Holiday Project: Yarn Stars

I saw these in a funky 1970's craft book, and thought they had great potential. This project is a great way to use up bits of leftover yarn, and these little stars look cute on a tree, wreath, or package.

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First, you'll need a piece of cardboard to wind your yarn around. I'm using one here that measures 4 1/4" high -- it's an old postcard. But, feel free to use any size cardboard you like. Different sizes of cardboard lead to different sized stars.

Now, wind your yarn around this cardboard until you have good coverage, like you see here. I wound my yarn 60 times, but don't worry about being too precise here.

Next, carefully pull that wound yarn off the cardboard, being careful to maintain its new looped shape. And then, cut yourself a piece of yarn in the same color, about 6" - 8" in length.

Tie this length of yarn tightly around the middle of the wound yarn. You want to create a small center, so all those loops can fan out in a circle around it.

. . . And not surprisingly, the next step is to fan all those loops out in a circle around the center.

Next, carefully divide the loops up into five fairly equal parts. These will be the points of your star, so it pays to take a little time and make them as even as possible.

Now cut yourself five pieces of yarn in a contrasting color: four of them should measure about 6" in length. The fifth one should measure about 12".

Start with the 6" pieces of contrasting yarn. Tie one around the bottom of each of the sections of yarn loops you made earlier. Try to position your tie so it's about 1/2" from the ends of the loops. Tie a nice, tight double knot.

Now, for that last bunch of loops, you'll use the 12" piece of yarn to tie it, and you can build in a hanging loop at the same time. First, make a loop in the center of this piece of yarn, and tie a secure knot.

Position that loop behind your star, and then use the rest of the strand to tie off the fifth end of your star, just like you did the other four.

And you're done! You might choose to leave the little loops at the tops of your star uncut . . .

. . . Or you might choose to clip and groom them. Up to you.

Some variations:

- You might embellish your star with a bit of felt, or some sequins or beads, as pictured above.

- Stars come in 5-point, 6-point, and 8-point varieties. This same technique will work for all kinds of different stars.

- You might want to put more than one strand of yarn together when you do your wrapping. Maybe a little metallic, maybe a little something fuzzy . . . Experiment!