DIY: Patterned Paper Stars

By: Bonnie Christine

Story Adapted From Pattern Magazine – Volume 6

Pattern Magazine is Bonnie Christine's quarterly print and digital publication for surface pattern designers, artists, and creative entrepreneurs who believe that how you live shapes what you make. This tutorial first appeared in Volume 6, Marking the Moment, the autumn 2026 issue.

Making ornaments by hand.

This time of year, our home is filled with the handmade.

Mistletoe gathered into a bouquet and adorned with velvet ribbon ... patterned fabric cut and tied into bows behind each chair at the table ... brass bells strung onto twine and draped over the doorframe ... embroidered stockings hung by the mantel.

Each adornment carries the warmth of the hands that made it. And the details, perfectly imperfect, seem to fill the rooms with story and tradition.

There is a beauty to handmade that cannot be replicated by even the most refined and elegant. And I have found that this beauty begins in the moments of making.

With Ollie and Bear growing older each day, and “craft time” slipping further away, Christmas reminds us to pause and make.

Together, our hands fold and glue, tie and tuck so our festive decorations remind us of moments shared.

If you would like to make something of your own this Christmas season, I created this step-by-step tutorial for you and yours: Patterned Paper Stars.

Start here!

1. Cut five paper squares measuring three inches by three inches.

2. Taking the first square in hand, fold it in half corner-to-corner to create a crease in the center.

3. Open the square so the crease is pointing top to bottom.

4. Fold the left corner to the crease, and then do the same with the right corner.

5. Fold the bottom corner of the square up to create a triangle. 

6. Fold the left corner of the triangle to the crease, and then do the same with the right corner. 

It should now look like an upside-down kite that’s lost its ribboned tail.

7. Open slightly to glue the newly folded corners to the middle piece, creating the first piece of your star. 

8. Repeat steps two through six to create the remaining pieces of your star. 

9. Glue the five pieces of your star together with the points of the star facing outward.

10. Add ribbon or lace, and hang your paper star.

Wanting More?

Read the full tutorial in Volume 6 of Pattern Magazine.

The complete step-by-step (all ten steps with Bonnie’s hand-drawn diagrams, plus pages of patterned paper tucked at the end of the magazine to make your stars from) is in the latest issue. I’d love to see your ornaments! Please tag me @bonniechristine so I can see how you use them throughout your home this Christmas.