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“When I was nine years old, my mother taught me to make three-dimensional German stars that are part of our family’s heritage,” Sharon says. Her mother showed her how to take four white or cream-colored paper strips and make a series of folds, similar to basket weaving, until they formed a 16-pointed star. “My mother saved the stars from year to year and added new ones to her collection as my four sisters and I learned to make them. “I was the one who really took to making the stars. I was fascinated by the folding and weaving techniques. No matter how many I make, I still experience the thrill of seeing the intricate shape forming under my fingers.” Sharon did some research and learned that a man named Friedrich Froebel, who grew up in Oberweissbach, Germany, received credit for the basic design of folded stars. Some people call the stars Froebel stars or Moravian stars. He was a teacher and he used the folding technique to teach his students fractions. “I know they still use this folding technique to teach children fractions in Germany because some German tourists visited my table at a craft show and were excited to see ‘the stars we made to learn fractions.’ They loved the idea that ‘their stars’ were in color,” she says.
“You can buy long colored construction paper, but it’s too coarse for weaving and by its nature it wouldn’t hold up for years as bond paper does. I buy 28-pound white bond paper and use a computer graphic art program to create a wide variety of colors. I have the color printed on the white paper. Then, I have the print shop cut the paper into 1/4 to 1/2 inch strips,” she says. After a day’s work as a senior administrative assistant for a large company in Pittsburgh, she finds it very relaxing to weave stars while she watches television with her nine year old son, Ryan. “Weaving stars has become like second nature to me.” When she has about 400 completed, she strings them in groups of 100 and dips them in hot wax. While the wax is wet, she sprinkles them with glitter. She has to work quickly because the wax dries very fast. “Technology makes it possible to create more colors than I can count. When people decide to decorate a whole Christmas tree with stars, they may choose all one color or a variety of colors. The beauty of the little white sparkling tree lights reflecting off the glitter creates a magical effect.” She also hangs the German stars on sconces and adds them to Christmas wreaths.
Sharon will bring a wide variety of stars to Old Fashioned Christmas in the Woods. They are priced at $3.25 each. Find Sharon and her German star ornaments in booth 44. © Copyright ShakerWoods.com |
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