Day Forty-two

 

 

How to Make a 3D Paper Snowflake

Edited by Flickety, Andy Zhang, Sondra C, Jack Herrick and 141 others

3D paper snowflakes look beautiful hanging in a window or on a wall. Fun for kids or adults, they are easy to make. Some like them for the Winter Holidays or just for the winter, but you may like them any time!
 

Steps

 



 
1. Gather materials. You'll need 6 pieces of paper (white copy paper will do, although you can use more elaborate types), scissors, clear tape and a stapler.
 
2. Fold each of the 6 pieces of paper in half, diagonally. If the paper you are using does not make a perfect triangle, cut off the rectangular edge that sticks out and make it align perfectly. You should end with a square folded into a triangle. Fold this triangle in half, noting where the folded "bottom" of the triangle is.
 

 

 

3. Cut 3 lines in the triangle. Position the scissors along the bottom fold, and parallel to one of the edges going up to the top (your cuts should be diagonal). Cut most the way up to one of the side edges, but not quite. Keep about the same distance between each cut. (This might not be suitable for thicker paper, since the number of layers makes it difficult to cut through.) When you unfold the triangle into a larger triangle, it should look like the photo above.
 
 

  
 
4. Unfold the triangle again. Turn it so one of the points of the square faces you. It should look like the picture above.
 

 
5. Keeping your paper diamond side-up, roll the first two innermost paper points together to form a tube. Tape these two pieces together. You should see triangle shapes on each side of the roll.
 

 
6. Flip the diamond over to the other side. Take the next two paper points and pull them together on the opposite side of the tube and tape together as before.
 

 
7. Keep flipping the paper and joining the paper points together on opposite sides in the same fashion until all paper points have been joined.
8. Repeat Steps 3 - 7 with the remaining 5 pieces of paper.

 
9. Join the tops of three of the completed rolled pieces together at one end and staple together using the other hand. Join the other three pieces the same way. Now you will have two joined pieces consisting of three strands or "arms" each.

10. Staple the two new joined pieces point to point.

11. Staple the middle of the outer rolls where each of the six arms meet. This ensures the snowflake shape is pulled into place.

*Thank you to the people who made this pattern and posted it for all to enjoy!