How to Fold Moravian Stars
Moravian stars are three-dimensional stars that are generally used for decoration during the Christmas season and throughout Advent. The Moravian star is also called the German star or the Froebel star and is often illuminated from the inside when it is being displayed. Although a Moravian star is not one of the simpler types of stars to create by hand, it is possible to fold one from just a few strips of paper.
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Instructions
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1
Cut four strips of paper. Each strip should be exactly the same size. The length of the strips is up to you, but they must be at least 12 inches long.
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2
Fold each strip in half. Cut the loose ends at a 45-degree angle.
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3
Leave the strips folded, and hold one strip horizontal in your hand. Drape a second strip over the first so the first strip is inside the fold of the second. Place a third strip around the second strip, leaving a small space below the first strip. Wrap the last paper strip over the third strip, and thread the loose ends of the fourth strip through the loop made by the first strip. You should end up with the diagonally cut ends of the four strips each pointing in a different direction and the strips forming a small square in the center. Make sure that all the diagonal ends of the strips are facing the same direction.
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4
Pull gently on the ends of each strip until the space in the middle disappears to create one solid square in the middle of the strips composed of four smaller squares. Each of the small squares is where the strips overlap.
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5
Grab the top layer of the strip pointing upward, and fold it down over the left-pointing strip. Fold the top layer of the strip pointing left to the right. Fold the top layer of the strip pointing down upward. Fold the top layer of the strip pointing right to the left. The first strip that was folded down will have created a loop. Thread the end of the last strip folded through this loop to hold all these strips in place. Two strips will point outward in each direction.
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6
Fold the leftmost downward pointing strip up and to the left. Bend the strip at a 90-degree angle to make the strip lay directly beneath the bottom left-pointing strip. Fold that same strip upward so it lays parallel to the leftmost upward facing strip. Fold that same strip directly over so it is on top of the leftmost upward facing strip. This will create a triangular point at the bottom. Fold the point up, and flatten it. Secure the strip that you folded by pulling it away from the body of the star and threading it through the lower left-hand square in the center of the star.
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7
Turn the entire star 90 degrees to the right. Fold the left downward facing strip as described in Step 6. Turn the star 90 degrees to the right again, and repeat the process until you have completed it on all sides. When you are finished, only one strip will point out from each side of the square, and four triangles will point to where the other strips used to be.
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8
Turn the star over. Fold the strips in the opposite direction of their current positions. Fold the downward strip up, the upward strip down, the right strip to the left and the right strip to the left. Fold the left strip horizontally downward so it is laying just below and parallel to its previous position.Thread it through the square in the middle and to the right. Put your fingers in the loop as you pull the free end to form a point. Follow the same process with the remaining strips to make the remaining three points. When the points are finished, cut off the ends of the strips.
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