What’s green and white and red all over?

A:  A gecko sandwich with ketchup
B:  Candy canes wrapped in dollar bills
C.  You try thinking one of these up
D.  A holiday without origami

What’s a holiday without paper crafts?  December is a time to make things.  And to me, baking cookies is synonymous with using scissors and paper to craft some kind of decoration or ornament.  In the spirit of green (or no green, depending on how you look at it), here’s a way to turn old magazines into origami stars to decorate your tree or string around your doorway and windows. Along with recycling, this project is a guilt-free reason to spend an evening watching sappy Christmas shows like Lost Holiday (failing marriage, trapped in a snowstorm, makeup sex, rating: 2.5 stars).

Start with your favorite declining periodical. Leaf through to find some colorful pages. Personally, I find holiday joy in shredding the pages about tony party people.

Cut a bunch of 4 by 4″ squares from the mag pages.  Then, fold them in half and cut on the fold so that your pieces of paper now measure 2 by 4″.

Once you’ve arrived at this stage,  you’re ready to do the origami part. Each star should take about 2 minutes to fold, so by the time you’ve finished watching Recipe for a Perfect Christmas (Christine Baranski’s daughter falls for a hot chef she must critique in her mag column, rating: 3 stars) you’ll have 60, enough to string on the tree.

This web page explains the origami how-t better than I could ever do, so follow the directions to make each ninja star. When you have a bunch made, find a large needle and string the stars onto segments of yarn or kitchen string.  Three feet is about the maximum you should do to avoid tangling.

And voila, a star garland.  What do you think?  If this sounds too tedious for you, get out the popcorn and invite some 8th grade girls over to help.  Twelve and thirteen year is just about the right age for origami and something just a little racy in Made for TV Land, like Holiday in Handcuffs (Mario Lopez is kidnapped by Melissa Joan Hart to pose as her fiance for the family holiday. Heartwarming hilarity, and what do you think happens? rating: 4 stars).