Need a quick craft? Here’s one you can do on auto-pilot: these staggeringly gorgeous Catalog Stars. Simple, stunning, and so easy to make.
But first, a word about catalogs and what makes them awesome for crafts. The paper that catalogs are made of is easy to fold, like origami paper, which is exactly what you want for these stars. Making this classic craft with catalog pages gives them a fresh, modern look. That’s because the printing gets completely transformed as the paper is folded and cut. Goodbye, parkas and towels, hello beautiful abstract colors.
Decorate a tree or a gift. Make a wreath. Cover a wall with them like I did; you’ll need someplace to put all the stars you can’t stop making. Start with a basic star then make them bigger or smaller, with pointy ends or scallops, or lacy cut-outs. Add glitter or colored edges. Or keep making them simple. All the easy how-to’s are below. You will love these!
Made from a catalog
Needs just scissors, stapler, and double-sided tape or other adhesive
Incredibly decorative and fun to make
Older kids can help with folding and cutting.
Steps At A Glance:
Ready? Here’s how:
1
You’ll need:
a catalog
a stapler
scissors
adhesive: double-sided tape, glue stick, or other instant adhesive
2
Take the staples out of the catalog.
Take one full page and fold up about 1/2”, starting from a short edge.
Flip the page over and make another 1/2” fold, accordion-style.
Repeat until the whole page is folded up. It gets easier as you go. This one page will make four stars!
3
Gather the folds in a stack and staple through all layers close to the end, at both ends.
Cut this in half. It doesn’t need to be exact.
Gather and staple the cut ends of each half, making two sticks with stapled ends.
4
Each stick makes two stars!
Cut one of the sticks in half. I’m cutting this one diagonally.
Trim the stapled end close to the staple to make the star open neater. If you trim too close and the staple comes loose, simply re-staple the end.
5
Open the star up and see how the two outsides of the stack come together as you open the star fully. Put a small piece of double sided tape on one of the outside edges. Bring both edges together and press gently to tape your star open. It’s okay if they don’t come together perfectly, that’s part of the charm of these stars.
Done! Check out both sides of your new star.
Try different ways of cutting the ends on the rest of your stars, and try some of the other ideas below! If you don’t like how your star turned out, recut the ends a different way before taping it.
Once you get the hang of folding you can try folding 2 or 3 sheets stacked together to save time. Then separate them, regather the folds and staple each sheet individually as above.b
Questions
My stapler can’t make it all the way through the stack. What should I do?
Staple the end, then flip and staple again from the other side. Watch for sharp ends as you complete the star, but they’ll be safely hidden once the star is finished.
My star won’t far open enough for me to connect the sides.
Cut a little shorter until the star can fully open easily.
I trimmed too close to the staple and it came loose!
Just staple the end again.
End-Cutting Tips and Tricks
Cutting the stick in half and shaping the ends can be done as separate steps.
Cutting the stick in half with a straight line makes two similar stars. Try cutting flatter or steeper angles - simple but very pretty.
Cutting the stick in half with a curved or zig-zag line makes two stars with different shapes! See what cutting lines you can come up with, or try S, J, V, and U shaped cuts. The stars in the photos may give you other ideas.
Little changes in the shape of the cut end can make a big difference in the shape of your star; see some examples below.
Don’t like it? Re-cut it!
For smaller stars, cut a little shorter. For bigger stars see Big Stars below.
Here are some cut ends, and the stars they make:
and try this:
Big Stars
For a big star, take two full pages and join them at the short edge with your adhesive.
Fold accordion-style with 1” wide folds. Staple the ends, and cut in half. Shape the cut ends as you like.
Unlike regular stars, one big stick only makes two big stars. But they’re big.
Tipped Stars
You only need a marker for this one.
Cut the ends of your star (step 4). Hold the cut ends together and color the edges with the marker.
Or, you can make lines by holding and coloring the folded edges instead.
Glittered Stars
You’ll need glitter and a glue stick.
Pour some glitter onto a piece of paper.
Cut the ends of your star (step 4). Hold the cut ends together and run the glue stick over them well. Fan out the edges to separate them before the glue starts to dry. Then gather ends together loosely and press into the glitter. Tap off the excess, fan out to separate edges and let dry before taping.
Snowflake Stars
Cut the ends of your star, then hold the folded side edges together and cut shapes out.
Wall of Stars
Wrap a regular tape around itself sticky side out to make a tube about 1” wide. Stick to the underside of the star. Grip it by a fold from the top side, above where you put the tape, and press to the wall. This way the fold won’t get flattened. I sometimes need another tape-tube on top of the first one to make it stick on tight.
If you have any questions please drop me a line.