Paper Doll Snowflakes

Snow is gently falling as I type this so it seems only proper that I should post about paper snowflakes. Making paper snowflakes is a favorite pastime around here. We slowly add to our collection over the course of the winter eventually covering our sunroom windows with all shapes and sizes. I think my paper doll snowflake might be my favorite so far this year. In hopes of keeping your winter spirits up, I thought I’d share the how to:

Materials – a pencil, sharp scissors and a thin, square sheet of paper. I like tracing paper, but there are many options to choose from – newsprint or gift wrap for example. Normal printer paper works too but is a little more difficult to work with as it gets bulky and rather thick to cut.

Step 1 – All snowflakes are 6 sided so you must fold your paper into a pie wedge of 6 layers. There are a few ways to do this, here is one I like:

Fold the paper in half corner to corner forming a triangle.

Find the middle of the sheet below the triangles tip and fold one side over at an angle.

Then fold the other side over in the opposite direction. I don’t know the exact angle degree but I can tell you it will take a couple attempts and that’s ok. It will not hurt your final product to unfold and refold a couple times. The goal is to get the folded edges to line up together. I tend to fold a pile of these to have available for my son to cut so I get plenty of practice.

Step 2 – draw your image. I rarely do this step unless I have a specific outcome in mind such as a ring of girl dolls. Not how the the legs, arms and the corners of the skirt all hit the folded edges. This is what will hold the snowflake together and prevent it from becoming a rather flimsy pile of 6 separate paper dolls.

Step 3 – cut!

Step 4 – unfold, admire and stick on your window with a little tape or a glue stick.

Just a reminder to those of you in a winter climate right now – there are still a few more months to go, you might as well see the beauty and find a way to appreciate the season. When you do that it ends sooner than you expect.