When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.
Total Project Time: 2 minutes
There has always been a legend of folding paper cranes to have your wishes granted but for those (like me) who aren’t adept at origami, why not start with stars? After all, wishing on a star is just as iconic (if not more for those who are not in love with ancient Japanese legend). Folding paper stars is really simple and quick while also creating a great visual impact when stacked in a jar or other container.
Check out the Craft section of MCG for more unlimited ideas.
Supplies
For this project, you only need paper and scissors. You don’t really need scissors but it’s nice to have those clean lines along the sides of your project.
Process
There aren’t many folds in this project, but I decided to do a step-by-step photo guide as well to help with this. The strip of paper I decided to use was measured to be 1.5 cm thick, but you don’t have to be that precise. The first step is to make a ribbon-like fold at the right end of the paper strip. The tail end with then is threaded through the hole made in the ribbon.
The bottom edge should then be flatted. The left edge of the ribbon should then also be flattened against the left edge of the tail end. This will leave a bubble of ribbon on the back/right side. This will then be tightened by pulling through the left tail until the pentagon (5-sided shape) is made.
Now it’s the fun time: wrapping the remaining tail around the pentagon. This should just follow the lines that we already created to smoothly wrap around and make the pentagon thicker. The last step is to tuck the left tail into the center edge. Adding pressure to add five sides will inflate the shape and voila! You have a star!
Lessons
Long vs. Short
I didn’t know if it would be better to cut the strip along the width or the length. So, I decided to do both and test the results. I found that a star made only alone the width has less thickness than a star made from the length. Thicker pentagons will allow for a better-inflated star because the paper is more stabilized.
Wishes Inside Stars
This isn’t exactly a lesson, but I did find that a great way to indulge more into the wish aspect of the stars. You can write wishes or messages on the strip before creating the star, so each star contains your feelings!
Quick Recipe
Instructions
- Cut a strip of paper with 1.5 cm wide.
- Make a ribbon shape on the right end of the strip.
- Loop the right tail through the hole.
- Flatten bottom edge against right tail.
- Flatten left edge of ribbon against right tail.
- Pull left tail to create a tight pentagon.
- Tuck right tail into pentagon.
- Wrap remaining strip around the pentagon following the shape.
- Tuck left tail into pentagon.
- Put pressure on sides to inflate star.