Starry Gift Bag

Put Stars in Their Eyes with a Glow-in-the-Dark Star Gift Bag

A few years back, a friend of mine was cleaning out her closets and gave me a package of glow-in-the-dark stars. Barbara said, "I know you'll find a use for these."

You can buy them in packs of about 30 in dollar or craft stores. They're intended to be glued on a ceiling so you or your kids can drift off to sleep under (artificial) starry skies.

I came across Barbara's stars a few weeks ago and was struck with an inspiration.

I had made up some two-tone organza wine gift bags. Click these links for basic wine gift bag directions and directions for some organza variations.

On this starry organza gift bag, I used one color on the inside and another on the outside. The result is a jewel-tone that simply gleams.

Try green and silver (as in the photo); maroon and gold; blue and silver; or blue and gold. Sew up your bag using the directions referenced above.

Cut two lengths of thin ribbon: one 34 inches and the other 37 inches. Lay the ribbons side by side and stagger them so that each of the four stars will hang at a different level.

Put the gift bag on a wine bottle (like a mannequin) to determine how high to position the ribbons. Tack the ribbons to the center back of the bag.

Heat up your glue gun. Lay the ribbon ends flat on a piece of wax paper or a tile countertop or floor. Tile is nice because it's coolness sets the hot glue quickly and the stars pop right up even if you've got a bit of glue on the tile.

Position a star on the end of one ribbon. Lay a line of glue where the star will touch the ribbon and press in place. (Use the tip of the glue gun or your finger nail to press down gently.)

Repeat with the other three stars.

The stars come three sizes to a pack. I ran out of the little stars before finishing all my bags. Since I had no immediate use for the medium and large stars, I cut them into pieces. Here's how.

With pencil trace one little star on the medium stars and three on the large ones. Use the existing outer angles of the stars to minimize the cuts you need to make.

Use a kitchen shears (designed to cut through bone) for the tough plastic. When you cut, angle the scissors to create a slanted edge just like the original star's.

Smooth any rough edges with a flexible cushioned nail file. You can also utilize other little bits and pieces that are left over. I cut mine into diamonds and triangles. Waste not; want not!

This shimmering, starry creation will dress up any Holiday gift.

For more ideas, visit our Holiday Crafts and Gift Bag pages.