I remember when I was a kid, I watched my dad making stars out of paper strips. This is the Polish Christmas tradition, which I cultivate with care. Every year, I fill in the gaps, because paper stars are not long lasting. I expand the collection with new colors and combinations. I have a star garland, a chain on the Christmas tree, and “falling” stars on the window. Paper stars give many possibilities, they look great individually and in a multi-star arrangement. Strips can be cut from paper or you can buy ready-made strips.
I’ve also prepared video tutorial 🙂
Materials needed for paper star
- 4 paper strips, colored on both sides
- Scissors
How to make a traditional paper star
For the purposes of this tutorial, I chose 4 stripes of different colors to make it easier to follow the moves.
In the initial step, cut the ends of the strips, this will facilitate later work of “pushing” the strips.
Let’s get started!
1. Bend each strip in half.
2. Drag the stripes one through the other creating a chessboard.
3. Turn the chessboard to the other side.
4. Pass the top stripe through the neighbor on the left, then bend. Perform four times for each side.
5. Now take the strap on the top right and bend it underneath to form a triangle. Then bend again to form a second symmetrical triangle. Finally fold the triangles to the left side and pull the paper strip under the strip in the upper right corner of the chessboard. Repeat for the remaining 3 corners.
5. Turn the chessboard with 4 triangles to the other side on more time.
6. Repeat the previous step with the corners bent for the remaining strips.
7. Now the coolest part, i.e. creating 3D cones. I started with the yellow strip on the right. Wrap it to the left so that a cone forms, and the yellow strip goes under the green. You can bend green to make it easier to insert yellow. Tighten to form a nice standing cone.
8. Repeat for the remaining bars on both sides of the star.
9. Finally cut off the protruding strips and the paper star is ready.
You can add a pendant to it by making a hole in one of triangles. Similarly, you can combine stars into a chain or garland.
Check out our ideas
If you are looking for more DIY Christmas ideas, you can find them in the Christmas section.
Advent calendars tutorials are here. We also check ideas for activities for the advent calendar which you can download and print.
Ideas for Christmas cards you will find here.
Ideas for Christmas tree ornaments are here.
All other DIY ideas for Christmas, including potato stamps or gift tags are available here.
However, if you are looking for more inspiration for playing with children, you can find them in the section DIY with kids.
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Nothing gives more satisfaction than doing something yourself. I haven’t even thought about DIY as my hobby, I’ve just done different “projects” when it was needed. Sometimes it’s a disguise for the Masquerade Party in kindergarten. Another time, cutting out the pumpkin and baking the witch’s fingers for Haloween. Or simply organizing holiday souvenirs. Now I decided to share my realizations with you. Let’s go it together!
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