Yes, doing a post on ornaments in January is unconventional. I have a couple of things at work here. First off, either a few days before or after Christmas 2014, I thought: ”I should have done a coffee/ Starbucks-themed Christmas tree!” Well…I barely got my traditional decor up this year with our family schedule. So, what better way to get organized early??? Right away, I began hoarding saving, my Starbucks “trash”, a.k.a. craft supplies!
Another reason is pre-planning, so I will actually be motivated and accountable to myself for getting up one post a month.
The big question you may be asking yourself is: How on earth is it possible to come up with TWELVE ornaments from upcycled coffee-cup trash?! We’ll all have to stay-tuned to see if I can accomplish it. First up: Winged Mermaid. (You did realize the Starbucks logo was a mermaid, didn’t you? Actually, a siren.) I figured this one may dovetail nicely with Valentine’s Day on the horizon–winged cherubs and all, right?
Here is what she looks like completed:
Now, let’s go through the steps. For most of our ornaments, we will be removing and setting aside the band and lid, then separating the cups as follows:
For this ornament you will need:
- Rim
- Jute string (66″)
- Tacky Glue
- Clothespin or two
- Mermaid cut from band in approx. 1 3/4″ circle
- Wings cut from band
- White paint or ink
- White glitter
- Green metallic pipe cleaner (or color of choice)
- Glue gun
- Scissors
Step 1: Cut 66″ (approx.) of your jute. Run a 1/2-1″ line of glue along your rim. Wrap a few times around and secure the end with a clothespin, so it can dry and stick. Continue running lines of glue and wrapping till the entire rim is covered. Set aside while the glue dries.
Step 2: Cut the mermaid logo out of the band in approx. a 1 3/4″ circle. You may use a circle cutter if you have one, or find an object around the house to trace and cut out (for this one, I used the bottom of the glue bottle). Don’t worry about perfection, the raw edge will be covered with the pipe cleaner.
Step 3: Make a small angel wing template out of paper (mine is about 1″ x 3″) and trace twice (making a left and right wing) on remaining band. Cut out and either ink or lightly paint the corrugated side of your wings, sprinkle immediately with white glitter, so it sticks to the paint/ink. (This step not shown.)
Step 4: Using tacky glue, glue the wings to the back of the mermaid circle checking placement with how it will look when placed inside the jute-covered rim. Use tacky or hot glue to glue the wings to the jute rim.
Step 5: Bend pipe cleaner to fit around edge of mermaid, trim pipe cleaner to size. Using your glue gun, carefully glue around edge of mermaid circle to attach the pipe cleaner.
Step 6: Add a hanging string of your choice (I used fishing line on these, but ribbon or jute would probably look nicer!)–Stand back and admire!
You could easily swap out the green pipe cleaners for something red, or even something vintage-looking for a year-round look.
(All Starbucks materials used were from self-generated waste, primarily from Grande-size.)