DIY Lighted Starburst Mirror Christmas Tree Topper {tutorial}

DIY Lighted Starburst Mirror Christmas Tree Topper

One thing I’ve never created but have always loved is a DIY starburst mirror. There are so many great tutorials, so many beautiful creations. The new white Christmas tree in the family room needed a topper. I have a white star (which you’ll see that I also used…there’s no such thing as too much bling at Christmas!). Here’s how I made the lighted starburst tree topper:

Materials:

about 30 BBQ skewers
about 30 plastic garden stakes
7″ flat round mirror
7″ cardboard circle (I traced my mirror onto a piece of white cardboard and cut it out)
FrogTape Delicate Surface
string of lights (mine is a string of 20)
spray paint (I used Rustoleum‘s Satin Lagoon)
1 pipe cleaner
hot glue

Tutorial:

1. Using the FrogTape Delicate Surface, tape off the front of the mirror.

2. Trace the mirror onto a piece of cardboard and cut out circle. Set aside.

3. Flip mirror over. I used a Sharpie and traced the bottom of my FrogTape container, making a circle centered on the back of the mirror. I traced the lid of my spray paint can for a smaller inner circle.

4. Lay out garden stakes round the outer circle to see if you’ll need to leave a small gap between each garden stake. Mine fit snug, just touching each other. I glued them into place on the outer circle.

5. Next I glued a BBQ skewer, starting on the inner circle, spacing them between each garden stake.

6. Mark the center of the cardboard circle. About 1/2″ from the center to the left and to the right, I poked a small hole using a pair of scissors.

7. Thread through the pipe cleaner. Glue pipe cleaner into place on the back side but do not glue to the back of the mirror yet. The front side will be what attaches the starburst mirror to the top of the tree. I folded my pipe cleaner and covered each with a piece of FrogTape. {I realized after the fact, do not thread the pipe cleaner until after spray painting the cardboard.}

8. Spray the back of the mirror. Let dry. Flip and spray the front of the starburst mirror. I also gave my cardboard a light coat of spray paint. Let dry.

9. Glue base of lights (and some of the coated wiring if needed) into place. I tried to place the lights between skewers and garden stakes. The actual bulb sits above the mirror when looking from the front. My string of lights was enough to wrap around at few times. Be sure to leave the cord hanging for plugging in.

10. Once the lights are all glued into place, glue the cardboard backing into place over the lights/back of the mirror, back of the garden stakes and skewers. {I did not do this…as shown, my cardboard was glued to the back of the mirror before the lights.} Be sure the pipe clear is facing the correct direction to wrap around the top branch of the tree.

11. Remove FrogTape from front of mirror. All done!