A Handmade Christmas Star

Merry Christmas friends!

In the Philippines, we decorate our homes with this star-shaped lantern: 

It's called a "parol" and it represents the star that led the Wise Men to Bethlehem when Jesus was born. 

These parol are placed on windows, on trees, inside shopping malls, and street lamps on main thoroughfares. Filipinos all over the world even decorate their home away from home with a parol. We may be living far away but we want to keep the Filipino Christmas spirit alive.   

Early this month I made this parol ornament.

It's made of salt dough (you can find the recipe here). I used round cookie cutters and a star-shaped cookie cutter, as well as a toothpick to make the holes. This is what it looks like after baking in a 200 degree Fahrenheit oven for 2 1/2 hours. 

Once cool, I used acrylic paint and a medium-sized paintbrush to add color.

I made tassels out of embroidery thread for the tails. I also added a hanging string.

I used a glue gun to attach the star to the "halo."

Here is my version of the parol that I can hang on my Christmas Tree or to give away as a token...TADA!

I also made a tiny version for tabletop Christmas trees or to embellish a gift...TADA!

That is how I turned some salt dough from "blah to TADA!"

May you all have a heartwarming holiday!