Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

 Alright...so for my first tutorial I decided to play it simple and show you how to make these adorable little paper stars!! You can use them to decorate or, as I recently did, to send a message (or 300 messages) to someone special in your life!   So here we go... 

What you need:

Pretty scrapbooking paper in assorted patterns (whatever you like)

Paper cutter (or scissors if you must)

A pen/marker (only if you wish to write something on the inside)

Something to put them in (such as a mason jar, pretty painted box, etc)

 

Ok...first off, you want to cut some pretty scrapbooking paper (or any kind of paper really) into approximately 3/8 inch strips. If you do 1/4 inch the strips are too thin and 1/2 inch they are too thick to work with..so 3/8 inch works best...
It REALLY helps to have a paper cutter for this part....you could use scissors, but it would make cutting these strips pretty tedious!  A paper cutter is the way to go!

I picked all of these patterns at my local craft store. I thought they were all really neat looking... ALSO...do not pick paper that is card stock or similar to it, it's too thick to work with.  And if you want to write a message on the inside, make sure your paper is blank on the back.  So... if you want to write a message on the inside, now would be the time.
(my cat, Jack, was eyeing the strips....then decided it was play time) :P

Okay...so make a little loop like so at one end of your paper, try not to have too much excess on your "tail".

Now take the tail and put it through the loop.

VERY carefully pull the knot tight enough so it makes a little pentagon.  Pinch it slightly so it's more flat.

Fold the little tail over to make the side flat.

Now turn your pentagon over so that the blank side of the rest of your strip is facing you.

Now fold the strip over your pentagon to the opposite side.

Flip the pentagon and fold it over the opposite side again...it should flip back and forth as you fold.

Keep folding until you get your pentagon to look like this....

Now carefully tuck in the end to both sides of the little pocket in your hexagon.  If your end is too long you can fold it over and then tuck it, or cut it.

Push in the end to both sides until it forms a flush 5th side.

It should look like this.

Now take your fingernail (or a bone folder) and push in one side of your hexagon.  (it really helps to put one or two fingers on the opposite side).  This should "pop out" the side you push in.

Continue to "pop out" the rest of the 4 sides.

Once you've done all 5 sides it should look like this!  A pretty little puffy star!

Once you get the hang of it, the process goes pretty quickly...I did these 14 in about 10 minutes. 

I hope this all makes sense!!! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I'll get to it ASAP!!
Thanks for reading!!
Loves!