wintry stars

Once upon a time, bottle bases were recycled to make glass tiles. Today, we can recycle the bottoms of plastic water, juice or olive oil bottles into twinkling stars with a snip of the scissors. These transparent decorations reflect light from every direction and make eye-catching beaded garlands or hanging decorations suspended from a bit of wire.

For a set of five stars and three snowflakes, set aside eight plastic bottles. They can be colored or clear. Slice off the bottom end of each bottle using a serrated knife. Then, use scissors to trim off the curved sides so you are left with only the very bottom of the bottle (either oval or round).

To make a star, cut out triangle-shaped shapes from the sides. For a snowflake pattern, leave the "branches" and the core, and cut out all the rest. With a needle or hole-puncher, make a hole in each ornament to hang it.

For a hanging ornament, cut out two identical stars and hang them back to back. This is also a perfect Christmas tree topper if you use some discreet wire. Another idea for a hanging decoration is to string different sized stars (made from large, medium and small bottles) together, from largest to smallest.

For a garland, start with a long piece of string (at least 1.5 m). Thread on some clear beads and push them toward the center. Add a star, make a knot, and then thread the free end of the string back through the beads. Repeat for each star or snowflake. Use more or fewer beads to make the stars hang at varying lengths.