4th of July Burlap Stars {Pottery Barn Knock off}

If you follow me on instagram, and you should, you may remember I posted a little sneak peak of this project a few weeks ago.

I also mentioned that I am going to be sharing this project on Studio 5.

That’s right, you can check me out on LIVE TV today, the 21st, at 11 am on KSL (channel 5 locally).

But first, the project.

……………………………………..

Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn… How I love thee.

Yet, the only Pottery Barn items I actually own are garage sale finds. Do I wish every item in my home was Pottery Barn? Yes. Can I afford that? No.

So, sometimes I get my “inspiration” from Pottery Barn- because a lot of their decor I can do myself.

Like these 4th of July Burlap Stars

I’m going to show you how I saved myself grundles of money and made my own version of Pottery Barn’s 4th of July Burlap Stars.

Which are hanging on my front door, looking SUPER cute and festive.

These things are really easy to make. And easy isn’t even the best part about them. Cheap. Cheap is the best part.

I made 6 different stars for less the price of one Pottery Barn star. And that makes my frugal little heart jump for joy!

They are slightly addicting to make… I couldn’t stop myself.

Would you like to make your own? or 6?

Here’s what you’ll need:

Burlap (I used a yard of natural color and a yard of red, plus still had leftovers after 6 stars.)
Starch
Iron and Ironing Board
Scissors
Twine (I always buy mine at Pick your Plum)
Hot Glue
Paint – I realize the photo above shows regular craft paint, which you can totally use, but I found (after the 5th star) that using a squeezable paint was much easier. So you can use either type, but I really recommend one in a bottle like the paint below, which I had left over from my DIY Screenprinting. It does NOT have to be fabric paint, though. So just buy whatever is cheapest (cheap is the theme around here), with a squeeze top.

Start by cutting a long strip of burlap. You’ll need to think about how big you want the finished diameter of the star. For mine, I did 3 sizes: 6 inches, 10 inches, and 14 inches.

You’ll want to cut the width of your fabric half the diameter of the finished star, and the length 6 times that. Does that make sense? I know, I confused myself too. Here are my measurements I used…

For a 6 inch star: 3 x 18 inches

For a 10 inch star: 5 x 30 inches

For a 14 inch star: 7 x 42 inches

Then, you’ll take your burlap and spray it pretty heavily with starch. Start folding it in pleats, like an accordion.

And iron your starched pleats.

The smaller your pleats, the tighter your star will be. I tried to keep mine around an inch, maybe an inch and a half.

I used my highest heat setting on my iron, but be careful not to burn the burlap.

Let it dry for a few hours.

If you want your star to be more of a star than a circle, cut one edge on a diagonal, which will give it more of a jagged edge.

PS. I found out the most amazing thing about starched burlap while I was doing this project. It doesn’t fray after you cut it, which is awesome!

Now, you’ll need a little circle for the center of your star. Make it as big or as small as you like.

Starch it, iron it, and paint it whatever color you like. Set aside.

Now we paint!

I love this squeezable paint. All you do is squeeze a line of paint inside the pleats, then squish the pleats together, and the paint gets on both sides of the pleat.

If you don’t have squeezable paint, just use a brush and brush your paint onto the burlap.

Paint it however you like.

After the paint dries, cut a length of twine and glue the ends of the twine onto the edge of your strip of burlap. This will make a loop for you to hang the star with.