Paper snowflakes
paper sheets of different colours and types pencil protractor compass metal ruler scissors scalpel cutting mat ribbon tape
These are simple to make if you follow the steps. Use paper that is firm enough to hold its shape, but not so thick that it won’t fold smoothly. For smaller flakes, wrapping paper or regular printing paper is fine to use. Thin card will have better hold for larger ones.
On your chosen piece of paper, make a semi circle like the one below. An averagesize baseline is 18cm, which will determine the diameter of your snowflake.
Using a protractor and pencil, create 12 sections for each arc*. Each section should be 15 degrees in size. To create the increments, mark the 15-degree points in pencil outside the edge of the protractor, then draw lines from the centre of the circle (in this case it is half of 18cm, which is at 9cm) to the points. along the arc of the semi-circle. These will eventually be your snowflake’s tips.
Mark a point of a standard length along every second line and join the dots together to create lines you can cut along
STEP 4 Cut out your template carefully.
Once your template is cut out, it’s ready to fold. Follow the lines to do this. For thicker paper or card, it’s a good idea to score the lines using the back edge of a scalpel blade. This will help to create a much cleaner line and, ultimately, make your snowflake look a lot more crisp.
Repeat the steps three or four times, depending on how full you want the snowflake to be (ours were mostly three or four semi-circles). Join the overlapping end pieces together with glue or double-sided tape.
*If you want a tighter fan, create 15 or more sections (eg. 180 / 15 = 12 degrees).
variations to the snowflakes
You can use anything round to make your circle/semi-circles: a glass, cup or even a plate. Just apply the 12 sections and 15-degree-rule. A protractor or compass will help, too.
If working with light-weight paper, take your folded semi-circle and cut small shapes along the folded edge, either a half diamond, a triangle or a semi-circle. If working with thicker card, you will need to do this on your flat semi-circle before folding up the fan. Simply mark out the shapes on your fold lines. It is useful to draw concentric circles or arcs with a compass; that way your shapes will appear aligned when folded. One you have marked them out, cut with a scalpel.
Making double flakes is simple. We used gold paper for our top layer, but you could use thinner paper from a craft store. To layer the flakes, stick to 12 increments per semi-circle, no matter how large the arc of the flake. Your increments are consistently 15 degrees, so the two flakes will always fit together.
Make six to eight snowflakes of different sizes and attach to fine ribbon or string with tape or by hand-stitching. Vary the lengths of the string so the snowflakes sit at different heights. Cluster them together so the width of the garland is approximately 90cm and the height is 100cm.