How to Cut Out a Paper Snowflake

No two snowflakes are alike, so use your imagination and creativity to come up with unique designs.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Ribbons
• Origami Paper
• Scissors
• Scissors
• Pencils
• Card Stock
• Hole Punchers
• Pencils
• Scrap Notebook Papers
• Pencils

1. Get ideas for your snowflake design from Web sites that feature snowflake images and from holiday books and magazines.

2. Practice on scrap paper until you achieve the design you want. Experiment with different types and sizes of paper as well.

3. Fold a square sheet of paper in half, bottom to top. Fold the paper in half, once more, from right to left. Rotate the folded square so that the top left corner points up and you now have a diamond shape in front of you.

4. Use a pencil to draw or trace your snowflake design onto the folded paper. You'll only be drawing one decorative point and two smaller points. This design will be repeated on the entire snowflake once the paper has been cut and unfolded.

5. Keep the decorative point as centered as possible and extend it from the top of the diamond to a little over halfway down the length of the diamond. Make the edges and top of the point rounded, angular or blunt. At its widest, the decorative point should be about one-third the width of the diamond.

6. Draw a line from each side of the point's base to the left and right corners of the diamond. Keep the lines straight or draw them so that they dip down at one or two points along the length of the lines.

7. Draw geometric shapes - diamonds, stars, triangles, whatever you choose - on the lower half of the diamond, underneath the lines drawn in step 6. These shapes will appear on the body of your snowflake when it is cut and unfolded.

8. Make V-shaped or other angular cuts along the lower left and right sides of the diamond shape and at the bottom corner. These will also appear on the body of the snowflake. Make identical cuts on each side for a symmetrical look.

9. Use a pair of scissors to cut out the marks made in steps 7 and 8. Cut out the point and cut along the lines that extend to the left and right corners of the diamond.

10. Unfold.

Tips & Warnings

• Use card stock paper or origami paper for a heavier, more durable snowflake.
• Use a hole punch to make a hole at one point of your snowflake. Thread a length of ribbon or cording through the hole and hang the snowflake on your Christmas tree.
• Hold the paper tightly so that the layers don't slip while you cut.
• Practice with simple designs first before you move onto more complex designs.
• Adorn your Christmas tree or holiday gift packages with paper snowflakes!

[snowflakegirl]

on 6/4/2009 Or you can go to papersnowflakes.com to learn how to make realistic-looking paper snowflakes based upon actual snowflake crystal classifications. Snowflakes are not all 6 sided. They can be 12, 2, 3 and 6 sided.

on 3/15/2006 There's really no need to sift through websites looking for designs, or even to draw designs on the paper before cutting. You can achieve some gorgeous results by simply cutting random shapes freehand. Vary the sizes of your cut-outs and make them fit together, like puzzle pieces laid just a smidgen apart from each other. With a little practice, you can easily create snowflakes that will have your friends thinking you're the most artistic person around.