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When I was little, I would cut paper snowflakes with my mom during the winter, place them in a bowl of water, and wake up the next morning to find beautiful iced snowflakes that we could hang around the porch. Since I am spending the holiday season in a place with snow, I thought this was a good chance to make a fun evening and revive a bit of my childhood.
In this blog post, I will show you how to make these simple, inexpensive, and ephemeral ornaments, the same way I made them when I was a kid.
Materials you'll need:
- Paper (white or colored—we used mostly white here)
- Scissors
- String (scrap pieces of yarn or ribbon—about 4 or 5 inches each is enough)
- Tupperware or bowls (needs to withstand water freezing in it—I recommend plastic ones)
- Water
- Cold weather! (or freezer space)
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Cut your paper into squares or circles roughly the diameter of the bowls you'll be using.
Step 2—
Fold the pieces symmetrically about the center.
- To make a four-pointed snowflake, fold the paper in half one way, then in half again the other way (so you end up with a square).
- To make a six-pointed snowflake, first fold it in half, then fold it in thirds.
- In the picture below, I folded the paper in sixths, then in half again in order to cut symmetrically on each side. When you open it up, it will look like a pie with 12 slices.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nA9uGkh0SozHo4eC_DGOCX1XPTlL_wUSyceWPokZYUO-O2MzZo6sJoO3vxECFBf7ZVdFodgXKy3nQx6645mDOCTZfePt-PR-LlCtjC1DqCexWhvmjrICRh2cCE8_1T2ItQ3LyR8zxZg/s320/snowflakes+%281%29.jpg)
Step 3—
Cut a design! Keep in mind how the paper connects where the folds are. I recommend something pointy at the top, and a few arbitrary triangle holes.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz71iDIElsUhJytyHamq1VZ3qc5hHMImvDRct4o1NJZnsRx9GD_rDpt4KI43u7FzZ3iKnRCpH_aE1tzQr22cCU2hyphenhyphenBD1CDvqnszua15fUJV5q7HuLeaIn1-UVuPh1Ot4vDhmkS29ukRIs/s320/snowflakes+%282%29.jpg)
As you open it up, you will be able to see the symmetry unfold!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUwujr416CWEpkFVDkQeQCEnGUgAOW6iOgy81xgo7qVznl-knD6X4taE5VLrntFhnnYJusjW5w0NqNWRUWb2K8ohTEMTT2IIuVaTw2XZ2i6PS6K7Em7gwSQLIIE93VD2lq6WNZMZlP_U/s320/snowflakes+%283%29.jpg)
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Experiment a little! Your first snowflake will not be perfect, so don't worry if it doesn't come out the way you wanted it to! Remember that each snowflake is beautiful and unique.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfHEdCWwqCmdtb8dzGkOmiT_QAJXSk0J18xzSKZCSm3SyO3bYjHfKCnqa4Qm126EignSEZOTYQMby2yNoaNKs1vD1XFAqcFSPyBg7uyCsM0RMAk0H-bMGkq0BKYOhyphenhyphenislX6GxZjpuMuA/s320/snowflakes+%285%29.jpg)
Step 4—
- Grab a couple of plastic bowls and fill them with about 1/2 to 1 inch of water.
- Submerge your unfolded snowflake. It will want to sink, but that won't make much of a difference in the end product.
- Dip the ends of your piece of string such that it forms a loop in the water. In the image below, I tied a short piece of ribbon in a loop and submerged the knot in the bowl, leaving the loop out.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNuN0hcUYdIjq_b5EA53Z2hCTEYhlUn0xhhXxJS1waFyZ0_rwshJdSNp_NVAEe0yAtnncUV-zSGg_A3At1aiOd8wexCslDxqDVksgnOLCfuKY0XBe1FbuMwku7gkjUmCjHClRbE8c4TL0/s320/snowflakes+%286%29.jpg)
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Place them outside! (If you live in California or other temperate climates, try your freezer space.) Check to see that your string has not shifted during the migration.
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Neat trick. I'd love to do it with my pre-k but there's no way we have enough fridge space. ...I can also see the water just going everywhere or someone cutting off a finger [Probably mine. Again.]
ReplyDeleteHaha, you can try stacking the tuppers, if you don't put too much water in each. I did this when I was about 5 y.o. so it's definitely worth a shot if you can figure out the freezer situation. =)
ReplyDeletegreat idea! I've added this link to Paper Snowflakes for Children
ReplyDeletepapersnowflakes.com/ideas.htm
Thanks! There are so many other cool snowflake projects on your site too =)
ReplyDelete