Star Tree Top and Werner, The Ladder

Pin It
I have a confession to make.  I didn't do all of my holiday decorating alone this year. 

In fact, I haven't since we moved into our home ten years ago.  

I have help...his name is Werner...he's a ladder.



Werner's a great guy, he's tall...10 feet tall...and strong. He usually helps out around the outside but at Christmas time, he helps me do things like hang the wreath above the fire place, putting garland on top of the kitchen cabinets and, most recently, installing  the star on the top of the tree in the family room.


Speaking of which, have you ever tried to find a star that's the right scale for the top of a 12 foot tree? If your answer to this question is "Sure, I've got one",  I'd like to know where you got it.  Really.

Especially if it's red plaid...or even just red..because I looked at every local shop and even a did a couple of online searches but didn't find one that I liked for the money that I wanted to spend. Okay, maybe I'm a tightwad too frugal. Or maybe I'm just too choosy. I wanted a large, red plaid star for the top of our tree...for under $20. That seems reasonable, doesn't it?!


Apparently you and I are the only people who think so. Remember last Friday, when I showed you our family room on Jennifer Rizzo's Holiday House Walk?  You may have noticed that all I showed you of our family room tree was this small sliver; completely unadorned with the exception of some red plaid bows.

The other thing that I didn't show you was Werner, leaning against the wall in the hallway...

                                          waiting...

                                                 ...for the last three weeks.

 

That's because I was in a quandary about the star. I didn't want to carry Werner back out to the garage until the tree was finished. The tree couldn't be finished until it had the six boxes of ornaments on it... and a star on top. A non-existent, red plaid star. t was like a bad holiday version of, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie and it was going on in my family room.



Don't worry, friends. The Serendipity home will not be opening gifts with Werner this year. We will not eat our Christmas breakfast in the shadow of a 10 foot orange fibreglass ladder.  On Saturday, my youngest, Werner and I hung the ornaments on the tree and yesterday, Werner was there as our tree finally got its star...made from two and a half sheets of poster board and half of a roll of gift wrap. 





 Once I found out how easy it was, I decided to share it with you, (in case you need a huge star for the top of your tree).  This is a template that will print on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of card stock. The star that it makes is about 14 inches across.  That's a really nice size for a tree that's 7 or 8 feet tall. You'll need five of them...printed on card stock or scrapbook sheets.



If you need a larger star (like the one that I made), you'll need to enlarge this one by about 159% and then trace it on to poster board. (I also covered mine with gift wrap...because I've got a plaid thing going on this year.) Then, cut on the solid lines, score and fold on the dashed lines.  Glue Edge B to Flap A and then assemble the 5 points by gluing them together.


Yep, as of 4 pm yesterday, the tree is finished (except for one small box of special ornaments that will be added by my oldest when he comes home from college for Christmas) for this year. Werner groaned just a little as he was carried back to his home in the garage for the first time since the week after Thanksgiving.


He'd been getting pretty cozy in his spot in the hall. He probably thought that I'd forgotten about him...and that he'd just stay in the family room for the rest of the holidays. Watching us open gifts and entertain family and friends...maybe even catching a bowl game or two on television. Uh, yeah..no...not this year, anyway.

Maybe next year I'll just put the star on Werner, drape him with a few lights and call it a day. Hey...it could happen.


OH MY GOSH, I almost forgot to remind you! Beginning this morning, YOU can link up your holiday home on  Jennifer Rizzo's Site to win a chance to be one of the homes on next year's House Walk!  Maybe you can have Werner help you decorate, he's got lots of relatives and I'm sure that if one doesn't live with you, there's probably one nearby! ;)

 
xo,
Kimberly

Linking to:
Between Naps on the Porch
DIY Show off
Funky Junk
Home Stories A to Z
House on the Way
I Gotta Try That
In The Old Road
Shanty 2 Chic