How to Make Origami Lucky Stars: Paper Stars for a Glass Jar

The origami lucky star is the odd one out on this site: it does not start from a square, it does not follow a diagram, and it has no numbered folds to memorize. You tie a knot in a strip of paper, wrap the rest around it, and pinch the five sides until the piece puffs up.

The first one comes out crumpled. By the third, it comes out round. After that each star takes very little time, which is why they turn up by the hundreds inside glass jars.

Strip Size

This is the one measurement that really matters, and it is a proportion: the strip needs to be about 25 times as long as it is wide.

A strip that is too short does not make enough wraps and the star stays limp. A strip that is too long leaves extra layers at the end, and then there is no way to hide the tail.

A sheet of US Letter paper cut lengthwise gives 11-inch (28 cm) strips, a good length for strips 3/8 inch wide with a little trimmed off the end. That is about twenty strips per sheet. A4 works the same way, with strips 29.7 cm long.

Which Paper Works

Ordinary 75 to 90 gsm paper is ideal. It has to be firm enough to hold its volume after pinching and flexible enough to wrap without cracking at the corners.

Thin gift wrap crumples during the wraps. Cardstock will not bend around the corners of the pentagon. Paper colored on both sides gives the best finish, because the inside shows slightly at the points.

Step by Step

1. Tie a simple knot near one end, leaving a tail of about 3/4 inch (2 cm). Do not tighten it yet.
2. Tighten and flatten the knot carefully, pulling the long end slowly. The knot settles into a neat pentagon. Press it between your fingers to flatten it.
3. Hide the short tail. Fold the leftover 3/4 inch back along one edge of the pentagon and tuck the end under the top layer.
4. Wrap the long strip around the pentagon, one edge at a time. On each pass, the paper bends at a corner and covers one face. Keep the strip lined up with the edge, because misalignment adds up and distorts the star.
5. Keep going until about 3/4 inch (2 cm) is left. The pentagon gets thicker with every layer.
6. Hide the final end by sliding it under the last layer. If there is too much paper left, trim it before tucking.
7. Puff up the star. Hold the pentagon between your index and middle fingers. With your thumbnail, press the center of each of the five edges, pushing inward. With each pinch, one point rises.

When the Star Stays Flat

Three causes, most likely first:

• Not enough pinching. All five edges need to be pressed, one by one, firmly.
• Too few layers. The strip was too short, and without thickness there is nothing to puff up.
• Paper too thin. Below 70 gsm, the star sags after it is pinched.

Making Them in Bulk

If the plan is to fill a jar, it pays to separate the stages: cut all the strips first, then tie all the knots, then wrap them all, and only then pinch them all. Switching tasks for every single star eats more time than it seems.

Once the motion is familiar, a few dozen stars in an hour is a reasonable pace. A small canning jar can take a hundred or more, depending on the size of the stars.

Ways to Use Them

• Glass jar. The classic. Layers of different colors look better than colors mixed at random.
• Box filler. A few stars inside an origami masu box turn a simple favor into something more considered.
• Mobile. Threaded with a needle, they form light strands that suit an origami mobile, because they turn in very little air.
• Hidden message. Write on the strip before wrapping. Whoever receives it has to take the star apart to read it, which is usually the point of the game.

A Note on the Name

These stars go by several names: lucky star, wishing star, origami star. They belong more to contemporary paper folding than to the classic Japanese repertoire, unlike models such as the origami crane (tsuru), which have centuries of record behind them.

That does not make them less interesting, but the distinction is worth keeping: not all folded paper is traditional origami, and the link between these stars and luck is recent and informal.

Where to Get Strips

Buying precut strips is possible, but rarely necessary. Sources that work well:

• Colored printer paper, cut lengthwise. One sheet yields about twenty strips.
• Magazines. Pages with solid color or a dense pattern give stars a marbled look. Avoid pages with text, which stays readable on the points.
• Leftovers from other projects. The 8.5 x 2.5 inch strip left over when you cut a square from a sheet of Letter paper yields about eight narrow strips.
• Used gift wrap, as long as it is not creased along the cutting lines.

To cut in quantity, stack four or five sheets, hold them with binder clips, and cut them all at once with a craft knife and a ruler. A metal ruler keeps the blade from wandering.

The Jar as a Gift

A jar of lucky stars is an easy gift to put together, and a few details improve the result a great deal:

• Colors in layers, not mixed. Fill the jar in blocks of color, like colored sand.
• A small, clear jar. A large jar half full looks unfinished; a small jar filled to the top looks generous.
• One different star on top, in metallic or patterned paper, as a focal point.
• Hidden messages. Write on a few strips before wrapping, and let the recipient know there are notes inside.

Paired with larger ornaments, they also work as a finishing detail: one star glued to the top of an origami Christmas tree finishes the tip in the same material as the rest of the piece.