Paper Star Christmas Wall decorations

Seasons > Christmas > Decorations for the home > Paper Star Christmas Wall Decorations

Usually a wreath is on the wall or door, but this time the wreath has become the centerpiece on the table. Make it out of paper and recycled cardboard, like an empty cereal box. Since a wreath is on the table, it would be boring to have wreaths on the door, too, so there are stars instead. These are made out of paper, too. You can buy expensive metal stars, but why do that when you can make them out of paper?! The large green star does not look that much bigger than the smaller stars, it is made out of a sheet of poster board, and the smaller ones are made out of copier paper sized colored paper.

Make a centerpiece wreath with thin cardboard such as the front or back of a large cereal box. Find a round object, such as a plate, bowl, or lid. Draw around the bowl. It also needs a base, so draw a narrow rectangle along the bottom of the box, but slightly overlapping the circle.

If you want to save time cutting out 3 sheets separately, glue green paper to the front and back of the cardboard, THEN cut out the wreath and base shape. That way you cut out all three shapes at the same time, and avoid the headache of trying to get all 3 lined up perfectly when gluing the three layers together.

Cut out a bunch of leaves. I have provided a pattern if you don’t trust yourself to make good leaf shapes. If possible, use different shades of green, and cut different sizes of leaves to make it look more real. Once cut, fold each leaf in half to give it a vein, and to make it less flat. Cut several sheets of paper at a time to cut more leaves in less time.

It will look more like a real wreath if you cut a hole in the middle. But if you plan to make a lot of these wreaths, for lots of tables, it will be much quicker and easier to cut out a white circle to glue on the middle of the wreath. Make sure you cut two for each wreath--one for the front, and another for the back. Use a mug or can to draw the circle. Then cut as many sheets at once as possible, to save time. Glue the white circle in the middle of each side.

Glue just one end of each leaf so the tip is loose. Glue them in a row across one side of the wreath. Keep gluing rows of leaves, overlapping the loose tips of one row over the glued points of the previous row.

Keep glueing on leaves until the whole wreath is covered. Repeat on the opposite side. An alternate method would be to cover both sides with wrapping paper that is printed with leaves or at least a green pattern.

Make a base out of contrasting paper. Glue two sheets of paper together end to end. Fold it in accordion style pleats--3/4 inch (2 cm) valleys and mountains. Pinch the middle and slide it into the slot at the bottom of the wreath base. Spread out the folded base and clip the open sides to the base with paper clips.

view how to fold the accordion disc

Leave the wreath plain, or fasten a bow on each side with paper clips. If you glue them on, the storage is much more complicated, because the bows are likely to get smashed.

If you are going to make lots of wreaths for a room full of tables, it is a much cheaper option to make bows out of paper than to buy bows. The instructions sound complicated, but as soon as you make one, you will see how quick and easy they are to make, especially if you staple them. An alternate way to make a bow would be to use curling ribbon.

Make a paper bow

1.Cut 8 strips out of colored paper. Cut them 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide, the full length of the sheet of paper. To save time, Use a paper cutter to cut lots of sheet at a time.
2.Bring two ends of a strip together and staple or glue the ends together. It should be a tear drop shape, and not a ring.
3.Repeat with 5 more strips.
4.Staple or glue 2 loops in a “V” shape--overlapping the stapled ends.
5.Repeat with 2 more loops.
6.Place a single loop behind the “V” shaped loops so the single loop shows through the open end of the “V”. Glue or staple together where they all overlap.
7.Repeat with the remaining “V” and single loop.
8.Bring together the stapled ends of these two groups, and staple them together.
9.Make a ring out of a strip of paper--glue or staple the ends together.
10. Pinch the ring in the middle so it becomes a figure “8” and glue or staple it to the center of the bow.
11. Make a small ring from the remaining strip, and glue or staple it to the middle of the bow.

Make a simplified paper bow

1.Cut 2 strips out of colored paper. Cut them 1 inch wide, the full length of the sheet of paper.
2.Fold one strip in half, but slightly skewed so that it looks like a narrow “V” rather than the two ends perfectly lining up on top of each other. These become the ribbon ends that hang down from the bow.
3.Make the remaining strip into a ring and glue or staple the ends together.
4.Pinch the ring in the middle so it becomes a figure “8” and glue or staple it to the folded end of the upside down “V” of the bow.
5.Make a small loop to glue or staple in the middle of the bigger loop.

Make paper stars by folding paper, then with one snip, a star is formed. Unfold the paper to see your star. Use newspaper to make a pattern big enough for the green star, but be careful not to smudge newspaper ink on your star. Once the star is cut, fold each point of the star into a mountain fold, and each area between the points into a valley fold. Fasten the stars to the wall with Fun-tack or some other brand of mounting putty.