Making this bright star ornament is a fun family activity for the holidays. 

For this project, yo will need:

• 1 styrofoam ball, with a diameter of 6 cm (2 1/2″);
• 60 or more tooth picks;
• 1 skewer that is long enough to make a hole all the way through the ball;
• Thin clear plastic cord (fishing line or beading/jewelry cord);
• 1 bead, at least 7 mm (1/4″) in diameter;
• 1 can of spray paint in a color of your choice;
• Old newspaper and a cardboard box; and
• Craft glue (optional).

The finished bright star ornament will measure approximately 14 cm (5 1/2″) across.

	1. Push the skewer all the way through the center of the styrofoam ball.  Then, remove it.
	2. Prepare a 35 cm (14″) long piece of the plastic cord.  Push the cord through the hole that you made in Step 1. (If you find that your cord is not stiff enough to push through the ball, it may help to use a long needle as shown in the photo.)
	3. Place a bead (make sure that it is bigger than the hole in the ball) on one end of the clear cord, and make two tight overhand knots to tie the bead onto the cord.
	4. Pull the plastic cord so that the bead gets pulled into the hole of the ball and becomes embedded into the styrofoam.  This bead should prevent the plastic cord from coming loose when the finished ornament is hung.  So, make sure that the bead is tightly inserted into the ball and that the cord does not come undone when pulled.
	5. Start inserting tooth picks into the ball.  I placed the tooth picks approximately 1 cm (1/2″) apart from each other.
	6. You now have a white star with wooden spikes! If any of the spikes are loose, especially those at the bottom of the ball, I recommend that you apply a bit of craft glue to secure them in their holes.
	7. Now it is time to spray paint the star (I recommend that you do this part outside).  First, set up a painting station: spread out some newspaper and place a cardboard box on top.  Make a 10 cm (4″) long slit from the center of the top edge of the box towards the back of the box.  Now, push the loose end of the plastic cord of the bright star into this slit, and temporarily secure its end on the top side of the box by wrapping it around a toothpick or with tape so that the star hangs inside the box.  Spray the star evenly.

What is amazing is how the paint corrodes the surface of the styrofoam, thus creating the crater-like bumpy surface on the ball that you see in the photo above!

You can also make a larger star by using a bigger ball and/or longer spikes.  My daughter’s silver star, in the photo above, was made from a 7.5 cm (3″)  styrofoam ball and bamboo skewers (cut in half) instead of the tooth picks.  The resulting star measures approximately 24 cm (9 1/2″) across.

The more paint you apply, the more the styrofoam corrodes.  As you can see in the photo above, the lower right section of the silver star melted more than the rest because she sprayed a bit more paint there.  But I think that the unevenness of the ball adds character to this bright star ornament!

Happy Winter Holidays!