Okeydoke, paper star tutorial. This is probably going to be finished in a reblog because it'll take a few pictures to show tricks.
You start with strips of paper, which you can make by folding and ripping anything you have around. I had the rest of this sheet of foil paper within reach.
But a sheet of a4 printer paper, folded and ripped in half longways 4 times to make 16 strips, works very well.
ID: two thin strips of orange and blue foil paper, next to a larger piece of the same paper (included to show you guys how I'm making smaller strips). End ID.
You can use whatever you want, but the width-to-length ratio on these is 1:16 and it's pushing the limits of the structural integrity of the model, so something like printer paper is better than using squares.
I also wouldn't use anything small (these strips are 5.5 inches long) for your first ones, because you have to push in the sides and if they're too small it will be hard to use your fingers for that.
Step one: tie the beginning knot.
ID: three pictures showing the process of crossing one end of the strip under the rest of it. End ID.
You pick up one end of the strip, and pull it to the right so you can see the back of the paper (which is orange in my case. The back of the paper will be the outside color of your star, so if you're using two tone paper, start with the bad side up).
This step is shown in the first picture.
Then you wrap that end under the strip so that the inside of the loop is all one color. The two parts of the strip crossing each other should both be the same color.
There should be a hole in the loop. You can start this in such a way that there is no hole, but we need it, so if yours looks more like a cone than a loop, give it some slack until it looks like mine.
The next part of this step is to tuck the end through the loop:
I'm sorry the second picture is turned.
ID: two pictures showing the end of my strip lifted over the left edge of the long end, and tucked into the loop we made. The second picture shows the model with the end pulled through so that there is a tail hanging out the back end of the loop. End ID.
If you're holding your strip so the long end points up, you'll be lifting the short end from where it comes out from underneath the long end, and tucking it down through the hole we made with the loop.
There should be a tail, and if your paper is long enough it doesn't matter if the tail is too long, as you can rip it. We will be tucking this tail into the knot, so it shouldn't be longer than the width of the strip. A square or smaller.
Once you have the tail pulled through, the knot should still be loose, so the next step is to (gently) tighten it. This means pulling on the short and long ends, repositioning the loop as needed, until it lays relatively flat.
You do not want to crease anything. Commonly, origami has hard creases to rely on, but this should be softly wrapped paper only. You will be pressing the edges in, and creases contribute to paper folding in the wrong direction and deflating your star.
So, tighten your knot slowly until it resembles a pentagon with two tails coming off, like this:
ID: two pictures showing the pentagon-shaped starting knot. The second picture shows that it is not entirely flat, but loosely wrapped so that there are curves at the edges of the knot. End ID.
It's ok if your tail is longer than that, just carefully cut or rip some of it off so it's about that length. Now you flip the model over, so that the long tail is showing the same color as the knot, and tuck the little tail under the loop:
ID: two pictures showing a before and after of tucking the tail into the knot. The long side is showing the outside color, and the short tail is showing the blue inside color. The tail is folded (loosely) over the knot, and then tucked under the loop that crosses the long end. End ID.
I hit image limit, so I hope these are clear enough. You just want to tuck the end in so that it doesn't hang over the edge.
It's ok if it doesn't line up with the edge of the knot, you can see some blue in the second picture here, this shouldn't affect the finished star.
I'll finish in a reblog, one moment.
