An old-world idea from Eastern Europe takes a modern turn in this keepsake wreath. Polish villagers, who would traditionally fashion Christmas decorations with materials they had on hand, bent and manipulated strands of straw into stars, or "gwiazdy." Clustered around a wire wreath frame, these store-bought stars have a sculptural, streamlined look.
Tools and Materials
- Hot-glue gun
- Straw star ornaments (about 5 dozen total)
- Mini wooden clothespins in two sizes (about 6 dozen total)
- Double-rail wreath form
Straw Star Wreath How-To
- Using glue gun, adhere 1 star to 1 clothespin. Repeat, making more points; glue some to the flat sides of the clothespins and some to the very ends.
- Clip clothespins to wreath form. Continue until wreath form is covered. Glue some stars directly to the wreath form to fill holes as necessary.
Small straw star ornaments, ingebretsens.com. Straw star ornaments, polandbymail.com. Mini spring clothespins, 1 3/4 inches, createforless.com. Cavallini mini wooden clips, paper-source.com. Double rail wreath ring, 14 inches, mainewreathco.com.
Beautiful craftmanship. Am going to attempt to make some stars.just to see if I can
Pretty! But what I want to know is how to make those sweet star ornaments! :) Will have to Google it...
These straw stars are made in the European tradition, but they are being made in China. I have seen them and they all look that way. Worst they to smell from the fumigation they use to keep pests away. A better way would be making your own using German straw star molds. These can be found at http://www.germanplaza.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=85 They are sold here by the German Corner.