DIY: 3D cardboard stars

I'm excited to finally reveal what I was saving all that cardboard for: 3D stars to hang over our TV! Back when I originally moved in and posted pictures, Keith and I weren't really sure what to put over the TV. We thought about putting a shelf or a large panoramic picture, but in the end I really wanted something simple that would fill up the space, without overpowering the wall (because it's right next to our beer collage). I saw these 3D cardboard stars on Pinterest and thought that they'd be the perfect solution, and they were really easy to make. Its great to finally get something off of our Apartment Therapy list checked off!

Supplies:
a bunch of lightweight cardboard (i.e. cereal boxes)
printout 5 pointed star design
ruler
scissors
pen/pencil
string
tape/glue

Find a simple 5 pointed star on Google, print it, and cut it out (or freehand your own!) This will be your template for making the rest of the stars. As you can see, I have 3 different sized stars, so I used 2 different templates and drew the largest myself. Trace around the template onto your cardboard, then cut it out. Then, using your ruler, draw lines from each point out through the center ending at the indent directly opposite it. Open your scissors and score along each line (using a ruler to keep your lines straight). You don't want to cut all the way through your cardboard, but do go deep enough to make an indent. Continue scoring until all the lines have been done.

Then, start folding. From the center to each point (longer lines), fold so that the crease comes up. From the center to each indent (shorter lines), fold down. This part is a little tricky at first, but my advice is to do each fold all the way around just a little, then to do the folds over again. After that, just make a little loop of string and tape it onto the back of each star. They're pretty lightweight, so tape has held all of them except for the largest! So, on that one I had to attach using glue.

You're done! All that's left is to hang them. I used small decorative nails (they're so lightweight). My advice is to keep your star design balanced, but not symmetrical. Also, hang the stars from largest to smallest; smaller pieces can fit into more spaces! We're keeping them just cardboard for now, because we don't want to overpower the beer collage and because we're not really sure what colors our living room will have once we get curtains and table cloths. But, I think they would look really cute painted. What color would you paint them?

Linking up for the first time (!) with Molly and Carly for #YOLOMonday!!

This post was featured by Molly and Carly in their weekly YOLOMonday roundup. Thanks so much ladies! You can see the post here and here and check out the other featured posts as well.