DIY Coastal Christmas Tree Topper with Driftwood and Starfish - Beach Christmas Decor
A good tree topper can take your tree from ordinary......
To extraordinary....
I have looked for a good beachy tree topper for years and have come up empty-handed every time!
I was even willing to settle for something just white or wood, but everything is too small, too glittery, or tinselly (is that a word? haha!).
I have even tried to make my own by adding starfish to a grapevine star, but it wasn't cutting it.
I got inspired by a few of my starfish I was about to hang on the tree, and put them together to tie to the top of the tree...
I tied them with some stretchy jewelry string, but fishing wire or even some white thread would work too. I feel like the jewelry string worked best to tighten it while still keeping it easy to untie after the holiday for easy storage!
First I tied the string on the back starfish
Hot glued the blue starfish to the big one, and the little one on top!
On a smaller tree, I’d have stopped here. Used the string and tied it on.
But when I held it up to my tree it didn’t look like “enough”
I realized I had plenty of driftwood to make a star behind the starfish- but I couldn't get the random pieces to line up just right for a 5-point star…..so a STARBURST idea came to mind!
I laid out one fairly flat piece on the back and arranged some smaller ones to shoot out of that piece. I knew once the starfish were on top, it would cover it up enough that it didn’t have to be perfect.
If I’m making something for myself I don’t mind it not being perfect- when I’m making your signs I expect perfection haha! The goal here was just to keep it from falling apart so I went wild with the glue gun!
Once I glued each piece on one at a time, I flipped it over and added more glue between the back of each piece and the backer piece.
I’m sure there are much more secure and professional ways you could make this but I was all about using what I had on hand to get the job done! There’s no chance I’d make it like this to sell…..but for myself, sure! And you’d never know by seeing it on my tree that it’s sloppy in the back if I didn’t tell you!
To secure it to the tree, I tied the string already on the starfish to the driftwood piece and then tied the whole thing to the top of the tree!
I’m so happy with it, and hope this inspires you! I would love to see if you come up with your own!
and for a real life behind the scenes....here's what my kitchen looked like making this, with all of my driftwood I pulled from various places around the house, and the extra stockpile in the garage!
I try to be orgainized in running my business....but in my personal crafting I can be a disaster! Especially for an idea like this one that I was creating spur of the moment!
Want to make your own?
Grab your supplies on hand or explore your beaches or get shopping for what you are missing! Use any excess to decorate your tree!
Supplies used
Driftwood
Starfish
- Large
- Medium and small, aqua and white
String
Hot glue gun
Hot glue
Quick instructions
- Tie string to largest starfish leaving lots of excess to tie to starburst driftwood and the tree.
- Hot glue two smaller starfish (or desired amount) to the large starfish, set aside.
- Choose a flat piece of driftwood or another piece of wood, cardboard etc to glue the driftwood too.
- Layout the driftwood in your starburst shape before gluing to make sure it fits together as you'd like.
- Hot glue the driftwood pieces onto the backer, let dry and flip over to add more glue to secure as needed. Let dry.
- Use the excess string to tie the starfish section onto the starburst.
- Tie the entire topper onto the top of your tree.