Making Paper Stars

Do you want to make some paper stars?

Supplies

Paper bags... the more you use, the harder it gets to cut. These were made with eight bags.

Glue... I used a glue stick. But white glue, or hot glue would work, too.

Scissors... sharp ones help.

Paper clips or... these are to hold the two ends together when you open the star for display. You could glue the ends, but then it will be hard to store. I couldn't find any paper clips. (Baffling. They are here. We can't not have paper clips.) I used bobby pins.

Some string, or thread... anything to tie to the star for hanging.

Start by counting out your bags... 7, or 8, or 9, or 10. It's your choice. Lots of bags make a fuller star, but I didn't want to be struggling cutting through all those layers. I think 8 was a good number. Face them flat/smooth side up, and make a generous width of glue from the opening end, down the center of the bag, to the bottom, then add an equally wide strip of glue across the bottom. The T should reach the edges of the paper, so the points stick, and the center holds together, too. Now, you are ready to lay the next bag on top of the first one. Line up the second bag, with the folded bag bottom going down.

When you have the two bag pressed together, get out the glue, and make the next T. Press the next bag, and repeat until all of your bags are layered and glued together. I did mine last night, and let them sit for an hour, to dry. I cut two stars, and saved one stack of glued bags for Maria to cut this morning.

This part is like snowflake cutting. And the first cuts are from the edge and up to the center of the bag, to make a point.

Maria is making the second cut to finish the point of the star. Our bags came with a lot of printing, which mostly gets hidden when the whole star is pinned, clipped, or glued together.

Now for the cuts on the sides of the bag, also like cutting snowflakes. The bigger the cuts, or the more of them you make, the more light will come through. We didn't cut near the bottom, where all the layers are thicker with the bag bottoms folded up and glued together.

Time to open the star! And when you pull up both ends and bring them together, use either glue, maybe staples, or if you have paper clips those will make your star easy to store for another day... attach the two ends together, and ta-da! You have a paper star!

We are making more to hang over the mantle. They would be pretty in a window, where light can shine through.

Make Shop Opening Today at Noon PST

Today, at noon pst, we will open our Benevolent Order of Makers Shop, at Etsy. That's a long name for a little shop, so we gave it an official name nearly as long, which we will post here when the *doors open!*

This link will show you some of the items that will be available.

We are tweaking, still. And nervous. There were a lot of decisions to make, and questions to address. We are on the fence about international shipping, and... well, more, which we know will eventually sort itself out. For certain, we have a greatly raised respect and awe for all you online makers and shop keepers; you're amazing! Friends, thank you for your support, encouragement, and patience. We hope we manage all of this with grace and efficiency.

Coming Soon :: Maker Shop

Am I putting the goat before the cart?
Yes.

You see, I've been designing and carving stamps, and then using them to print on fabric. A nice thing to come of all of this... many friends have asked me to open a shop, make the napkins, aprons, and tea towels available for purchase. I even took a special request to carve a goat!

I've been busy and I've managed to print a good amount, and I would like to make them available before Thanksgiving. Gee, nothing like creating my own holiday rush! So, without a shop, or a shop name, or mailing envelops, before I figure out PayPal, or Venomo or Carrier Chickens... I am about to launch the business end of a little cottage industry. I am hoping that by announcing this now, and sharing some previews, I will push myself into figuring out the bureaucracy and formal aspects of being a working artist. Another hope is that some clever and dear friends may share their tips and suggestions for handling sales, pricing, packing, exfoliating, and reducing fine wrinkles. Just kidding about exfoliating, but I could probably use some ironing tips... 100% cotton is hard to keep pressed!

I am going to share some samples of what I have been making, but I am not taking any orders until I can be certain of how I will take payments, and handle deliveries. So! Before I am OPEN I will announce an official day and time, and accept orders, then.

"Buffet" napkins! They are a generous 20" x 20", 100% cotton. There will be a few sets of 5, and mostly sets of 6.



Alex designed and carved the dragonfly. The patience! He printed them flitting across the napkins, in different directions. They look amazing!

All of these are our own designs, hand carved, and hand printed.



Dish cloth, tea towel, chicken scarf? These would be fun to add embroidery to. They are 27" x 27", 100% cotton, and a very nice weight. Sometimes these are called "flour sack" and can be very thin, and not square... these are well finished, and thick(er).

I am really happy with the weight, structure, and feel of these towels.

Bee and honeycomb on a big, handy tea towel.

