A Paper Star for Christmas: How To

Star Shine

Hey ya'll....(you know how I like to whip the ya'll out once in awhile even though I'm not from the South).  Happy Wednesday. 

We had a nice night over at my parents celebrating Garrett's birthday. It was low key, there was big honkin' shrimp involved and of course the obligatory photos by Mom The Photographer. 

Today we're back into holiday mode around here. I'm in the midst of reposting some of the tutorials that I've featured and Kristen, over on Milo and Molly is doing the same. So pop on over there, check out her digs and tell her I sent you.

This is one of my favorite tutorials and I'm still making new paper stars with paper I've designed myself.

They're always a big hit. In fact I have some Christmas orders for several that I need to get crackin' on. 

So, without further ado, here's my original post from over a year ago with the paper star tutorial.

*****************************************************

I have to thank Cari-Jane from HyrbridHandmade for pinning an awesome paper star tutorial on pinterest. I love it and it looked so do-able, I tried it right away.  Here's my own take on the tutorial that Cari-Jane pinned. 

You'll need:

two pieces of square paper- you could use origami paper

(I used a 32 lb. printer paper)

scissors

glue

ruler

string, ribbon or twine

I printed off one of my illustration designs to use for my paper.

Then I trimmed it to 6 x 6 like the original tutorial, but you could use any square size.

Fold your paper in half.

Then fold in half the other way, so you now have folds on your paper like this.

Next step is to fold corner to corner.

Again, now fold from other corner to corner so you fold lines now look like this.

On lines coming from sides (not corners), make a just shy of halfway. On my 6 x 6 square, I marked at 1.25. 

Continue until each side is marked, like this.

Cut along line to each mark.

Once lines are cut, fold over to line coming from corner. 



Do this all the way around until your paper looks like this.

Now glue one flap at each 'star' point, and pull other flap over and hold until glue is set.

Choose one point to insert twine in before completing all sides.

Complete rest of points.

You now should have a 3 dimesional star that looks like this on one side.........

........and this on the other.

Repeat this process, except for the twine, to make another star. Once you have two stars you are going to glue together. Place glue like this.

Gently press two stars together and hold in place until glue sets.

Wait 10 minutes before hanging to be sure glue is set enough.

Decorate with your new star as you see fit. 

Hang a lone star or...................

.......hang in a grouping. 

I think this is the perfect craft with the holidays coming up. I've adjusted my Chinese Lantern pattern an 8x8 size so most people can easily print it out on 8.5 x 11 paper to use for this project.  I would have tried the 8x8, but was trying to follow original tutorial.  I did use a little bit heaver 32 lb. paper, but you could certainly try it with regular copy pape. I think by the time the stars are folded and glued, it would have enough stability. 

Click below and right click to save to your computer or copy and paste into a document.

I would have tried the 8x8 paper design, but was doing my best to follow original tutorial to a T.  FYI- I did use a little bit heavier 32 lb. printer paper, but you could certainly try it with regular printer paper. I think by the time the stars are folded and glued, it would have enough stability.

What are you waiting for? Give it a try!

Ciao for now,

PS- Have you entered the December Giveaway yet? Just so you know, you could win over $215 worth of prizes from my awesome sponsors. As usual though.... you have to enter! So, go enter!

What I've Been Working On

In the Office/Studio

Things have been busy around here. You can relate, right?  By day, I've designing brochures, and ads, and such for my Speakeasy clients. By night, I've been prepping stock for the craft fair Garrett and I are participating in next weekend.

1. I'm always working on new illustrations and right now I'm in the 'tweaking' stage of my latest, Ahoy Matey.  This will go in our etsy shop, and I'll also offer it at the fair, as an archival print. When I decide I'm done tweaking. 

2.  Add to that printing and cutting stationery. I got a good few packages put together last night. I'm including my old standbys like the Louis Louis pop art pink chair.

3. I'm also including new designs, like Under Foot which was inspired by woven rugs. This too will be available soon in our shop. It's just a matter of squeezing in time to list it. 

4. I've been making custom paper stars using my own paper designs. I'll let you in on a little secret....these stars are not something you can just whip out quickly. It's a process of printing, folding, gluing, attaching hanger, and drying.  I love how they turn out, so it's all worth it. [If you want to try some of your own, you'll find my tutorial here.]

5. Painted clipboards have been on the list too [like I showed you in this recent tutorial]. They're just fun. I worked on these on Sunday, which seems to be a good day for that sort of thing. You can just sit and watch the game, and paint away.

I know that some of you with etsy shops, are doing the fall/holiday craft fair circuit. What have you been busy making? I wonder if the rest of have plans to attending any fairs in the coming weeks?

That's it for the desk/cocktail table/kitchen table dispatch today (yes, I take over whatever space I need to work on these projects!).

In Case You Missed It

Yesterday marked the launch of the Mercantile Muse October Giveaway. It's in full swing and I don't think you'll want to miss a chance to win all of the wonderful handmade items up for grabs. $175 worth of handmade items, in case you were wondering.

In other news, the sun is shining! It's been pretty sparse here lately. The week has been soggy, to say the least. In fact, it's been so soggy, we had our first fire of the season last night, just to take the edge of the damp. The sun is a very welcome sight.

Enjoy your day.

See you on the flip side,

Spring Has Sprung

In The Yard

I got outside at the end of the day yesterday. We went for a walk in the field and then I came back and did a little raking and weeding. Oh my, is there a lot of that to do. That's ok. Free therapy. 

There are things popping all over.

My forsythia is longing to burst.  Chartruese in all it's glory before it's full-on sunshine yellow.

I think I already mentioned the other day that my vinca is up too.

