Exploding Star Ornament

Exploding Star Ornament ( This is not an original design.  My sister found it on the Internet last year and we used it to make our family ornaments.  Pretty simple but impressive)

 Supplies needed:
DSP - Cut 4 squares of DSP.  I used 2 1/2 inch squares here and all the same paper.  You can vary the size and use 5 different papers for a patchwork look.
Coordinating ribbon - 1/8 inch works best
Coordinating button
Card stock in coordinating colors

 Fold the DSP squares diagonally.  The design inside at this point will be the design that shows when the star is formed.

Open up the DSP and fold horizontally so the inside design is now on the outside.  Repeat with a vertical design - making a + with the last 2 folds  with one diagonal fold.

 When open it will look like this.   Pushing up on the diagonal lines and folding on the vertical and horizontal folds will make ...

 a small square like this.    Be sure your folds are creased well.  If the edges don't match exactly it is okay. 

Here are all 5 folded and waiting to be assembled.  

Put adhesive on one of the small square sides.  Place two of the pieces together matching the outer points on the squares and the center of the squares. 

 Continue with the other 3 pieces.  DO NOT GLUE piece #1 to piece #5.  It should begin to look like a star. 

 Place a small strip of Sticky Strip lined up from the center to the outer tip of either the first or last square.  Remove the red film.

Cut 2 pieces of ribbon about 5 inches long.  Place one end of a piece of ribbon on the sticky strip. 

 Make some decorative accents to cover the ribbon ends. I stamped a Mosaic Madness design on Very Vanilla.   I then used the Mosaic punch and 7/8 inch scalloped circle punch.

Place a short strip of Sticky Strip on the back of the accent you just made.  I try to place it horizontally so it will be perpendicular to the piece that you added to the DSP for the ribbon. 

 Place the accent over the ribbon.    Repeat this with the other end.

Trim the ends of the ribbon at thin angles.  The thinner the better.  Thread each end of ribbon through one of the holes on the button. 

 Slide the button down to the ornament.  Straighten any twists in the ribbon is neeced.

 Make an overhand loop and tied a knot in the ribbon.

 This is the finished ornament closed up.  It is cute but look at what happens when you...

 slide the button up so the squares fan out  and.................

 slide the button back down the ribbon until .....

the button rests on top of the DSP.  You get a star in the center of that ornament. 

This one used a 2 inch square.  It was a little harder to work with because of the size but still not bad.

Here it is opened and you have the star.

Punchy Rudolph

I love the punch art reindeer - and it has been so much fun making a whole set of these for some scrapbook pages. Here is a layout of what you will need to make a reindeer. You can alter the colors to make each one unique.

You can gather all these before you start or just have the punches and paper handy to punch as you go along.
Let's get started!

I usually start with the body. You will need the large oval and the small oval . Connect them to the scallop square which is the blanket for the reindeer.

Trim the hearts and cut the boho flowers in half to make the shoes. The shoes can be altered by changing the color of leaving off the flower trim at the top so they look more like boots.

I think the easiest way to punch the legs is to punch your wide oval for the head then line up the punch along the edge and punch a narrow strip.

You will need two of these and then cut them in half to make the 4 legs.

Attach the shoes to the wider end of the double-punched oval pieces. Be sure the oval curves in the correct direction.
Attach the legs to the body. Play around with the placement to get them just where you want them.
Next comes the head - attach the antlers to the back of the head near the top. You have to leave room for the ears.
Attach the ears below the antlers. Check the position from the front.
Add the nose and eyes - the white gel pen really makes them pop. I used a dimensional to adhere the nose. If you are doing a whole group of reindeer you would only need one with a red nose (dear old Rudolph) and the others would have basic black, basic gray or maybe early espresso for the nose.
Attach the head at the neck. You can tilt it at different angles to see exactly which look you like best. Different angles give the reindeer a little attitude :-) And don't forget the tail ! I usually place the petal point downward and attach to the rear.

I tied a knot in the 1/4 inch real red grosgrain and glued it at the neck. Then decorate the blanket however you want. For this one I used the largest boho blossom and punched the center of the blossom using the 1/2 inch circle punch. I punched a small circle using the itty bitty punch set and placed it in the center.

If you try some - please post a link to your photos so I can check them out. Would love to see your ideas on how to decorate or improve my reindeer.