Paper Bag Stars with Lights

Discover ways to make big paper lunch bag stars that mild up.

Have you ever seen these big 3D stars made out of paper lunch luggage? It’s been a very standard craft the previous few years however I had by no means tried making them. Then I acquired the thought to hold them in my entryway window and had to determine a method so as to add lights to them so that they’d look fairly throughout the day AND at night time. And that’s how we ended up right here.

Immediately I’m going to indicate you methods to make mild up paper bag stars!

Supplies Wanted

You should utilize any fairy lights, however I favored that these explicit lights additionally had a timer. They mechanically come on for six hours and switch off for 18, so I simply turned them on at 5pm the primary day and haven’t touched them since. That’s so significantly better than having to dig round to search out the swap and switch them on each night time. I’ll by no means purchase the common form once more!

Some instructions I checked out mentioned to make use of college glue, then clamp the luggage collectively whereas they dry, however I’m sorry… I don’t have the endurance for that! Sizzling glue is a lot sooner. The one method I’d use college glue is that if I had been making this craft with children so no little fingers get burned. In any other case, it’s scorching glue all the way in which, child!

Directions

Step 1: You’ll want 9 luggage per star, so depend these out and make a stack with all the luggage going the identical course. Separate out the primary bag. Make a T form with scorching glue down the middle of the bag and alongside the closed backside edge, then place the second bag on prime, lining up all the perimeters. Repeat gluing and stacking till all 9 luggage are connected collectively in a neat stack.

Step 2: Reduce out a design. At first I used to be attempting to chop via all 9 layers on the similar time, however OUCH! That actually hurts your palms. As an alternative, I simply reduce via two or three at a time till all of them had been reduce. A lot much less painful. You’ll be able to see how I did that within the video tutorial on the backside of this submit.

CUTTING TIPS – Once you reduce conventional paper snowflakes such as you did in elementary college, you need tremendous intricate designs with numerous fussy cuts. I’ve discovered with these paper bag stars, the easier designs truly turned out extra stunning. Reduce some type of level, petal, or star tip form alongside the highest edge, then add round or triangular shapes to the 2 sides and let it’s. Easy. Simply bear in mind to not reduce via the underside half the place the luggage double in thickness.

Step 3: Use a gap punch to make a gap as near the center of the bag as you possibly can attain. I simply did a number of luggage at a time till I had a gap that went via all of the layers. Alternately, you should use the sharp tip of scissors to stab a gap. This simply felt a bit harmful to my clutzy self.

Step 4: Connect a string loop to the highest heart of the luggage, then do the identical scorching glue sample of an the other way up T.

Deliver the 2 ends of the bag round to kind a circle form and press them collectively. The simplest method is to place your palms inside the luggage after which simply press your palms collectively, lining up the guidelines and edges the very best you possibly can.

Step 5: Now comes the enjoyable half… including these fairy lights! Begin on the prime of the star the place the hanging loop is positioned and string the lights via the holes you punched. As soon as the lights are all the way in which across the circle, tuck the battery pack into the underside of the pouch and your star is prepared for hanging.

To hold my stars within the window, I used a push pin on the highest of my window molding, then tied a skinny string to the hanging loop and adjusted the peak, then tied off the string across the push pin. Nobody will ever see the outlet because it’s up excessive on prime of the molding.

Don’t the lights simply take this entire undertaking up a notch?! I really like, love, love the twinkle and glow, particularly at night time wanting within the home windows from exterior. So fairly!

Video Tutorial