Making beautiful window stars is easy! First, gather up your tissue paper, in whichever colors you like; a pencil; scissors; white glue; a 3x5 card; cello tape.
Trace around your 3x5 card, onto the tissue paper. (Oh, and use hand lotion regularly to avoid dry wrinkly hands like mine!!)
Cut out your pieces. For this project, you will need 8 pieces. (I cut 16 for two star variations.)
Iron your cut pieces.
Here are the pretty , pressed pieces, ready for folding.
Step 1: fold a piece in half lengthwise, matching edges.
Unfold. Fold the bottom two corners in so they meet the middle line.
Fold the top two corners in so that they meet the middle line.
Now fold the top two corners in again, so the former 45 degree angle fold now meets the middle line.
Do the same with the other top side.
Drop some tiny dots of glue in the folded corners, so your piece will hold its shape.
Once all your pieces have been folded and glued, arrange the colors into the formation you desire.
Three dots of glue is sufficient to hold the star together. Only put glue on one side at a time. Also, use very small dots of glue -- otherwise your colors will run together.
Match the edge of the top piece to the middle line of the piece underneath. Match center points.
When you have worked your way to the last piece, you will want to slip it between the two surrounding pieces. Glue it to the underneath piece (yellow), then fold back the overlapping piece at the center line (purple) and dot glue on the last piece (blue). Then unfold the overlapping piece (purple) and stick it down.
Voila!
Now press your finished star to really hold those folds in and let the light shine through each overlapping layer clearly. I suggest pressing the star from the back, so you don't accidentally catch the edges of your folds.
Use your cello tape to make tiny tape rolls, and stick your star to the window! If you would like to make a "removable" star which won't be damaged by moving it, you can tape small pieces of tape flat to the back of your star to make non-sticky tabs. Then affix your tape "rolls" to the non-sticky tabs on the back of your star.
Once you have the hang of the basic star, it is very simple to modify your folds to make more intricate patterns. As long as you have the 45 degree angled folds in the center, you can use your 8 pieces to make a star. This second star was made using the same colors and the same angles, but I added a few tiny internal folds to the major folds I had done on the previous star, and you can see how it adds a diamond-like pattern to the center and points.
This final star is one I made months ago, with pastel colors. It is the same basic folds, with even more tiny internal folds. You see the dimensions and angles are the same.
So have fun! Experiment!
If you love papercrafts and are looking for even more great ideas, think about trying a Craftsy class. I have taken numerous Craftsy classes and love them so much! Excellent tuition, excellent instructors, excellent ideas -- and right now, half price on most classes. Here is a great papercrafts class:
Online Paper Crafts Class from Craftsy!
(disclosure: I'm a Craftsy affiliate and big fan!)
Oh, and -- buy this book for even more great ideas!!!
This past Friday was the day of the AWANA pinewood derby race. Joman had his first-ever try at designing, carving and painting his own derby racer. His car is the red one closest to him.
They are off!
There were several heats, so all the cars could race against each other. Joman's car never came first but he placed well with a couple seconds and thirds.
Here, the photo finish of the fastest four cars, for trophies.
And, the cheering squad.
One of our favorite Easter preparations is to dye the hard-boiled eggs. It has been quite a few years since we've had white eggs to dye, as we weren't able to get them where we lived in Australia. Not to mention the PAAS egg dye tablets! Which bring back memories all the way from when Mamma was a little bitty girl.
Mamma also made this super-delicious super-sized Easter bun. Spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and studded with sultana raisins soaked in orange juice, here it is rising in the oven.
When it was baked fragrant and brown, I let it cool, and then iced it with a simple vanilla icing and dusted it with coconut. It was the best thing I ate all weekend.
Mamma ended up staying at home Easter Sunday with a sick Baby. Poor Baby, and poor Mamma too, missing out on the Easter dinner with the family.
Joman's 10th birthday landed right on Good Friday this year. That won't happen again for a very long time! Maybe not ever.
One of our traditions is to allow the birthday child to request whatever he/she would like to eat for meals that day.
Joman requested a hot brunch with sausage and pancakes. I also supplied cut fruit, orange juice and fresh-strawberry syrup from More-With-Less.
I know that many people love Jewels from her blog, Eyes of Wonder, and loved her stars. A long while back, I did make stars that are, as best as I can tell, pretty much exactly like the ones she had made. They are shown in this photo.
Making beautiful window stars is easy! First, gather up your tissue paper, in whichever colors you like; a pencil; scissors; white glue; a 3x5 card; cello tape.
Trace around your 3x5 card, onto the tissue paper. (Oh, and use hand lotion regularly to avoid dry wrinkly hands like mine!!)
Cut out your pieces. For this project, you will need 8 pieces. (I cut 16 for two star variations.)
Iron your cut pieces.
Here are the pretty , pressed pieces, ready for folding.
Step 1: fold a piece in half lengthwise, matching edges.
Unfold. Fold the bottom two corners in so they meet the middle line.
Fold the top two corners in so that they meet the middle line.
Now fold the top two corners in again, so the former 45 degree angle fold now meets the middle line.
Do the same with the other top side.
Drop some tiny dots of glue in the folded corners, so your piece will hold its shape.
Once all your pieces have been folded and glued, arrange the colors into the formation you desire.
Match the edge of the top piece to the middle line of the piece underneath. Match center points.
When you have worked your way to the last piece, you will want to slip it between the two surrounding pieces. Glue it to the underneath piece (yellow), then fold back the overlapping piece at the center line (purple) and dot glue on the last piece (blue). Then unfold the overlapping piece (purple) and stick it down.
Now press your finished star to really hold those folds in and let the light shine through each overlapping layer clearly. I suggest pressing the star from the back, so you don't accidentally catch the edges of your folds.
Use your cello tape to make tiny tape rolls, and stick your star to the window! If you would like to make a "removable" star which won't be damaged by moving it, you can tape small pieces of tape flat to the back of your star to make non-sticky tabs. Then affix your tape "rolls" to the non-sticky tabs on the back of your star.
Once you have the hang of the basic star, it is very simple to modify your folds to make more intricate patterns. As long as you have the 45 degree angled folds in the center, you can use your 8 pieces to make a star. This second star was made using the same colors and the same angles, but I added a few tiny internal folds to the major folds I had done on the previous star, and you can see how it adds a diamond-like pattern to the center and points.
This final star is one I made months ago, with pastel colors. It is the same basic folds, with even more tiny internal folds. You see the dimensions and angles are the same.
We returned home from a very late lunch at the Golden Corral to find this funny face staring at us through the window! 
Who is here?
Mr Frosty.
Aha! Grandma and Grandpa are here with lots of fun things to do! They wanted to try some skiing on our gentle slopes. Above, Grandma gives a demo.
They brought along a sweet little antique sled, which Jr Spragus had ever so much fun in.
Joman worked up the nerve to try skiing for the very first time.
It went okay for about 2 yards.
Miss Rose skiied almost perfectly!
Everyone was having such a great time.
One of Jr's favorite pastimes is snow shoveling. If you need your walk shoveled, Jr is your man.
The snow was evaporating and melting rapidly today! But Miss Rose and Jr still were able to make some pretty snow angels.
Thanks for the fun afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa!
