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HOW TO MAKE A CHRISTMAS STAR

1. Fold A3 size paper(portrait) in half - top to bottom. Cut 4 strips ca. 1.5cm equally wide and weave together as above. (Note: Follow instructions carefully and patiently).	2. Pull strips together like a mat. (Both sides of the mat should look the same, everything fitting snugly).	3. Turn over and fold top strips         backwards,beginning with the strip pointing towards you and working anti-clockwise, slipping 4th  strip under 1st.
Close-up view of 3.	4. Pull looped strip through.	5. Turn over to look like above
6. Fold long bottom strip like above.	7. And again as above	8. And again as above
9. Fold triangle under mat making it easier to insert the strip under bottom-right square of mat.	10. Pull strip through to look like above.	11. Turn mat 90 degrees anti-clockwise and repeat procedure from step 6 until all 4 triangles are done.
12. At 4th triangle fold top right strip backwards.	13. It should now look like above. (Note: Top right strip is back in its original place).	Distant view of step 13.
14. Turn mat over to look like above.	15. Proceed to make the little triangles as before.	16.
17.	18.	19. Turn 90 degrees anti-clockwise, repeating from step 14 until all done
Distant view of 19.	20. Fold back the shorter right strip, then pick up the strip with the dot (above the pencil) and twist it, slipping it under the folded back strip, pushing it gently through until it comes through the triangle. The dot should be as in 21 (somewhat tricky!).	21. Pull right through until you have a fairly tight cone shape. With a bit of practice you’ll get this down to a fine art. Tweezers are a helpful tool. Make sure the dot(x) remains on top - the x gets twisted 360 degrees (right around!).
		TIP: It is helpful to cut a point on the strips so they insert more easily. The angle or direction of the point is not really critical. If your strips turn out a little too wide you can cut (taper) them a bit narrower as needed as you go along. The wider the strip, the bigger the star. You can use different colours, but we always prefer white. They look great in a Christmas tree! To make a lot of stars, put 4 sheets of A3 on top of eachother so you can cut 4 equal strips at once.
22. Continue making the next cone by folding back the strip underneath the one sticking up alongside the cone and twisting the latter slipping it underneath as before. Pull through and finish cones 3 and 4 in  similar fashion. Turn over and do the 4 cones on the other side in the same way.	23. Cut off the bits of strip that stick out of the triangles and you have your star. Congratulations!	P.S.  I learned this from my mum, who learned it from her mum, who learned it from her mum etc.

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