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!

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)

Comments

[sparkchaser]

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.

[scoochmaroo]

Genius!

[glassgiant]

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]

 make a zipper for access to the switch.

[Oberoten]

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]

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

[Miscelinious]

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

[DangerGirl]

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

[redsoxdrummer]

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

[Articas]

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

[scoochmaroo]

Yeah! Great idea!

[CitigirlDC]

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.

[scoochmaroo]

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]

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!

[scoochmaroo]

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

[asyrith]

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]

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

[spiffytessa]

That is... adorable!

[spool]

that doesn't look anything like Jeff Bridges

[omnibot]

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

[Kiteman]

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]

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

[scoochmaroo]

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]

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.

[gmjhowe]

Wow, more great work, im starting to see a theme here though.... im not sure what..