by Karen Swan

Window stars are a beautiful way of capturing the Autumn sunshine as it streams through a living room or bedroom window. We first learned how to make these at my son’s Steiner (Waldorf) school playgroup and have been making them every year since.

Now, as you’ll see from the images, I’m no expert at cutting straight and even lines, so my squares are a little skewif. My folds aren’t all perfect and there’s splotches of glue where there shouldn’t be. Let this be a sign of how adaptable these are! Even with wonky squares and wayward glue, these stars STILL look beautiful!

They work best with kite paper (ask in your local art and craft store, or, if you have a Steiner school with a little shop, you may find it there), but you could use a strong tissue paper alternative.

From a 16 x 16cm square, I made four small window stars, or, with the paper left whole, one large.

What you need:

Kite paper or tissue paper in 8 rainbow colours.
Ruler (or, if you’re the crafty type, one of those guillotine thingies).
Sharp scissors.
Pencil.
Glue that dries clear.
Small pieces of sticky tape.

How to:

Fold each 16 x 16 cm square into quarters and cut, making 4 smaller squares in each colour.

Select one square of each colour to make the first star.

Fold in half to make a triangle.

Fold two corners into the centre to make a diamond.

Repeat for all 8 colours.

Put a small drop of glue on the lower right hand corner of your first piece and line up the next colour, gluing as you need. Repeat until you get to the final colour, when you’ll slot it in beside the first colour.