Fabricated Star Ornament
If you need a last minute gift or have a party to go to and want to bring something festive, then consider making this star ornament. You could use this star to decorate a tree, a gift, or necklace.
You will need:
Once you have your paper star, you need some rubber cement. Scotch tape will also work in a pinch, but rubber cement works the best. Brush a light coat of the rubber cement on one side of the paper star and adhere it to your copper or brass plate. Check to see if your plate is nice and straight. If not, then use a raw hide hammer and anvil to flatten the plate.
Now there are two ways to cut out your star from the metal plate. You can either use a hand saw or a pair of metal cutters (which look like huge, heavy pair of scissors).
Sawing Method:
If you decide to saw out the star, use plenty of bees wax in between each area you cut. The wax will make it much easier to get through the plate. Also, make sure that when you saw you are holding the saw straight up and down and not at an angle. I’ve noticed for myself, that short, quick movements up and down work best. Hold the plate on top of the bench pin while sawing. Then saw around the outline of the star. This method may take longer than the cutters, but it will make a nicer star. The sides will need less filing, and the finished piece won’t be bent up as much as it might be with the cutter.
Metal Cutter Method:
First, be very careful with these cutters. Those blades are extremely sharp. This is, of course, why they cut through the metal plate. Use the cutters to cut out the star shape from the metal plate. This method is much quicker than sawing. However, it can result in very sharp edges, and you must be careful not to bend the plate. If your plate becomes bent, use the raw hide hammer and anvil to flatten it out again after cutting.
Now you have your star and you just have to fix it up a little. Peal off the paper template. and use your files to file the edges so they don’t cut someone. I personally hate to file. However, it makes a big difference in the finished product if you take your time and do it correctly. Just like filing your finger nails (of course what jewelry maker has nails?) use even strokes in one direction only. The tendency is to file back and forth. But, it is better to file in one direction and turn the piece over when you have to do the other side.
Once you’ve finished filing, it’s time to drill the holes for hanging and adding more decoration to the star if you desire. I used a drill bit on my dremel that I also use for polishing. Then I filed around the holes to smooth them out. You will need at least one hole at the top in order to hang it. You can add more if you want to dangle beads or other embellishments from it.
You can give the star a variety of looks. You can keep it rustic and give it that "Country Christmas" look. I did this by not polishing it so it kept that old patina look. Then I used a hammer and the head of a nail and smashed the nail head against the star a bunch of times to make a texture all over it. Then I just tied some red and green raffia at the top.
If you don’t like the rustic look, you can make it look more glittery. For the second ornament, I drilled two more holes at the bottom and used some copper wire to add some green, glass beads to the bottom and top of the star. I also polished the star a little and then just added a little red bow. It looks a lot fancier than the first one I made.
This was a pretty quick ornament that has a lot of possibilities. You can glue or solder a pin back to it and make it into a piece of jewelry. You could also decorate a package with it and then it can be hung on the Christmas tree later.
All graphics created by Tammy Powley.