How to Make Paper Stars

Paper stars are a great way to inexpensively add cute decor for any holiday or event! You can make them for Christmas or the 4th of July, graduations, weddings and birthdays! Learn how to make paper stars two different ways in this tutorial!

I am excited to share this tutorial with you guys today! These 3D paper stars turned out amazing!! I made mine for Christmas as paper star ornaments, but they are so versatile, they can be used in many ways. Also, you get a two for one post today because I will show you how to make paper stars, not just one way, but two different ways!

As with most of the crafts I make, they are totally customizable. You get to choose the colors and patterns for the stars, depending on what paper you use. I made some out of both card stock and patterned scrapbook paper, so the options are endless! The card stock is a little stiffer to work with but it gives a nice sturdy star when you are done.

You also get to choose the size. My stars range in size from 3.5 – 8.5 inches.

This is a very easy craft to do and would be a great one to get the kiddos involved in, with a little help from you with the hot glue part. 😉 They remind me of origami a bit, so you can think of them as easy paper origami stars. It would also be a great activity for a craft night with some friends!

For the rest of the tutorial, I will refer to the stars like this plaid star as Christmas stars.

I will refer to the stars like this black one as a five pointed star.

Supplies to make paper stars

*There are links to products in this post that I use or are similar to products I use. If you buy something from one of these links, I may make a small commission (with no additional cost to you) from the purchase. I will not recommend anything that I would not buy myself.

• Card stock or scrapbook paper in colors of your choice
• Gold cord
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Elmer’s glue stick
• Paper Cutter – this is optional, you can use scissors, but this makes the job easier!
• Bone folder tool

Watch the quick video

Don’t want to read all the instructions? I have included a video in this post showing you how to make paper stars in both ways. If you can’t see the video, turn off your ad blocker. Also, if you ever want to slow down the video, just click on the three dots in the lower right hand corner of the video and you can change the playback speed. If you want more detailed instructions, continue reading.

How to make paper stars

With both kind of stars, you have to cut some squares first from your paper. The end product size will depend on how big your squares are. The Christmas star requires two squares to make it.

For the black and white striped Christmas star, I cut two squares at 4.5 inches each. The finished star is about 6 inches in size.

How to make a paper Christmas star

Take one of your squares and fold it in half. Then unfold the square, turn the square by 90° and fold it in half again.

Next, fold the square diagonally to make a triangle. Then unfold the square, turn the square by 90° and fold it in half diagonally again. You should have fold lines now that go horizontally, vertically and diagonally in both directions.

With some sharp scissors, cut a slit into the vertical line reaching almost to the halfway point of the bottom half. The slit is about 3/4″- 1″ in length. It doesn’t have to be exact, but you want to make sure it is long enough for the next fold we need to make.

Repeat this step with all four sides.

On one of the corners, fold the bottom edge up to meet the diagonal fold line. Repeat this with the other edge to make a pointed corner.

Repeat this step with all four corners.

Glue the points

Add glue to one of the pointed flaps, and overlap them to make them into a 3D point. Hold the flaps together for a couple seconds to let the glue bond. If you have patterned paper, like this striped one, make sure you test out which flap to glue down first, to see which way you want the stripes to go, as it will make a difference in the end appearance of the star. I know this because I have two of these stars that look completely different! LOL

Do this on all four corners and you will end up with one half of a 3D Christmas star.

Add gold cord to hang the paper star

If you are making an ornament like I did, you will want to add some gold cord at this point. If you are not making the DIY paper stars into ornaments, don’t worry about this step. Cut a length of gold cord about 6-8 inches long. Open the flaps on one of the corners and add a dab of hot glue on the inside, close to the point. Place the two ends of the gold cord into the hot glue and press it down after it has cooled just a bit. Now just glue the flaps together like you did in the previous step. 

You will now have two halves of a 3D paper star, with one that has a gold cord loop.

The last step is to glue the two halves together. You want to make sure the one with the gold cord is the one on top. Add some hot glue to the inside corners of each point on the bottom star half, like in the picture below. Place the other half of the star on top of the first, centering the points so they are all equidistant from each other. Hold the two halves together for a few seconds.

Now you have a finished paper Christmas star ornament!

How to make a five pointed paper star

For the five pointed star, you will need five squares. For the gold star, I used 3.5 inch squares and the finished size is about 6.5 inches so it almost doubles in size. Each square becomes a star point, and each star point is 3.5 inches long on the gold star.

Take one of the squares and fold it in half diagonally to form a triangle. To make sharper creases in the card stock, I used a bone folder tool to press along the folds. You can see this in the video. Unfold the paper and turn it so that the fold runs vertically.

Fold in one side so that the corner meets the middle fold line and the edge runs parallel to the fold line. Repeat this step with the other side. Finally, fold the pointed top flap down over the triangle shape.

Fold in one top corner so that the top edge now runs parallel to the center line of the triangle. Repeat this on the other side.

Open the corners back up and add some glue to the whole top flap portion. Fold the corners back down and hold for a few seconds to allow the glue to bond.

Next, take this shape and fold the whole thing in half onto itself. This becomes one of the star points.

Repeat these steps with the remaining squares until you have five star points.

Glue the star points together

Take one of the star points and add hot glue to one side of the big end. Line up and position a second star point end against the first one and squeeze them together for a few seconds to let the glue bond.

Continue adding star points in this manner. When you get ready to add the last star point, add hot glue to both sides of the adjacent star points.

Add some gold cord to hang

If you are making your 3D paper star into an ornament, cut a length of gold cord about 6-8 inches long. On the back side of the paper star, add a dab of hot glue in one of the points. Place the two ends of the gold cord into the hot glue and press it down after it has cooled just a bit.

Now you have a finished five pointed paper star!

Here are some other fun DIY Christmas crafts you may enjoy:

• Felt Christmas Trees
• Plaid Christmas Pillows
• Wood Christmas Trees
• Simple Hand Embroidered Gift Tags
• Raffia Christmas Trees

Display your 3D paper stars

These awesome paper stars can be used in your decor in so many ways! Just off the top of my head, you could use them as table decor placed around in a vignette, put them in a bowl with some wood beads and greenery, make them into a garland or use them as vase fillers.

Of course, you can always hang your paper stars on your Christmas tree too but I have chosen to use them another way. I will be back soon to show you how I used my paper stars when I share my Christmas decor. Chat soon friends!