25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments - #23 - 3-D Star Ornament

O.k...I was a little reluctant to give these ornaments a try because they LOOK so difficult. But, they have so many possibilities I just figured I'd do it and see what I came up with.

25 Days of Hand Made Ornaments

3 Dimensional Star

Supplies:

Star Pattern (x5)

Cardstock

Bone Folder

Glue (fast drying preferably)

Embellishments (optional)

Stamps (optional)

STAR PATTERN: This is just one point of the star. You will need to print 5 of these in desired size.

Instructions:

1. Print 5 of the star pattern onto your cardstock. This pattern can be printed any size you like. Just remember the smaller you go it may be a bit more difficult with all of the folds. I printed mine at 3 1/2" in length measuring from point to the bottom edge. Finished star is approx. 7" tall.

2. I am using just a plain star for the example but you can at this point stamp, ink, etc. the cardstock on the back side of the patterns. (the back side will become the outside of the star)

3. Cut each point out and crease on all fold marks with the bone folder. Pay special attention to the creases at the point. It is very important to have nice crisp lines for the finished star.

4. Glue the long side flap to close the point to create a little "party hat" looking piece. Repeat 4x with the rest of the points.

5. The little flaps on the bottom of the point should be folded out - apply a line of glue along the flap on the outside margin as shown...

6. Slip the next point over the glued flaps fitting snugly into place. Pay special attention to the flaps - they should all be facing the same direction for your star to turn out correctly.

7. Finish adding points until you reach the last point.

8. Adding the last point on the star is a little tricky...you will need to apply glue to the flaps of both the existing star point and the last point. Tuck point #5 into the original point as shown in the photo then carefully fold the flaps from point #4 into point #5 and secure. If it doesn't look like all of the flaps are making proper contact you can either slide the last point around until all flaps touch or use a needle to move the flap around as desired.

And here is what your star should look like....

Now you're bound to have a few areas that aren't perfect but hey, life's not perfect so just go with it :) Remember this is a plain white star so it shows every perfection as you can see below. A couple of the corners near the center of my star look a bit beat up but hey, no worries...I'm going to squirt it with some Glimmer Mist and add a few bits of Stickles here and there so it will blend in nicely. If you start out with stamped and inked cardstock most of these imperfections will be hidden!

Now, if there is a point that doesn't fit quite right or a bent corner and it really bugs you there are a couple tricks you can use to cover the seams up....

1. Apply Stickles Glitter Glue or glue & glitter to all of the seams.

2. Add fiber, ribbon, yarn, etc. to the seams.

I'll be sure and post a pic of my finished star tomorrow!

So now it's your turn!