make it yourself
Wooden Snowflake Stakes
A drift of six-pointed snowflakes on stakes at three heights, cut from lath. Under twenty five dollars, no two the same, and they work for anything wintry rather than just Christmas.
- $24 ish
- 3.5 hrs start to finish
- total beginner
- 3' 6" tall when done
grab this stuff
What you need
- 4× Wood lath or 1x2 furring, 4 lengths $8
- Exterior white paint, quart $9
- Clear glitter or mica flake, optional $5
- 30× 1 in. exterior screws $2
- All in $24
Tools, and that is it
- Handsaw or mitre saw
- Drill
- Sanding block
shapes
Stencils
Print these, cut them out, draw around them. Anything bigger than a sheet of paper prints as large as it fits with the scale written on it, so you can enlarge it at a copy store or copy it square by square.
Set page scaling to 100 percent or "actual size", never "fit to page". Every sheet has a ruler on it. Measure it before you trust it.
Or buy a reusable one
Mylar stencils survive paint and last for years, which is worth it if you are making more than a couple. These are searches rather than specific listings, because the good sellers rotate.
here we go
How to make it
-
Cut the arms
Each snowflake is three strips crossed at the center, so six arms. Cut three strips at 20 in. for the big one, three at 15 in. and three at 11 in. Make five or six flakes total.
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Cross and screw
Stack three strips at the center, fan them to roughly even angles, one screw through the middle of all three.
oops-proofingDo not measure the angles. Slightly uneven arms look like real snowflakes. Perfect sixty degree spacing looks like a ceiling fan.
-
Add the little cross bars
Two short scraps screwed across each arm near the tip, like the barbs on a real flake. Three inches and two inches works.
-
Paint white, add sparkle
Two coats of white on everything including edges. Throw glitter at the second coat while it is still wet if you want it to catch light.
oops-proofingGlitter after the paint dries falls straight off in the first rain and then it is in your lawn until April.
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Stake at three heights
Screw a pointed scrap to the back of each flake at 42 in., 30 in. and 22 in. Push them into the ground in a loose group, all facing slightly different directions.
These do not light up. Put them where your path lights or roofline already spill light and the white paint does the rest.
where it goes
Layouts this one lives in
Same build, any yard shape. Here is where it lands.
- → Classic White Christmas on a Wide Shallow, No Porch One color, done properly. Warm white and nothing else, shapes instead of characters, and the restraint to leave things out. The hardest theme to get right and the one that ages best.
- → Classic White Christmas on a Narrow Shallow with Porch One color, done properly. Warm white and nothing else, shapes instead of characters, and the restraint to leave things out. The hardest theme to get right and the one that ages best.
- → Classic White Christmas on a L-Shaped with Projecting Garage One color, done properly. Warm white and nothing else, shapes instead of characters, and the restraint to leave things out. The hardest theme to get right and the one that ages best.
- → Classic White Christmas on a Deep Narrow One color, done properly. Warm white and nothing else, shapes instead of characters, and the restraint to leave things out. The hardest theme to get right and the one that ages best.
- → Classic White Christmas on a Corner Lot One color, done properly. Warm white and nothing else, shapes instead of characters, and the restraint to leave things out. The hardest theme to get right and the one that ages best.
- → Classic White Christmas on a Split-Level or Raised Ranch One color, done properly. Warm white and nothing else, shapes instead of characters, and the restraint to leave things out. The hardest theme to get right and the one that ages best.
- → Classic White Christmas on a Sloped or Terraced One color, done properly. Warm white and nothing else, shapes instead of characters, and the restraint to leave things out. The hardest theme to get right and the one that ages best.
- → Classic White Christmas on a Small Urban Postage Stamp One color, done properly. Warm white and nothing else, shapes instead of characters, and the restraint to leave things out. The hardest theme to get right and the one that ages best.
- → Classic White Christmas on a Circular Driveway One color, done properly. Warm white and nothing else, shapes instead of characters, and the restraint to leave things out. The hardest theme to get right and the one that ages best.
- → Classic White Christmas on a Long Driveway, Rural Frontage One color, done properly. Warm white and nothing else, shapes instead of characters, and the restraint to leave things out. The hardest theme to get right and the one that ages best.
- → Winter Wonderland on a Wide Shallow, No Porch Cold blue and white, snowflakes and birch, with not one red bow anywhere. It reads as weather rather than as Christmas, which means it still looks right in January when everyone else has taken theirs down.
- → Winter Wonderland on a Narrow Shallow with Porch Cold blue and white, snowflakes and birch, with not one red bow anywhere. It reads as weather rather than as Christmas, which means it still looks right in January when everyone else has taken theirs down.
- → Winter Wonderland on a L-Shaped with Projecting Garage Cold blue and white, snowflakes and birch, with not one red bow anywhere. It reads as weather rather than as Christmas, which means it still looks right in January when everyone else has taken theirs down.
- → Winter Wonderland on a Deep Narrow Cold blue and white, snowflakes and birch, with not one red bow anywhere. It reads as weather rather than as Christmas, which means it still looks right in January when everyone else has taken theirs down.
- → Winter Wonderland on a Corner Lot Cold blue and white, snowflakes and birch, with not one red bow anywhere. It reads as weather rather than as Christmas, which means it still looks right in January when everyone else has taken theirs down.
- → Winter Wonderland on a Split-Level or Raised Ranch Cold blue and white, snowflakes and birch, with not one red bow anywhere. It reads as weather rather than as Christmas, which means it still looks right in January when everyone else has taken theirs down.
- → Winter Wonderland on a Sloped or Terraced Cold blue and white, snowflakes and birch, with not one red bow anywhere. It reads as weather rather than as Christmas, which means it still looks right in January when everyone else has taken theirs down.
- → Winter Wonderland on a Small Urban Postage Stamp Cold blue and white, snowflakes and birch, with not one red bow anywhere. It reads as weather rather than as Christmas, which means it still looks right in January when everyone else has taken theirs down.
- → Winter Wonderland on a Circular Driveway Cold blue and white, snowflakes and birch, with not one red bow anywhere. It reads as weather rather than as Christmas, which means it still looks right in January when everyone else has taken theirs down.
- → Winter Wonderland on a Long Driveway, Rural Frontage Cold blue and white, snowflakes and birch, with not one red bow anywhere. It reads as weather rather than as Christmas, which means it still looks right in January when everyone else has taken theirs down.