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Hey friend, if you're looking for easy and inexpensive ways to add patriotic decor to your home, you're going to love these Chippy Tile Stars! I'll walk you through the steps to layer the paint with all that good chippy texture. No one will know these stars were once a Dollar Tree find! Let's go!

 

I've said it before here many times - I don't like to spend my hard-earned money on seasonal decor that is on display for just a short while! I'd rather spend my money on good quality basics that are used daily.

At the same time, I love to decorate for the seasons! I want to have lots of cute items that I can use or not use from year to year.

So when I can transform a humble item from the dollar store into stunning seasonal decor on a dime...it's a huge win!

• Vintage style mini stocking garland
  
• Make vintage inspired embossed trees
  
• Dollar Tree tile gingerbread man
• Embossed tile DIY hearts
  

I thought I had a tile pumpkin, but maybe that was just an idea that never came to fruition...yet! There are so many wonderful things to make. Let's make some chippy tile stars!

• Dollar Tree wall tile  (they sell out quickly in stores, so when I spot them, I buy them in bulk! Or order online and you'll have plenty for all your tin projects!)
• wood star (mine is from DT, but you can find similar ones here)
• scissors, Xacto knife
• red, white and blue acrylic paints
• foam brushes
• cutting mat
• white foam board (purchased from DT, but you can also buy it here)
• black Sharpie
• white candle wax (the DT real wax votives are what I use)
• scraping tool or rough grit sand paper (60 or 80 is what you want)

Note: if I had planned better, I would have bought 3 wood stars because they make a sturdy backing for the plastic embossed tile! Instead, I had to make my own backing using foam core.

If you're like me and don't have enough wood stars for the number you want to make, trace the one you do have onto foam board and cut out with an Xacto knife.  Long, smooth cuts with the precision knife are best as the foam board has a tendency to rip and bend.

Definitely use your cutting mat to avoid ruining a table! Those blades are sharp!

Trace the back of a Dollar Tree tile with a black Sharpie, and cut out. Doesn't it look like real embossed tin? It's not, it's a thin plastic but I love the vintage look! Glue each tin star to either a wood or foam board star. Any craft glue will work. You'll want to place some books on top while the glue dries to ensure adequate adhesion.

Before you paint your stars, think about how you want the final outcome to look. If you want a layered chippy look, with another color peeking through the paint, you'll want to follow the next steps carefully.

That layer of wax separates the paint colors and allows you to rub the top coat of paint off, without disturbing the bottom coat..but be gentle because too much pressure will remove all the paint!

If you're visual, like I am, you'll appreciate these step by step pictorial instructions.

The results are a wonderful chippy effect that looks like the paint has worn off over time! You can remove as much or as little paint as you want, and you can layer more than two colors!

If you just want the faux metal tin to show through your paint, follow these steps.

1. rub the candle directly on the tile
2. paint tile with 2-3 coats of paint (I used red)
3. scrape/sand some of the paint to reveal the base layer and create a chippy effect

By the way, I love using foam brushes because not only are they disposable, but you can pounce them, which makes it so easy to get paint into all the embossed areas on the Dollar Tree tile!

Here are the results of this technique on the painted star. I removed minimal paint but you can definitely see the original tin color peeking through.

The layered blue star definitely looks much chippier!

The finishing touch is to tie coordinating ribbon to the top of the star. You can even make a stamped tag like I did. 

1. cut a scrap of drop cloth into a banner shape
2. hot glue a piece of jute to the back as a hanger
3. use this stamp set to create your wording, and  this stamp for the small star, using inks in blue and red

I added a small rusty jingle bell to the red star, simply hot gluing it to the ribbon knot.

Now all that's left is to add your chippy patriotic stars to all your patriotic vignettes! I think I'm going to have to make another star with white as the top layer, and either red or blue as the base. For now, my white vintage ironstone and DIY chippy spindles are standing in as the white in my red, white and blue vignette!

My DIY  ticking stripe star (it's double sided with a red gingham back) adds a touch of texture to this vintage inspired trio.

I had wayyyy too much fun styling my new chippy tile stars and I know you will too! Do let me know if you try this chippy patriotic craft, I always love to hear from you!