There is nothing more beautiful than nature. Look at the symetry of the white markings.  Lovely.

The tiger lilies are all over my yard. Probably my easiest plant to care for. They could care less if the chippies are digging under them. They just keep multiplying and blooming. My kind of flower. My other day lilies are pretty good that way too so I just keep adding more.

This one was pushing up with a dew drop on it's leaf. Good morning sunshine.

Next door I got to have a puppy fix this morning. The neighbors take care of 2 border collies Tanner and Rio. Well, Tanner and Rio just got a new brother, Shane and he's over getting used to his sitter's place.

So sweet. Made my morning.

Muppy puppy head.

More puppy time later, for sure.

In other news 'round these here parts. Do you remember my paper star tutorial?
Well, lucky me. It was featured on 'OrSoSheSays' yesterday. Many thanks to Mariel.

Have a fabulous day in your corner of the world. I'm going to do the same in mine.

Be Our Guest: Stacey from A Sort Of Fairytale

Be Our Guest: Vintage Playing Card Tags

Hello Mercantile Muse Readers, I'm Stacey, from A Sort Of Fairytale and Maggie Jane's Vintage, and I'm so happy to be here Guest Posting today!  

I'm a I'm a Flea Market, Estate Sale, Thrift Store, Vintage Lovin' Wife and Mom. We just bought our first house and I am busy trying to make it the vintage style home of my dreams on budget (a word I wish was not in my vocabulary).  My Etsy shop, Maggie Jane's Vintage, is where I sell vintage and handmade decor, gifts, and supplies.  I also sell at local flea markets (am a total flea market junkie) and vintage markets/events.  I host an Etsy and Online Shop Link Party on my blog, every Thursday, so if you have a shop you would like to promote, come on over and join!  My full time job is Stay-At-Home Mom and my part time jobs are blogging at and selling vintage, and I can honestly say that all three jobs and my life itself are definitely a sort of fairytale!

Today, I have a little crafty tutorial for you!  Do you have any vintage playing cards that you think are pretty, but don't know what to do with?  I just love the images and illustrations on vintage playing cards, they're like little pieces of art!  They also make really good tags for gifts and pretty much anything you want to label.  Here's how to make your own:

Vintage Playing Card Tags

 Supplies:

Vintage playing cards - available on Etsy and in Thrift Shops

Scissors

Hole Punch

Ribbons, Lace - new or vintage

Scrapbook Paper

Paper Punch

Adhesive

Punch out paper shapes with your paper punch, I chose a 2.25" scallop

punch by EK Success.  These shapes will be the labels you attach to the cards.

(Note from Pam.......don't let not having a paper punch stop you, you can cut out whatever shape you like with scissors and use that!)

Use adhesive on the back of your paper punches to secure the punch to the playing cards.  I chose a tape runner adhesive, but you can use any type of adhesive you like (i.e. double sided tape, rubber cement, elmer's glue, hot glue gun, etc).

Affix the paper punch to the center back side of the playing cards.

Using your hole punch, punch a hole at the top center of the card,

I just eyeballed it, but you can measure if you like.  

Cut various styles of laces and ribbons into blank 13 inch lengths, or 

to another length you would like it to be.

Fold ribbon or lace in half and feed through the hole punch and bring

the ends back through the loop, then gently pull tight,

so it looks like this...

Back view of finished tag.

That's it, you're done!

I was also thinking you could add buttons, cabochons, etc. to embellish 

the tags and make them extra fancy.

This is a super easy craft that is full of vintage cuteness, and is a nice way to recycle/upcycle vintage items.  With the holidays coming up, this would be a fun way to embellish all of your packages!

Thank you, Pam, for letting me guest post on your lovely blog today!

Pam: No, thank you Stacey............Love that tutorial and certainly something anyone could tackle. Thanks so much for the time you took in preparing and sharing your vintage playing card tutorial on Mercantile Muse!  I am definitely pinning this great tutorial on pinterest!  (Remember,if you are a pinterest finatic, you can easily pin anything on the Muse via the pinterest link at the bottom of any post).

I encourage you all to stop by Stacey's wonderful shop to see all the goodies she's got in store!

2nd 'Gotta Have It Link' Party & Prints Coming Soon

First, I'd like to say that I was overwhelmed with the response to our link party.  Since so many shop owners stopped by and linked up, I want to give you all a heads up that tomorrow is the start of our second  'Gotta Have It' Shop Link Up Party. Be sure to stop by and add your shop to the party and spread the word!  If you don't have an online shop, no worries. Stop by anyway and do a little window shopping. Browse through the shops that have linked up. I promise, you won't be disappointed-- there is sure to be a wonderful variety of things.  It's just plain fun to look around.

On another note, we are currently waiting on a new printer that will allow us to offer museum/gallery quality archival prints of my illustrations at Bates Mercantile Co. I'm very excited about the new printer given previous feedback from many of you, and our customers, about wanting prints as an option. The printables that we offer just aren't for everyone as they can be a little intimidating for those who are a little less tech-savvy.  We are REALLY excited to be able to offer high-quality, archival glicee prints........just as soon as the new Epson R3000 printer arrives.  Anyone have any paper suggestions? Input always welcome.

Wishing you all a super Tuesday. I've got a long list to take care of including the dreaded bookwork (is there anyone out there who likes it?), as well as putting new items in the shop and printing off and preparing new note card sets to go into the shop. Add that to my 3D business list and my head is spinning!  Feel free to stop by Bates Mercantile Co. later in the day to see what I've accomplished.  What's on your list?

It's a little brisk here today. If you were worried about the dog being cold, don't be. He's staying all warm and cozy, curled up on the couch with his blankie.  It is a dog's life afterall.