Paper star tutorial
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Two winters ago, I went through a phase where I was obsessed - OBSESSED - with making paper stars. My plan was to make a bunch of really large ones to hang in the windows of my enclosed porch (photo on the right side of the header). Once that project was done, I found myself eyeing up my house to figure out where else I could hang stars. I made a set of little ones and strung them on a long piece of raffia to hang along the banister. Then, using watercolors, I painted sheets of paper to make a dreamy star mobile for the nursery. My entire extended family even had a craft night to make construction paper stars to use as holiday decorations before my craziness for MORE STARS finally fizzled out.
There's no reason not to pass the obsession torch on to you, so here's my paper star tutorial.
1) Fold a piece of square or rectangular paper into accordian pleats. Cut off any excess paper that overhangs the last fold. I used an old pad of drawing paper to make the oversize stars, and a sheet of 8.5" x 11" paper will make stars about the size of your hand.
2) Staple or stitch the center of the folded paper.
3) Cut each end into points about halfway down.
4) Fold it it half so that the staple is horizontal across the top and the pointed sides come together. Fan out the paper, then tape the edges together. This part was akward to illustrate, but if you make it to step 3, step 4 just sort of works itself out.
