This project is a great way to get kids involved in holiday décor! The result is charmingly homespun and sure to delight relatives or other visitors at your holiday table.

To start, I prepped a star stencil. Ideally, you’ll want to use a real star stencil from a craft store. I printed a star template on paper and cut out the star shapes, which worked in a pinch; if you use this method, however, be sure to have several templates on hand, as each one can only take a coat or two of paint before tearing.

Next we prepped our workspace, unrolling a large length of craft paper, and pouring white paint into a foil pie plate.

Travis loved helping thin the paint with just a touch of water, for a creamy consistency.

Next I showed him how to hold the stencil in one place on the paper, and paint over the exposed open star shapes. He loved the challenge, and although his paintbrush sometimes slopped over the edges, this only added to the charm of our final runner.

Keep moving your stencil until you’ve covered the entire length needed with star shapes. He even pretended he was a professional painter as he worked!

We left the paint to dry, and then I cut the craft paper to form a thinner rectangular runner, with a triangle snipped from each end for a banner-like effect.

The runner is perfect under our advent calendar display while we wait for the day to actually celebrate with relatives, and then we’ll move it to the buffet table!