An Article From..... Wish Upon a Star

I moved to Holland from England back in 2008, together with my 8 year old daughter.  I imagined learning the language and going out to work as I had in England. However, fate took a hand and I fell pregnant with my second daughter. I gained a lot of weight and decided it was time to stop snacking in the evenings and needed something to keep my hands busy. This was the birth of my business... Wish Upon A Star. I saw a jar of origami stars at a friends' house and decided that this was something I would love to learn to make. I posted a photo of my first stars on facebook and another friend asked if I could make her some. It was then suggested that I start a page. I haven't stopped since. Due to the success of Wish Upon A Star from day one, I have been unable to make any stock. Therefore all my stars are made to order. The customer can choose the type of paper they would like, the colour and the wishes that are written inside each star. I also contribute a lot of stars to charity auctions. I also make baby stars for mini jars and mini jar key-rings. 

One of my most popular products have been the reward stars. This is a new take on the 'star chart'. Instead of getting stickers on a board, if the child has been good they get an actual star that they can open and their reward is written on the inside. Some customers have also ordered small stars that they give their child when they have been good and when they've collected, say 10 or so, they get a reward star. I also do adult reward stars which are a fun way to spice up your love life! 

With Christmas looming ahead I had to think of a way to make the stars Chrismassy, so I came up with the idea of filling clear plastic baubles with stars. 

I don't come up with all my ideas myself, customers make suggestions and I see if it's do-able. Recently I had a customer ask me if I can do zebra print stars, which I did. It seems there is no end to the possibilities!  

I love my work, although unfortunately sometimes my orders can be heart-breaking. For instance I get a lot of orders from parents who have lost children. They use the stars for their memory boxes. I have also had orders from people who cannot get pregnant with wishes for a baby. Everytime I fold a star I repeat the wish in my head over and over. I make every single star with love. 

Although I am based in Holland, 98% of my orders travel to the UK. I also have customers in the USA, Canada and Holland.  Wish Upon A Star can be found at www.facebook/WishUponAStarNL.