Ask a geologist about rocks, and she (or he) might tell you about sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous,  then describe their differences based upon how they were formed.

The fact is that everything heavier than air was formed in the same way — in the interior of mega-stars, fated to explode. We may be considered stardust, but we are not alone in this.  Everything we can see or touch is stardust.

Without the crushing gravitation of stars there would be no elements except for hydrogen and helium (with maybe a dash of lithium) — a pretty boring universe, indeed.