Starman Tree Topper

Give your tree invincibility with this glowing Super Mario Starman tree-topper. It's simple to make with some basic sewing knowledge and utilizes LED Throwie technology. Even if you aren't a gamer, this cute plushy star will light up any Christmas!

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Step 1: Materials

This project is made in two parts -- the plush and the electronic. It could be made equally as cute without the electronic part, but really it's so simple, there's hardly a reason to skip it! You'll need:

Vinyl: yellow (approx 2 sheets of 8 1/2" x 11"), scraps of black and white
Glue
Batting to fill the star
Needle & thread
Coin cell battery
Two yellow LEDs
Stranded wire
Tiny switch
Filament packing tape
Sewing machine (opt)

sparkchaser says: Dec 20, 2009. 8:36 PM

I love this idea. I want to try to build one using the last 2 or 3 bulbs at the end of a string of LED Christmas tree lights instead of the embedded throwie. That way I won't have to have a separate power source and I can switch it on and off with the rest of my tree.

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scoochmaroo (author) in reply to sparkchaserDec 21, 2009. 10:12 AM

Genius!

Laccou says: Dec 23, 2012. 10:07 PM

Aww soo cute, and looks great. Great Job!

glassgiant says: Dec 11, 2010. 2:46 PM

Awesome instructable. My wife made this one. She hated the Santa topper I bought and I hated the angel we used to have. There are a few differences from yours. It's made of two upholstered pieces of cardboard (pizza box). They're put back-to-back and then the edges sewn together. It has 10 lights on a string from Michael's, powered by 2 C cells. I extended the wire to the battery box (which has the switch on it) so it hangs low enough for her to reach it easily, and put a Velcro tie on it, to attach it to a branch. I added a wire cone made from coat hangers to hold it upright.

I would love to have made this so it could plug in to the tree lights, but the little battery-powered string was cheap ($1.50) and available. And I would LOVE to have made it so that it glowed as it does now, but had a microphone and could detect when the "star invincibility" theme from Mario was playing on the TV. If it detects the theme, it would flash like Mario does when he's invincible. I have no idea if this is possible and no idea how to do this technically. I'm hoping some electronics guru could pick up the gauntlet.

Thanks so much for the idea! We love it!

Iridium7 says: Dec 8, 2009. 6:16 PM

make a zipper for access to the switch.

Oberoten says: Dec 2, 2009. 6:17 PM

very nice, very creative an as you already pointed it looks great combined with the mushrooms.
beware of Nintendo charging you for the rights !

fragg3r says: Nov 27, 2009. 8:49 AM

Maybe the eye of the star can be the switch.... lol!

Miscelinious says: Nov 22, 2009. 7:27 PM

very nice! I love the mushrooms on your tree, too!

DangerGirl says: Oct 20, 2009. 4:17 AM

I have a girlfriend I can surprise with this, great idea!!!

redsoxdrummer says: Sep 11, 2009. 2:41 PM

cool....but cud i make an instruktubl for us no-sew LED les tipes?

Articas says: Jun 22, 2009. 2:20 AM

you could ad velcro at the bottom so you can change the battries when they go flat

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scoochmaroo (author) in reply to ArticasJun 22, 2009. 9:39 AM

Yeah! Great idea!

CitigirlDC says: Jan 22, 2009. 10:58 PM

This was so great I hit up Radio Shack on the way home for the materials. Do you have an online source for the vinyl? I can't seem to find stuff that looks like it will work.

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scoochmaroo (author) in reply to CitigirlDCJan 23, 2009. 11:27 AM

Sweet!
I bought my fabric locally. But when I need something special, I use www.fabric.com.
They have yellow vinyl for $5/yd! Way cheaper than what I found.

asyrith says: Dec 27, 2008. 4:26 PM

Awesome! I love it so much! I wish I had some more time to make one. Do you have an etsy or something like that? This is very much worth buying. Yeah, yeah, I know...DIY and all...but I won't make one and the next best thing is supporting a diy-er!

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scoochmaroo (author) in reply to asyrithDec 29, 2008. 1:53 AM

I've been meaning to get myself set up on etsy. Thanks for the encouragement!

asyrith in reply to scoochmarooJan 11, 2009. 3:23 PM

Well, if you get on soon, let me know! I'm having a gaming party in the last week of this month and the star would be an awesome addition. :)

DIYDragon says: Dec 23, 2008. 9:20 AM

Cute! I was wanting a tree topper, but found nothing I like.. I'm seeing a video game tree next year. : )

spiffytessa says: Dec 22, 2008. 5:34 PM

That is... adorable!

spool says: Dec 22, 2008. 9:58 AM

that doesn't look anything like Jeff Bridges

omnibot in reply to spoolDec 22, 2008. 1:34 PM

And it's a good thing it doesn't.

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Kiteman says: Dec 22, 2008. 8:57 AM

If you used a rocker switch, or a push-on, push-off switch, you could put the whole thing inside the star, and work it without needing anything sticking out of seams.

mg0930mg in reply to KitemanDec 22, 2008. 12:19 PM

That's exactly What I was thinking. Then, no messy wires outside of the star.

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scoochmaroo (author) in reply to KitemanDec 22, 2008. 9:10 AM

Awesome suggestion! Might need to be stabilized inside somehow so you don't always have to go fishing for it? I love it.

jeff-o in reply to scoochmarooDec 22, 2008. 9:44 AM

A push-on, push-off switch (as Kiteman mentioned) of the proper type, if mounted in one of the star tips, would be pretty stable. You'd probably have to use one with a flat back and leads.