It is made from nine squares of paper. There aren’t a large number of origami models with nine points, so I like to think it’s somewhat unique.
Expert tips
This particular model is tricky to make with thick or small paper, and you may find it ends up requiring glue. The best option to use is double-sided foil paper, although you’ll see in the photos and instructions below that I tried momi and tissue paper too. When I used the momi paper, I painted the back with silver paint because a little of it shows up. With the momi paper, I did need some glue for it to hold, but not with the foil. If you want to make a mobile, you can string these stars together, make a structure yourself, or you can buy one, such as a photo display mobile.
Nine point modular star supplies
• 9 squares of your choice of paper (double-sided foil is best) • needle and thread (optional, for a mobile) • pre-made mobile structure (optional, e.g. metal or homemade) • metallic acrylic paint (optional, for painting the back of the paper) • paintbrush (optional, for painting the back of the paper) • white glue (optional, only if you need when using thicker paper or small squares)
Nine point modular star instructions
Step 1
Start by completing steps 1-5 of the six petal modular frangipani then open up the last fold made. Next, fold down the point to the middle of the model, then back up.
Step 2
Open the model up completely and carefully accordion fold one mountain fold, one valley fold, and another mountain fold along the lines you just prepped in previous steps, starting at the edge of the paper and moving inwards.
Step 3
Collapse the model along the accordion folds so that you end up with a long thin unit with multiple layers inside.
Step 4
Fold the top left flap of the model backwards and to the left at a right angle as far as it will go. Repeat with the back left flap, folding it towards the inside and the left.
Step 5
Fold the same top left flap backwards and downwards at a right angle again, and repeat with the back left flap towards the inside and downwards.
Step 6
Fold a total of nine units of the same type. Then, begin by arranging two together with the longer side of each on the left. Place the longer side of the right unit inside the top and bottom short right flaps of the left unit. Arrange the two at an angle so that the bottom left corner of the right unit (inside, not seen here) lines up with the left edge of top left unit.
Step 7
Fold the long left flap of the inside unit upwards so that what was the left bottom corner aligns with the top right corner of the upper unit. There will be a small point of the upper unit that is folded with it.
Step 8
Now fold the same flap to the left along a line that runs from the upper right corner of the unit on the left to the bottom of this current flap.
Step 9
Now fold the flap backwards to align with the line of paper you will see behind.
Step 10
Now fold the left point of the flap that is sticking out inwards, underneath the two layers of paper above.
Step 11
Finally, fold the whole flap backwards to create a point.
Step 12
Tuck the layer of paper from the left-hand model that is sticking out from behind and to the right of the point you just folded into the pocket formed by the same point.
Step 13
Repeat steps 6-12 on the back side of the two units, keeping in mind that left and right will be reversed for all the instructions. Then, carefully add on all the other units one at a time by repeating the same folds on front and back. You will need to attach the ninth unit to the first using the same series of folds.
Step 14
This is an example of a much smaller model, where I ended up curling the tips of the inner star. Note that this model is very hard to fold with thick paper and works best with foil. If you use thicker paper or smaller pieces, you will likely need glue to keep the inner parts of the star from unravelling.
Step 15
If you want to hang this as a mobile, you can use a needle to pierce the layers of one of the star’s points and add thread for suspension.
