First you take a piece of paper, fold and cut it into a square. You can use regular copy paper if you want, but I've found that there are two things that will make things easier on you. 1) The bigger the paper, the better ( I like 17x11). Super tiny cuts are easier when they are not super tiny. 2) Thinner paper is better because it's easier to cut through. This year, I used 11"x17" drafting vellum. (#80MP 17lb 100% Rag Vellum). It's very thin, but still bright white. My knife cuts through it in one or two strokes.
Next fold it correctly. This site shows you how.
Lastly cut it out. I prefer to use an exacto knife. Sometimes you have to because the cuts are not on the edges. When you use scissors, the blades push the individual layers of paper out of the way so you get messy edges. When you use an exacto knife, don't try to cut all the way through in a single cut. You're cutting through 12 layers of paper. Cut just 2 or 3 layers at a time, so go over each cut 3 or 4 times.
That's it.
People have asked me where I get my designs. The answer: I make them up. I may sketch a little first to work out what I want to do, but then I lightly draw my design onto the folded triangle. Once I cut it out, the drawing is gone. Maybe one of these days, I'll remember to scan it before cutting it so maybe other people can use it as a pattern.
Now onto the snowflakes.
These first few were from last year. The first 2 feature characters from Pixar's Brave. Because the film hadn't been released yet, I couldn't share them last year. I've included a key so you can identify the specific shapes.
The Royal Family: Merida with her Bow, Queen Elinor, King Fergus, and the triplets.
The three Lords: Lords Macintosh, Macguffin, and Dingwall
This Star Wars one I may have posted before.
The Rebel Alliance symbol, Yoda, the Millenium Falcon, and an X-wing Fighter. Notice that Yoda's face is correct both upside down and right side up.
For this one, I wanted to make a snowflake with snowflakes inside it.
Those were from last year, here ar the ones from this year.
Hanukkah. I messed up because I meant to have a 6 pointed Star of David in the center, but I made a 12 point star instead.
Christmas trees and lights.
This was a quick simple one ( about 5 min)
A nice lacy one. My hand hurt after cutting this one out.
If I make any more this year, i'll post the pattern.
Oh. One more thing I should mention. After making all these snowflakes it was brought to my attention that someone has put together a program in CT for people to send snowflakes to Sandy Hook School in an effort to brighten up the school and the kid's lives. I passed on all my snowflakes to become decorations at the school.
