Craft DIY: 6 Pointed Snowflake Tutorial

Today we have a great tutorial from Arwen from Arwen Designs - who specializes in making greeting cards using paper cut art.  Hope you enjoy it!

Making cut paper snowflakes is a fun winter activity, and a great craft that kids and adults alike will enjoy. They look great lining your window as holiday decorations, or even framed on your wall. Part of the fun is seeing how they will come out. Just like real snowflakes, no two are ever quite the same! Here is a tutorial for making a 6 pointed snowflake, which looks more natural because that is how snowflakes are actually formed.

Materials:

1. Paper. The paper I used is regular white 8.5” x 11” printer paper, which is cost effective and readily available. You can also try all sorts of colorful papers, including scrapbook papers and even gift wrap. Thin papers will be easier to cut through with scissors.

2. Scissors. I used regular household scissors, with a fairly sharp blade. Scissors with a very small sharp blade, like nail scissors, would enable more delicate cuts.   Take the sheet of paper and fold it over to make a triangle (A). Cut off the excess. This basically makes it a square, if you are starting off with a square sheet, you can just fold it over. Now fold it over again to make a smaller triangle (B).

Re-open the fold you just made, and now comes the tricky part. You have to fold it into thirds so it looks like (C). Fold over onto itself from the left and right sides, using the middle fold line as sort of a guideline. The three sections should be as even as you can get them. Now fold this whole piece in half, so it looks like (D).

Take your scissors and cut the top off at an angle so it looks like (E). The angle can vary, it just has to cut off all uneven edges.

Now you are ready to cut out your design (F)! The bottom point will be the center of the snowflake. You will want to cut away a lot of the paper, and not leave any areas too thick or the snowflake will look blocky. The last photo shows how this design looks unfolded. As you experiment, you will get used to how the cuts will look when the snowflake is opened, and where you want to cut away more and less paper.

There are many creative ways to use your designs. One way I’ve used them is to integrate snowflakes into my cut paper art. I scan them into the computer along with my artwork, and work with them in Photoshop. Here is an example: http://www.artistrising.com/products/612278/Winter-Love.htm

So when the snow starts falling outside, grab some paper and scissors, and have fun!