DIY Swedish Advent Stars From Recycled Book Pages
How to make a Swedish Advent Star ornament or decorative hanging for Christmas or any time of year using recycled book pages. Handmade straw and wood ornaments are a long standing tradition in Sweden and many other Scandinavian countries. I always look forward to receiving a handmade ornament from Sweden from my Mother and Father-in-law every Christmas. Advent stars are one of the items that are commonly made. When I was recently looking at a pic of antique woven star, I was inspired to make my own version using recycled book pages that could be used as a decorative hanger not just for the Christmas tree but for any time of year.
I started out with a 5x7 book ready for recycle. I ripped out a page and cut into four even pieces. I then took each quarter piece and folded them in half three times to create my weaving strips. I created 21 strips in total. 10 for each side of the star and 1 extra to create a hanger.
I then wove the strips as pictured. I created two of these to form the two separate sides of the star.
Then I took the two strips on each corner, rolled them inward and secured with glue. I then took the next loose strip and again folded it inward and secured with glue. I repeated this process on each of the four corners on both of my sides. This left the original center strips free.
I then laid them on top of each other, lining up the loose center strips on one side with a set of loops on the other side. I then took each end of the loose center strips and secured it with glue inside each loop on the other side of the star.
I then trimmed the ends of the center strips even with the loops using scissors. You can see in the pic above where I started to trim the center strips even. I had snipped it even on the right side and was about to snip the left side.
To make the hanger I took my last strip, made a hoop, glued it close and cut it off, leaving a little extra on the end. I then secured it inside one of the loops with more hot glue.
I then coated the entire star with a coat of satin finish Mod Podge, allowed to dry and I was finish!
These stars look cute as is or you could also add a dusting of silver glitter that is also seen on many of the Swedish straw ornaments. You could also play around with making the stars larger or smaller and using different paper for your strips such as scrapbook paper, sheet music or etc.
To see more in depth details on how I created these or view other projects be sure to see the full post on my website. I hope you enjoyed, an early "God Jul" to you and happy crafting my friends!
DIY home decor using old books
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So clever! Looks complicated to make, but is actually simple. I will make one, too!
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made some last night for my home next season
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I love these - so cute and inticate looking but the instructions seem simple. One question - the initial step,am I cutting the paper in 4 all vertically or 1 vertival and 1 horzontal cut?
You mentioned you used ONE page of paper to make 21 strips - is that correct? Or do you only make 4 from each page?
Hi! This is my first round prototype! Pretty good! I used a very old falling apart Bible. Do you have any suggestions for stabilizing the paper? It’s kinda crispy. Also, exactly how do you fold your strips so that they don’t accordion back open? I want crisp clean lines but the weaving strip unfolds. Thanks.