Five years ago I blogged these instructions for paper stars. I’m sharing the steps again because I’m amazed at how durable the stars have been in storage over the years. I will use these stars again on trees or the mantel. The stronger your paper the better your stars will hold up.

PAPER STARS

I had so much fun making paper stars at Christmastime. The stars can be used for any holiday…New Year’s, The Fourth of July, Easter, etc. They also could be created to hang from an indoor porch or ceiling for permanent decorations. Crafted out of glow in the dark paper, they would be a terrific non-electric night light for a child’s room.

I’ve included a link to the blog where I found perfect directions for this project. Paper Star Directions.

My paper stars were created out of pages from an old out of date Atlas. I love the colors and shadings of the maps, and also thought it appropriate that stars commemorating Christ Jesus’ birth included countries from all over the world. I also used pages from favorite childhood classic books to create smaller stars for my tiny Christmas tree.

Since these pages did not have any color to them, I gently watercolored them with pastel versions of primary colors.

I’ll give a quick description of the steps I followed to make the stars, but the directions are condensed. For isntructions with more detail visit the link I provided at the beginning of the post.

To start I cut the maps into four inch squares. For the smaller book page stars I cut two inch squares. Because the Atlas pages were heavier, smaller stars and squares would not have been easy to fold and glue.

The next step involves folding four times, twice on the diagonal, twice straight across the middle. Along the middle line on each side, snip a cut about 3/4 of an inch for the 4 inch star. For the smaller star you will make a smaller snip. Trial and error is the best way to judge how long to make the snip.

At this point you are going to turn the paper over on itself and glue the edge of the star point together. Hot glue made it quick and easy for me, but I have tough fingertips and am not too bothered by the heat. You want to use a glue that will grab hold quickly so you don’t have to hold the star tip too long.

Glue four points from each square, then glue another square into four points. After gluing the middle of the star will have a raised dimension. Glue two of these stars together, string a piece of clear thread through the top, knot and hang.

Here is my star created from a page of one of my favorite books, Anne of Green Gables. I also used Mod-Podge on these and my atlas stars to add a coating of glittery crystal.

I use books I find at local thrift stores and yard sales for projects such as these. You could also photocopy pages of books you love, or copy old letters and photographs with a scanner or photocopier to use. Photographic stars would be great for a party with the person of honor’s image on stars hanging from the ceiling or light fixture. Have fun making your stars. I had a great time making mine. They are easy and inexpensive and are sure to please.