Family and friends, music, the hustle and bustle, the smells of cookies baking and decorating the house for all that company. These are some of my favorite things about this time of year. I love to make the house festive with tiny touches here and there. Crafty decorating is a simple way to involve children and help get them in the Christmas spirit. German-christmas-star-4 These 3D traditional German Christmas stars are simple and fun to create and are cute as tree ornaments or just hanging throughout the house. Here’s how we made our stars. german-christmas-star-1 Start with four strips folded in half and weave them into a basket pattern. Then fold them over and tuck them in on all four sides to make a second weave. Fold the top right strip over into a triangle twice and fold the strip back on itself. german-christmas-star2 Tuck that strip into the top right weave . Do this on all four sides. Then turn your project over and do the same for the other side. When you have eight points bend all your strips up so they won’t get in the way for the next step.  Take your bottom right strip, turn it counterclockwise on itself and tuck it into the top left square. You should be able to pull it through the other side and make a tight point. You can trim the edges if you’re having trouble pushing the strip through the weave. german-christmas-star3 Turn your star 90 degrees and repeat this step 3 more times. Turn your star over and do the same to the other side. Trim the ends of paper coming out of the points until you have a beautiful star. Have your kids hang the star around the house and start feeling festive!