Simple Window Stars Tutorial

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!!!