These three stamps are inspired by papel picado, the Mexican art of paper cutting.

This bee, with some honeycomb, is printed on a 100% cotton, wrap apron. I love how the wide straps of this can be pull over-head, and cross in the back, so there are no apron strings to tie. Also, it has 2 nice sized pockets in the front.

The apron is a nice weight, and looks and feels like natural linen. I haven't taken it off since modeling it.

Designing, carving, and printing has been a lot of fun, and I appreciate how encouraging friends have been. I will be back with an update as soon as possible!

North County Mini Maker Faire

Paul~ He is a friend and champion of Mechathulu, our frequently evolving robot beast.

Alex~ He brought his newest tent, with the temporary covering that I whipped up for the occasion.

Paul and Maria~ Maker Faire is all about making and sharing, but none is possible without good friends.


Simon, and his family, are here with Junkade.

Besides Mechathulu, we also brought the Infernal Percussion Engine, a glockenspiel that plays, powered with a bicycle pump!

Our robots are favorites with visitors, because we hand over the controls! And maybe you noticed? FIRST 2102 Team Paradox is at their first North County Mini Maker Faire... great outreach, Paradoxians!


Bex is a natural with needle felting, and she only got better! I love her chicken, and when she started a taco-cat, I had to make one, too.

Alex shared his woodworking art, and introduced robots.

William and Geoff have been making a lot of new experiments with resin 3d printing, mold making, developing metal alloys, and casting.


Maria and I had our hands full with our hands-on activity... teaching needle felting at a faire, to all ages and skill levels is a big undertaking! Bex was a quick-study and we soon had her help, too.

Michael, Darlene, Seth, Gary, and David~

Simon and Geoff~

FIRST 2120 Team Paradox's newly elected president of outreach can solder! Great seeing you at Maker Faire, Natalie!

William and I solder our own Makey Makes, too. And we hope these won't be our last... I am too sad to talk about this, just yet.

Gary, David, Michael~

Ido and Matt talk programming and 3d printing programmable robots.

Lucas and those clever little diy robots.



Here is something awesome... Maria's art and design, 3D modeled by William, and then cast in our own alloy of bismuth and tin. That's a Parrot Ox... Paradox!

Mike, Geoff and William talking about casting metal, and our own alloy mix, which we are calling BoomNerdium.

A nice thing about exhibiting a tent at a faire, is having a place where you can duck out for a bit.



And after the faire closes for the day, and we've secured our gear, we can treat ourselves to good eats and great company.

June 16 :: Day 2 at The Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum and Mini Maker Faire, on Father's Day
Before the gates open the makers have a chance to visit and enjoy each others' exhibits, and this morning concert with Bruce Thompson was one of my favorite times of the day. He took requests, and shared back stories about the music. It was beautiful.

Leslie and Bex got an introduction to Geoff and William's casting projects.

James< too, got to see firsthand what we have been up to lately. And we continued our discussion about the future of Maker Faire and our hopes and ideas, going forward.

One of the skills that goes well with needle felting is hand sewing and embroidery, and since it was a quiet morning, I had time and focus for teaching a couple of children how to sew little felt pockets and bags.


Maria has been exhibiting at Maker Faires since 2011, when she taught wet felting in San Mateo. This year she was very happy to exhibit something personal and all her own... her projects she made at home, and at school, in her metals class. The Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum has an awesome blacksmithing barn, and so there were plenty of makers and visitors to appreciate and admire her skills in metal working.

Doctor Artemus Peepers... aka Dean LeCrone (IG @deanlecrone)

Lucas, who we've met at Scratch Day, and Ido, the Junkade master... we're basically just hanging out with our friends, enjoying a nerdy Father's Day.

More samples of William and Geoff's projects with modeling, photogrammetry, resin printing, casting. It's all learning, making, playing, failing, trying again, and sharing!

And making new friends! Sitting across from Sawyer Cigar Box Guitars was lovely, because we were hearing little concerts all day.





Look who's here for some Father's Day fun... Paul and Amira. Another kind of making that's great at this event is definitely the food, like this roasted corn, and the corn bread they made in the wood burning oven from the corn they milled on site. We love all the making!



TACOCAT... thank you, Bex! Thank you AGSEM and San Diego Maker's Guild! Thank you, Maker Faire, for dreaming all of this up in the first place. Thank you, BOoMNerds, and all of our maker friends and family. Good things are better shared, and we love to make, play, and share.