When Wooden Stars Become a Tree

A while back I had created a bunch of hearts from wood slices that had begun cracking.

Turn a Cracked Wood Slice into Something Beautiful

I realized at the time that one could also make stars with those same cracked slices but you do end up wasting more wood. When we cut up a log recently, almost all of the wood had a small crack on one side which, as I knew from experience, would continue to grow. I decided to cut them up into stars.

I found some different five pointed stars shapes online, traced them onto some wood slices and cut them with the band saw. Here are the first five I cut all the same star shape.

After making these five stars, I stacked them off center so the stack would have more stability. Looking at the stack of stars gave me a another great idea.

Star Tree

For this project you will need a variety of different sized five pointed stars. Here is one website that had the same star but in a variety of sizes: 8” all the way down to 1”.

https://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/star-template.html

Print out the stars and trace them onto cardboard so you will have them as templates to use again. This project used nine different sizes 8”, 7”, 6”, 5”, 4”, 3”, 2”, 1.5”, 1”.
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You will need wood slices that are large enough to accommodate each star. Look in your scrap wood as even blemished wood can be used. Using the bandsaw, cut out each star. The wood can be a variety of types and thicknesses. This particular project used spruce and birch for the larger stars, poplar for the middle and maple for the smallest.

I was able to use up some wood previously destined for the fire pit. The cracks and blemishes will all get hidden in the next step.

Stack the stars, largest to smallest, with the second star of each size turned 90°. For most sizes, try to place the thicker of the two slices on the bottom.

This tree had wood glue between each star to hold it all together. Another option would be to drill a hole in each star and put a dowel through the center. Look at the cracks or imperfections in the wood you are using to see if that is a feasible idea.

For the top star, drill a tiny hole in the star and the flat star. Snip off the end of a finishing nail. Tap it into the star till it holds then put it in the hole for the flat star. A little glue around the nail before putting it in will hold it in place.

If you would like to paint or stain your tree, glue the tree together first and wipe off any excess glue that may seep out. You also have to sand those spots after the glue dries because it leaves a shiny spot that will show through stain or paint.

This tree stands 14” tall. Depending on the thickness of each wood slice used to make the stars, your tree might stand slightly shorter or taller.