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True North Tree Topper

 

In case Santa gets lost, I decided to make a tree topper that will help him get home (the Big Dipper is the easiest way to find the north star Polaris). These instructions are for a small topper meant for a small or tabletop tree. 





Supplies:
  • wire
  • gold foil
  • gold paint
  • mod podge
  • gold foil/ leaf
  • aluminum pie plate
  • hot glue sticks
  • tacky glue
  • thick paper, such as watercolour paper
  • scrap paper
  • pencil
  • tape (I used painter's tape)
  • sandpaper or nail file
Tools
  • wire cutter
  • hot glue gun
  • bamboo skewer
  • scissors
  • paint brush
1) Cut a piece of wire 42cm long. Bend back one end around 0.5cm (to make a small hook) and create a loop, leaving around 16cm or wire hanging off the bottom. Cinch the little hook tightly so the loop doesn't move around.










2) Wrap the wire on the bottom around a pencil, remove from the pencil and expand the bottom ringlets slightly, and tighten the ringlets on top, next to the main loop (see step 6's picture to get a better idea of what I mean). Finish off by bending back the raw tip of the wire a bit, so you won't scratch of puncture yourself. Set aside for now.









3) Cut a 15cm piece of wire, bending back both raw edges for safety. Now bend the wore into the rough shape of the Big Dipper as shown.








4) Cut 14 star shapes out of thick paper. I just randomly cut out star shapes around 1.5cm each in size. Paint with gold paint.






5) Using tacky glue, glue stars (one star for the front, one for the back) on to the Big dipper wire piece. Once the glue is dry, apply mod podge to the stars and wire, cover the mod podge with the gold leaf. Do this in small sections, until the Big Dipper stars and wire are covered on both sides. Allow the mod podge to dry and then sweep away excess foil with a dry paint brush








6) Glue the Dipper to the topper wire with tacky glue. Note you want flip the Dipper over so it looks backwards. Allow glue to dry. Apply mod podge/ gold foil to cover up the dried glue. Set aside again for now.









7) Using a discarded pie place, I flattened out the base (you can use a popsicle stick or the handle of a disposable wooden utensil). Draw out your banner (mine was around 10cm x 4.5cm). Tape your design to the aluminum piece, be sure to save enough aluminum for a reverse banner. Trace your design with the pointed tip of a skewer









8) Remove the pattern and continue to emboss the aluminum, pushing the text in (use the sharp end of the skewer, and the banner out using the blunt end of the skewer. Cut out the banner out and file down the edges with sandpaper or a nail file. 








9) Attach the banner to the topper using hot glue. I sort of  tilted mine so the banner arch mirrors the Dipper's handle a bit.









10) Flip your banner pattern over and trace out the banner part (not the text), Emboss and cut out. File the edges and hot glue to the back of the topper.









11) Gently bend the back banner a bit to help you fit the topper spiral to the top branch of your tree. Pinch the wire spiral a bit to secure it to the tree.


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