, tied with a thrifty yet gorgeous ribbon.

I was so pleased with the results and I still had a few minutes to spare before starting dinner. 🙂

Adding the Hanging Hardware

I keep a few frame hanging kits in the garage for hanging all types of things on the wall.  They are very useful to have handy.  I opted to use two mini eyehole screws and frame hanging wire.

I was pretty pleased with how the star turned out. Not only did I not spend a dime, but now I had a homemade Christmas star that I love to add to my holiday collection.

It’s fun when you find decor that you love in the store, but it’s a pretty amazing feeling when you made it yourself.