Making paper snowflakes is a fun and easy project that both kids and adults enjoy. It's always fun to see what beautiful design will magically appear when you open up your cut folded paper.
Take a piece of paper and fold it in half across the length of the paper. (Bring together the two sides of your rectangle that are furthest away from each other.)
Fold that in half again. Just like before, bring the two sides of your rectangle that are furthest away from each other together when folding in half.
Keeping the center point of the paper as a reference, fold diagonally over the center point, lining up the folded edges of the paper.
To Make an 8-Pointed Star
Make one more diagonal fold, once again over the center point (and lining up the edges). The center point, from which the folds emerge, will become the center of the snowflake.
To Make a 6-Pointed Snowflake
Rather than folding in half diagonally twice (as you would for the 8-pointed start), divide the rectangle into 3 equal parts. Think of it as a circular clock rather than a rectangle with the center point being the center of the clock.
Now think of the long edge being the line up to 12 o’clock and the short edge being the line to 3 o’clock. Ideally, we want to make folds along the imaginary lines leading to 1 and 2 o’clock.
The idea is to fold the paper in such a way that when folded along those lines, the edges of the paper will line up along the folds and edges perfectly. (Take a look at the photos below to better understand how it folds together in thirds.)
Cutting off the excess paper
Cut across the side opposite the center point to even everything out. Doing this correctly will ensure that the paper snowflake is even on all sides. To keep things completely symmetrical, make sure your cut includes ALL of the layers, otherwise, you’ll be left with some areas of the snowflake that are narrower than others. Once you cut, the upper piece can be removed and is no longer needed.
How to Cut the Snowflakes
Once you’ve folded the paper and have cut off the excess, you can begin to cut a design into your paper snowflakes. To do so, cut random shapes from the edges of the paper. When doing so, make sure NOT to cut all the way across. It's also important to leave little “bridges” of paper between your cuts along the edges so that the paper doesn’t fall apart.
If you cut deep v-shapes into the middle top fo the triangle, you’ll end up with longer “legs” on your snowflake and will end up with twice as many of them.
Notes
Chose whether you will be making a 6-pointed or 8-pointed snowflake. In either case, begin with the first instructions, followed by either the instructions for a 6-point or 8-point snowflake. Then, continue with the instructions for cutting off the excess paper.6-pointed snowflakes are how snowflakes are seen in nature. It may be slightly trickier to fold the paper to make 6-pointed snowflakes, but once you’ve folded it, it’s easier to cut than the 8-point variety because it has less layers of paper.Now, you can use your paper snowflakes to decorate your windows, walls, or Christmas tree. They cal also be strung together to make beautiful garlands.