Advent Shadowbox 2012: Day 20, Make a Deck of Constellation Cards

December 20, 2012

Make a Deck of Constellation Cards!

The kids are really interested in astrological signs and constellations.

Inspiration: Constellation Book on the Keep Moving Forward blog.

For some time now, I’ve been admiring the gorgeous, read-it-by-candlelight constellation book on the Keep Moving Forward Blog (at left) and the lovely constellation books at Quince and Quire: Starry Drafts. So, when I found easy-print consteallation templates over at The Crafty Crow (at the bottom of the page), I knew we were in for some Constellation Fun!

Today, we will make a Deck of Constellation Cards to lean up against our battery operated votives, to lay atop our flashlights, to view against a fuzzy television set, and to hold up against the safe, cool, LED Christmas bulbs on our tree. I’ll post the pictures as they become available!

CONSTELLATION CARDS

MATERIALS
Blank Index Cards or Cardstock Cut to Size
Silver, Black, or Blue Paint
A Small Paint Brush
A Sharp Thumbtack OR A Hole Punch
Metallic or Black Pens

METHOD
Paint a large square or rectangle at the bottom of each index card that fills approximately 2/3 of the card.
Let the paint dry for a few moments.
While you’re waiting, in the white space above each painted skyscape, write the name of the constellation…
THUMBTACK METHOD:
When the paper is still a bit wet with paint, and using your own book or the constellation patterns at the bottom of this page as a visual guide, use a thumb tack to punch a hole where each star in the constellation should be.
Wiggle that tack around a little to make a slightly larger hole for each star.
Now, let the cards dry completely.
OR
HOLEPUNCH METHOD:
Wait until the paint is completely dry.
Depending on the visual guide below or one of your own star charts, make small dots on the silver paint with a pen to mark out each star in your constellation.
Use a hole punch to punch out each point of light/ie each star.
If necessary, bend the cardstock in order to get the hole punch into position. For best results, slice only a half circle in the bent card. This will produce a full circle when unfolded and flattened.

Here’s a little gallery of my test cards, for which I used tacks as opposed to a hole punch:

Here are today’s worker bees and their finished products.
This time, we used the hole punch! Much finer results! We took the pics of the finished cards inside of our glitter-paper decorated Advent Shadowbox!!!