Twinkle, twinkle little star...
Since man first looked at the stars millions of years ago, the twinkling balls of gas have amazed him. Young children and adults alike are drawn to the unknown beauty of a star-filled sky. Recreate the vast night's sky in your own home using plywood and twinkle lights.
Instructions
1. Place pieces of 1/2-inch plywood on a flat work surface. The size and number of pieces of the plywood that you need depend on your room's dimensions. The plywood should cover all but a 1-inch border around the ceiling of the room.
2. Paint the surface of the plywood sheets using dark blue or black wall paint. Apply two coats of paint if necessary. Let the paint dry overnight.
3. Turn the plywood sheets over. Place them side by side again. Mark the back of the plywood sheets to indicate where the lights will be for the stars. Use a random placement for the stars. Keep them a minimum of 1 inch apart, but spacing can be further apart, as desired. Do not place any mark closer than 1 inch from the outer edge of the sheets of plywood.
4. Drill 1/2-inch holes through each of the marked spots for the stars.
5. Twist eye bolts into the unpainted side of the plywood. Place one eye bolt every 6 inches along the outer edge of each piece of plywood, 1/2 inch in from the edge. Place another line of eye bolts down the center of each plywood sheet, spacing them every 6 inches.
6. Apply lipstick to the top of each of the eye bolts. Lift the plywood sheets to the ceiling, positioning them so they are centered. Press them against the ceiling to leave a lipstick mark behind. Twist an eye hook into each of the lipstick marks.
7. Feed one light bulb from a strand of holiday twinkle lights though the each of the 1/2-inch drilled holes. Feed the lights from the unpainted side of the plywood through to the painted side. Press it through until the plastic holder just pokes through the hole. Make sure the glass of the bulb is not directly against the wood, for fire safety reasons. Apply hot glue around the opening of the hole to hold the bulb in place. Let the hot glue dry for three to five minutes. Use as many strands of lights as necessary for the number of holes you drilled.
8. Lift the plywood pieces to the ceiling with the painted side facing down. Hook the eye bolts to the eye hooks to hang the plywood sheets. Adjust the light strands as necessary so that any extra light bulbs are not flush against the plywood or the ceiling.
9. Twist an eye hook into the corner of the ceiling where the wall and ceiling meet. Place the hook where the plug for the twinkle lights hangs. Loop the light strand over the eye hook to keep it flush with the ceiling. Plug the end of the light strand into the nearest socket, using an extension cord if necessary to achieve the length of the cord.
Tags: plywood sheets, twinkle lights, every inches, , inch from, Lift plywood, light strand