Patriotic layered star

This patriotic layered star is such a fun and easy craft to make! It is small enough that you can add it to your table at a BBQ, add it to the front of a gift, or even display on the shelf or mantle. I love the 4th of July! I think it is one of my favorite holidays to decorate for. The patriotic colors are my favorite, literally. They are such a perfect combination. And not to mention that I just love, LoVe, LOVE, stars (insert dreamy eyes here). Anyway, read on to hear how I made this super cute star!

Let me start by telling you that we have this awesome CNC router that my hubby has rigged so many times I can’t even count. So using this baby, we cut 3 different sized stars. Well….if I must be honest, we cut TONS of different sized stars, and just chose from those. Did I mention that I LOVE stars?! Ok, so we just cut a bunch from 1/2″ & 1/4″ MDF. We were working on designing our 4th of July crafts for our monthly craft night and I knew we would use them throughout our spread of crafts. Like I said, it’s one of my favorite holidays to decorate for so my mind over flows with ideas of different crafts to make. Honestly, I had such a hard time narrowing it down 😉

Let me just add, you don’t need one of these nifty machines to make your stars, you can simply buy 3 different sized stars and do the same thing with them.

Base layer

For the base star, I began with the larger star that measures approx. 5″, and was cut from 1/2″ MDF. I painted it Deep Midnight Blue. I always paint 2-3 coats on my projects, because I guess I just really want them coated good. Even if I sand it off again. Kinda sounds redundant, but that’s just how I paint.

Middle layer

Next, for the middle tier, I chose a medium sized star, which measures approx. 2.5″. It was cut from the 1/2″ MDF, and painted it White. Again, I used 2-3 coats. I definitely wanted a clean, crisp bright white covering on this star. Having the white in the middle, really makes the top level “pop”.

Top layer

For the last, center star, I chose a cute, little one that fit perfectly in the center of the medium one. It measures approx. 1″. I painted this last one Tompt Red. Coated it 2-3 times and then set them aside to dry.

Antiquing your patriotic layered star

When all the stars were dry, I used a sanding block and sanded back and forth in one direction, on the front of the stars, to remove some of the paint on the edges. Once I did this I brushed all the saw dust off of them and then stained them with a dark brown stain and wiped the excess stain off using an old rag. After I had the look I wanted I laid them out to dry over night.

Assembling your patriotic layered star

The following day, I was so excited to get my star finished. Sometimes it is so hard for me to be patient and wait for things to dry! Anyway, first thing in the morning, I was out in the shop working on this star. I used a small circle of wood glue to glue each layer together. Once you get the 3 stars glued together, keep it laying flat while the wood glue dries. Once the wood glue is dried, you can stand your star up and display it where you want!

Supplies for the patriotic layered star:

Various sized wooden stars
Tompt (red) acrylic paint
White acrylic paint
Deep Midnight Blue acrylic paint
Sanding block
Dark brown stain
Wood glue

If you love stars and adore patriotic colors, or if you just want an easy and cute 4th of July decoration, this is for you! I have laid out the steps to followed to make one of your own! Happy Crafting!