Stars… don’t you just love them? Folding and cutting stars and smothering them with sparkly glitter glue and paint is surely a right of passage for all children, and is the basis for much homespun Christmas craft. But it would be a great shame if we limited star-gazing to those times only. I challenge all fully-grown adults to grab the nearest piece of paper (bills, doctors appointments, fines; the more depressing the paper, the more satisfying this will be…), and make a star. Hell, make a galaxy; once you’ve started it’s very hard to stop…
I made these ombre tonal stars (above and bottom) for Harry’s room, to hang jauntily from Brad the Stag’s antlers, and also to form decorative garlands about the house. Whipping myself into a snipping & folding frenzy, I’ve also decorated our beautiful but lethal ancient spiral staircase, which seems to be invisible to adult peripheral vision and has caused many a painful encounter for anyone over 5 foot. With its gaudy bling-tastic stars it’s now quite hard to miss.
Experiment with different colours and textures for very different effects per below.. I embellished with glitter and tiny buttons, and used gift wrap for the bright stars, 216gsm textured card stock for the tonal stars. Step-by-step instructions below for those who have forgotten everything they learned in geometry classes… no complicated measuring I promise!
3D Star Tutorial:
I’m showing the ‘no fancy tools’ method first using just a cup and a ruler… those who can rummage in a draw and retrieve a pair of compasses will find an even easier method below.
- Take a glass (or anything round and flat) and measure the diameter; halve this and make a note. It’s 4.5cm for me.
- Draw around the glass, and then measure and mark this distance around the rim, giving you 6 equidistant points.
- Join up these marks with straight lines, skipping alternate points, ending up with a star like this in Fig.3
- Cut out the star, and fold right-sides together along each of the INNER angles of the star – do this 3 times in total.
- Turn over and fold wrong-sides together along each of the OUTER POINTS of the star, giving you your 3D shape – again, make 3 folds.
- refold and score again to reinforce the sharpness of the folds, then pop out to make your star.
If you have a pair of compasses, simply set them to the distance you want for the circumference of your star, draw a circle then choose a point at random along the rim. Swing the arms of the compass to mark either side of this where it bisects, and ‘walk’ your compass around the rim to make 6 marks in total – by holding the compass in the original position you won’t need to measure. Then follow steps 3-6 as above.
These make beautiful gift tags too – just tape a piece of ribbon or thread to the back and then loop over the neck of a wine bottle or onto a gift. Thread them together to form a garland, prop them up on mantles or shelves, or simply hang a few from a doorknob; be warned though; they’re so tactile and perky that visitors will gravitate towards them and want to give them a good squeeze…
If you try these do let me know how you get on… message me below or even upload your beauties to http://www.facebook.com/katescreativespace and let’s have our own paper constellation…
Christmastime will be celestial at my home! Fabulous!
Great post
I can imagine these all over a nursery or for Christmas! They’re gorgeous! I especially like them with Brad the Stag.
Love this! Thanks!
These are lovely! Why are they not covered in glue-ey fingerprints like mine would be?? I like the idea of a star garland or mobile for a child’s bedroom. I am now also thinking about making a paper airplane mobile from coloured card…you are very inspiring!
Oooh, now that’s an idea – I’d love to see how that turns out! Harry would be beside himself at the thought of a plane mobile (or trucks, or fire engines.. any kind of transport…). You’ve inspired me to have a go at stringing the stars into a mobile; watch this space!
We didn’t make these in my geometry classes! I have a few doorknobs that need sprucing…
Love your photos! Thanks for the tute.
Thanks Ann!
bonjour , c’est vraiment très beaux mais je comprends pas :s le tuto
That’s a shame – which bit did you not follow, the drawing of the star or the folding to create the 3D effect? I’ll see if I can make it more clear! I’ve also added a photo tutorial of how to draw the star with a pair of compasses which may help.
Very beautiful and very easy to make – especially when you use a compas. How do you mount them on the wall??
H Sanne, thank you! I use tiny Glue Dots (those gummy ones that come on a peel-off sheet) on a couple of the points of the star and then press lightly against the wall – the stars are so light this holds them in place without damage to the wall when you remove them. For garlands I use ‘invisible’ nylon thread to string them together. Gillian (below) suggested threading them as a mobile too, which I guess you could do very simply with a re-purposed wire coat hanger.
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Hi Kate, I’ve just spent my entire (so sad!) Saturday night making just over 12ft of these for my husbands birthday party – so much nicer than the done to death bunting this year! Thanks so much for posting clear instructions and inspiring photos. Think I’ll have a go at Gillian’s idea too.
That’s amazing dedication Melanie – he’s a lucky guy
I bet your garland looks fantastic, and I’m so glad the instructions worked for you; hope you have a great party and that your decor efforts win much praise and admiration!
Not quite – he’s not so into ‘craft’ as I am . . . his response was ‘I hope someone at the party appreciates them as much as you do’ thanks husband!!!
Nooo! Divorce him! or if that feels like a slight overreaction, stab him with the pointy bit of the star – wickedly effective
Lol! Sounds exactly like my kind of response ;* )
I nominated you for the “One Lovely Blog” award! You can see it here @ http://urbancurator.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/ive-been-nominated/
Best,
Mona
I just found your blog and I seriously LOVE it. So much so, that I added you to my blog reel. Looking forward to following along!
I have a tv box I’d like to use for crafting. You think cardboard would be doable?
Hi Thomas
That could work – and given the size you could make some beautiful large stars. I’d suggest due to the thickness though that you draw your shape and then score lightly along each of the fold lines rather than attempt to fold it. Once your score lines are deep enough, you should be able to gently manipulate your star into shape. I’d make one out of paper first so you get the hang of it then have a go with the cardboard – let me know how it goes! K
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I think my husband has a pair of compasses packed away in the basement – I’m not very crafty (haha) but this is something I could do! P.S. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Amazing! I’m going to stock up on some beautiful card stock and make a pretty little (err big) garland to go all the way around my daughters’ rooms! Will be spectacular!! Maybe even add in some twinkly lights! Thanks for the kick ass idea!
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How did I miss this???? I am making a whole bunch this afternoon and came across your tutorial and was like oh this is hilarious it’s Kate!
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I love it when “easy” tutorials actually are explained clearly and easily. ^^ Thanks! This brightened up my morning.
I’m so pleased! I have an update with different types of stars coming later this week so do check in if you’re not completely exhausted with cutting and folding by then
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These are beautiful! But you lost me after step 3.
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