DIY Hot Glue Stars - 3 Ways! | Earrings & Decorations

Today I have 3 quick & easy how-tos for you, all involving hot glue stars. The earrings in particular are a fast craft - probably taking around 10 minutes!

The great thing about hot glue is that you can make all sorts of simple shapes in plastic without expensive tools.

I hope you enjoy these ideas :)

Step 1: What You Will Need

- Hot glue gun & glue sticks; I used clear & black sticks.

- Glitter; Choose a shade to go with the colour of the glue sticks you're using. Gold and black is always an effective combo :)

- String/thread; For the garland.

- Glow-in-the-dark paint, scissors, a paintbrush & Blu-tack.

- Earring findings (earring hooks), jewellery pliers & an awl.

- A surface that the glue won't stick to; I used a silicone mat designed for using with hot glue.

Step 2: Idea 1 - Earrings

Heat your glue gun up first of all, making sure it's on a heatproof non-stick surface.

* Obviously the usual safety rules apply here: be careful of the glue as it is hot and will stick to skin, and of course the glue gun also gets hot - especially the tip - so be careful how you pick it up and hold it.*

Then when the glue is hot enough, make a star shape with the glue on a suitable surface.

As soon as you have made a star shape, sprinkle some glitter over the top.

When the glue has cooled, place the stars on a piece of scrap wood/thick cardboard and use an awl to create a hole at the top of each star. This hole should be close to the edge.

Then simply use your pliers to open the loops on the earring hooks and attach them to the holes in the stars.

And that's it! This mini-craft couldn't be easier :D

Step 3: Idea 2 - Garland

As with the earrings, you will need to make star shapes on a flat heatproof & non-stick surface.

Make at least 5 stars shapes, and as soon as they have been completed, sprinkle glitter over the top.

I used clear glue sticks for 2 stars, and black glue for 3 stars, but any colour combo is possible.

I liked the more artistic look I aimed for with these stars, which I did by making lots of thin strands rather than just a single, thick outline. The style of yours is up to you.

Then once they are cooled, knot them onto a long length of thread (I used invisible thread) and that's it - you've now made a garland :)

I think this one is particularly good for Christmas; the more sparkle, the better!

Step 4: Idea 3 - Glow-in-the-Dark Shapes

I used to have stars like this on my ceiling as a child, so this one is a bit nostalgic for me!

You can of course make all sorts of shapes for this, but I chose to stick with stars again.

All you need to do is draw the shape outline with the glue and then fill it in to create solid plastic shapes.

Because it's too difficult to control the glue to get sharp points, I waited until the glue cooled and then used small sharp scissors to cut the shapes out how I wanted them.

I then added a thick layer of the glow-in-the-dark paint. In hindsight, I would advise that you do a few thin layers rather than one thick layer like mine.

And once the paint has dried, you can stick them to your walls with blu-tack or another temporary method that won't mark the surface.

I hope these ideas have inspired you to give this quick DIYs a go!