How-to recipes

How to make a paper star garland

A paper star garland is a string of folded eight-point stars hung where the light catches them — a doorway, a window, a mantel. This is the free-this-week make on Crafty’s bench: heavyweight paper, about thirty minutes, beginner. The whole craft is here. The app is the next week, the list, and the shelf.

What you need

You can usually find this at a drugstore or in the printer drawer. Card stock is better than copy paper; copy paper still works.

• Heavyweight paper or card stock — enough for twelve 12 cm squares. One pad of drawing paper is plenty.
• Scissors. Child scissors for older kids; the adult cuts for anyone still learning to stop at a line.
• Natural twine or baker’s twine, about 2 meters — enough to span a doorway with tails to tie.
• A glue stick. White school glue works; it takes longer to grab.
• Optional: hole punch, pencil, ruler. The center wrap of twine is enough without a punch.

The steps

This is the same fold as Crafty’s Paper Star Garland: accordion, pinch, fan, string. Thirty minutes, including the argument about who punches the holes.

1. 01

   Cut the squares

   Cut twelve 12 cm squares (about 4¾ inches) from heavyweight paper. A ruler helps the first one; after that you can use it as a template. Kids can stack and cut two at a time if the stock is not too thick. Twelve stars will dress a doorway. Eight will dress a window.

2. 02

   Accordion-fold each square

   Fold each square into even accordion pleats about 1 cm wide — a pencil-width. Aim for eight pleats so the finished star has eight points. Crease firmly. Soft paper will still work; you just pinch harder in the next step.

3. 03

   Pinch the middle

   Fold the accordion in half to find the center. Pinch hard. Tie a short length of twine in a tight square knot at the pinch, leaving tails of a few inches. This is the spine of the star. If the knot slips, wrap twice and knot again.

4. 04

   Fan the points

   Fan both sides into a circle. Glue the first and last pleat on each side so the star holds its shape instead of collapsing into a bow. If the outer edges look blunt, the adult can snip them into points. Let the glue grab for a minute before you hang anything.

5. 05

   String the line

   Cut a length of twine that spans your doorway plus two extra hands for tying. Tie each star on by its center tails, leaving a hand-width between stars. A hole punch through one point is optional. If you punch, the adult does it, and you thread the main line through the hole instead of using the center tails.

6. 06

   Hang it where the light hits

   Two pieces of tape, two small nails, or the hooks already above the door. Hang it slightly loose so the stars can turn. Photograph the finish. Finish photos in Crafty stay on the household studio shelf unless you share a card.

Variations

• Two colors. Alternate warm and cool paper. Same fold.
• A window, not a door. Use eight smaller squares, about 8 cm, and a shorter line.
• December. Same garland. Add a short velvet ribbon at one end if you have it. The wreath with wire is a different project, and the adult handles the wire.

This is not a copyrighted-character craft. Stars are stars.

How Crafty helps

This recipe stays on the web. In the iOS app — Crafty Kids in the App Store, Crafty on the site — materials can roll onto one shopping list, steps sit on the bench, and the photograph lives on your shelf. One project is typically free in a week; free projects stay open. The rest of the library is membership. Yearly can include Apple Family Sharing for up to six.

How Crafty works is the short version of a Saturday: a window, a list, a picture.

More at the table

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