---

BY SARAH BRICAULT

In print | Published December 6, 2007

Have you ever wondered what to do with all those old editions of The Phoenix? Well, one option just in time for the holiday season is to make snowflakes out of them! One of my favorite winter crafts is the three-dimensional snowflake. They are pretty, fun to create and can make any-size room look more festive. However, despite its complex appearance, the 3-D snowflake is actually relatively simple to create. If you follow the steps below, you can create these delicate, complex-looking snowflakes with ease. (Though you don’t have to tell everyone how easy they were to make!)

Just be mindful of the fact that newspaper is much thinner than computer paper and thus large snowflakes probably won’t work as well. Just slice The Phoenix along the binding, cut the remaining pages in half, and then use these quarter-pages instead of computer paper and follow my five easy steps to a full-fledged 3-D snowflake, which I’ve dictated below.

Step 1: Gather your materials.

All you need for this project are six pieces of paper, a pair of scissors, tape and/or a stapler and a piece of string. For this example, I used 8 1/2×11 inch paper, but paper of most kinds of and sizes will work as well.

Step 2: Get a folded square.

Take one piece of paper and hold it horizontally. Fold the top left corner down until you have a right triangle. Cut off the remaining rectangular section so that you are left with a square folded in half. (This step gives you a square piece of paper. If you already have a square piece of paper, just fold it in half.)

Step 3: Prepare a petal.

Take the folded square so that the folded edge is in front of you. Take the scissors and make a diagonal cut from the folded edge parallel to one of the cut edges. Cut almost to the middle, but not quite (make sure you leave enough paper in-between cuts to support your snowflake.) Make three cuts on each side so that the distance in-between the cuts are approximately the same. Your cuts should look like the perforated lines on the leftmost image below.

Step 4: Construct a snowflake petal.

Open up the square and take the triangles created by the two innermost cuts. Tape them together. Flip the snowflake over and repeat three times as shown in the picture. The final result should look like the rightmost image in the picture. This is one petal of your snowflake. Repeat steps 2- 4 six times.

Step 5: Finish your snowflake!

Take two petals and either staple or tape the bottoms of the petals together. Also connect the x-shaped middles of the petals together. Continue this process until all six petals are connected. If you choose, you can attach a piece of string to a petal to hang your snowflake.

Now that you’ve made one snowflake, don’t be afraid to experiment. I’ve made snowflakes out of construction paper, newspaper, and even Post-it notes! The smaller the snowflake is, the more delicate and exquisite it looks and the harder it is to make.

The little ones make great presents or ornaments, while the large ones can decorate entire rooms in very little time. The 3-D snowflake is just a simple craft that’s fun to make and looks beautiful when you’re done.

---

« RETURN TO LIVING & ARTS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »