This weekend I started planning for Smarty Pant's 6th Birthday Party. I can't believe a year has gone by since his Police Party last year! I really wish I could slow down this growing-up stuff... Anyhow, the theme this year is SPACE and we're having the party offsite, so I've been trying to come up with simple decorations that I can easily transport and assemble a few minutes before the party. That's where these 3-dimensional paper stars come in...
Make a Five-Pointed Star
Take a 8.5" x 11" piece of paper and fold it in half width-wise.
Then fold it in half again to make a fold mark. Unfold.
With the folded edge of the paper at the bottom, fold the bottom left corner to the fold-mark at the right edge of the paper.
Fold the bottom right corner over to the center of the paper.
Fold the bottom right over toward the left side one last time. Now you have a pie shape.
Cut from the bottom right of the pie shape to the top left at an angle.
The more angled the cut, the sharper the star's points.
The flatter the cut, the wider the star's points and the "chubbier" the star.
Unfold the triangle...
And you should see a perfect five point star.
the star on the left is cut at a wider angle.
Make Your Star 3-Dimensional
Trace your pattern onto thick card stock (I used thick glitter paper)
On your pattern, measure to find the center of the star (for this star, it was 8 cm from the tip).
Mark the center on your card stock star and use that to help with the scoring.
Score the reverse side of the star, from center to each star tip. Repeat 5 times.
Score the front side of the star, from center to each crease. Repeat 5 times.
Bend your star at the scored lines and...
Pouf! a 3 dimensional paper star!
My stars will be 1-sided since they will decorate a wall, but 2 halves can easily be glued together to make a 3-dimensional star that can be viewed from all sides.
So much more savvy than a flat ol' star.
