This year I had wanted to create some of my own holiday decor for the house and had an AHA moment when I was mindlessly perusing the internet and came across some mid-century design and realized that the atomic starburst shape is the perfect inspiration for a little holiday DIY. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out!
I should also say that I love paper straws and have a slight obsession with buying them whenever I see a cute pattern I like. Well, I came across a trio pack of gold and white straws on Amazon and knew they would make the perfect stems for the ornaments.
Now, the gold balls were more of a trial and error to get them exactly how I had envisioned them. I knew that I wanted to use craft foam balls but wasn't sure what the best application would be to turn them gold.
My first attempt was to spray paint them which kind of resulted in disaster. It may have been a result of user error but the paint didn't seem to adhere to them well (even though the package says paintable and I was using foam safe spray paint) and I didn't have the patience to apply multiple coats so I abandoned the spray paint and moved on to simple craft glue and loose glitter. Worked beautifully, thank goodness!
Here's what you need to create your own Atomic Starburst Ornaments:
- Paper Straws
- (14) Smoothfoam Balls in 1/2" diameter
- (1) Smoothfoam Ball in 1.5" diameter
- Extra Fine Glitter in Gold
- Craft Glue
- Toothpicks
- Paintbrush
- Screwdriver (or some other tool to punch a hole in the foam balls)
- Foam Blocks
- Exacto Knife
- Ruler
- Mod Podge Spray Sealant (or something similar)
- Hot Glue Gun
Start by creating one hole in the smaller foam balls so that they create a round end cap for the starburst stems. For the larger foam ball, create a hole at the north and south points of the ball, then four holes along the horizontal center axis, followed by 4 holes around the upper hemisphere and again with four holes around the lower hemisphere of the ball. Keep in mind that these 8 holes should be dug so that the stem will be on a 45 degree angle.
Next, coat the foam balls with your craft glue then cover with glitter goldness. Allow them to dry for a couple of hours on the foam blocks.
Once the glue has set, give the balls a couple of quick coats of Mod Podge sealant to keep the glitter from spreading all over the house as if Tinkerbell had just visited. Although my daughter would love it if she thought there was actual pixie dust all over the house. J
Next, you will need to cut your straws down to the desired lengths. I created two different sized ornaments and I'll share those measurements but it's totally up to you on how large or small you want to go. I based mine on getting multiple cuts out of each straw.
Larg Atomic Starburst Ornament
- (6) 7.75" straws cut into (2) pieces: 3.5" and 4.25" lengths
- (1) 7.75" straw cut into (2) pieces sized at 3.5" lengths with a .75" piece that gets discarded
Small Atomic Starburst Ornament
- (5) 7.75" straws cut into (3) pieces: 2.5" lengths with a .25" piece that gets discarded
Finally, glue each of the straws into the smaller glitter ball and then glue the other end of the straws into each of the holes on the larger glitter ball. If you are creating the large ornament then the (6) 4.25" long stems will go into the north and south point holes as well as the (4) holes around the center axis.
Now sit back and enjoy!
If you decide to make some of these fun little creations be sure to follow me on Instagram and share with me by posting to #ahamomentsblogspot. I"d love to see what you dream up!
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