Paper Snowflake

Do you wanna make a snowflake?  Here's how I like to do it.

I start with a square piece of paper, and for these recent ones I used tracing paper, which is (or seems to be) thinner than regular paper and creases nicely during folding.

I've got a lot of pictures for you - I hope they help.

Oh!  It also helps to have very sharp scissors.  

Here we go...

Fold the paper in half on the diagonal.

Find the midpoint on the long side and fold one end of the paper triangle over to the opposite side.  You're trying to divide this triangle into three smaller triangles with equal sized angles at the base. Why three?  Because snowflakes are hexagons.  Dividing this first triangle into three right now gives you your six points/six sides when you unfold the final product.  

When you are happy with your three angles, crease the sides where you divided the larger triangle into smaller ones.

Your paper should now look like this.  (above)

And then fold that triangle in half, length-wise.  Crease the new fold.

Now hold your multiple-fold paper up to the light so you can admire all the pretty layers.

Here's what your triangle should look like when you unfold to that very first triangle.  There are 6 smaller triangle sections within the first triangle.  

Now for the snipping.  I like to start by snipping a little bit of the point off.  You don't have to if you don't want to.  It's just my personal preference.  

So here's my folded triangle with the tip cut off, on an angle.  And these are my pretty little very sharp new scissors that I bought just for snowflake making and this post.

Now you can start making other little snips along the sides.  Just be careful not to cut all the way across, or too close to the opposite side, so you don't chop off half of your work.

When you get near the wide end of the triangle, you're reaching the part that you looked at when you held your folded paper up to the light.  The paper will have fewer complete layers from here on out, so whatever you snip will not show up around the whole snowflake.  At this point I like to trim these ends off so I'm left with JUST the complete layers.

Then you can continue with your snipping until you have done as much as you can or want to do. 

Time to unfold!

Ta-da!  Like unwrapping a gift, sort of.  Take a moment to marvel at your work.

I like to put my snowflake in a heavy book to flatten out the creases.  A day in the book should do it.  

So that's my snowflake.  It looks whiter because I lightly taped it to a piece of cardstock paper and traced it all, then cut all the holes and sides with an x-acto knife to make a template for other creative projects.  I'm working on a post for that, and when I'm happy with it I'll share.

I made a ton of these at some point many years ago, and my parents taped them to a window in our kitchen.  Or maybe they hung them somehow.  Less tape to scrape off the window later.  Anyway, you can do that, or hang them on your Christmas tree, or mail them to someone who lives in a warmer climate and doesn't get to see snowflakes, or whatever you like.  

Have fun!

Comments

[Kat]

Paper crafts at Christmas always feel just right. Maybe I'll even try this 'anatomically correct' snowflake this year. I comes I've always cheated before.

[laura]

I haven't done that in years! So much fun!
blessings
~*~

[Zoe]

I love making snowflakes! One year long ago, I was hanging out at a particular friend's house a lot, and I would find magazine pages that were all color, no text, and make snowflakes out of those and hang them up on his black fireplace cover. Great memories. Thanks for reminding me of how fun it is to make snowflakes.