Pam's Krafty Korner: DSP Snowflakes

Hey, Folks!!

If your craft room is anything like mine, you probably have a stack of designer series paper sitting there that is just BEGGING for you to use it in cards/pages/projects, and there comes a point when you know that there is NO way you're every going to get thru and use all of it--but you still wind up buying more!! It's just a never ending cycle!!

Before Christmas I was doing some web browsing and came across a really cool paper snowflake pattern that is the PERFECT stash-buster for some of those papers. All you need to make it is six (6) squares of paper--all the same size. Now, the smallest one I've played with is the one I'm showing here--using 4" squares, but if you have 12" paper, you certainly could made GIANT snowflakes as well. And once you have the basics down, you can adjust/adapt as you go along!!

Supplies Needed:
1) Designer Paper (I use double-sided paper)
2) Paper Snips/Scissors
3) Pencil
4) Square of computer/copy paper cut to size
5) Ruler
6) Glue Gun (if you're working with small kids, you may want to use Multipurpose Liquid Glue, with paper clips to hold each piece shut while it dries, but the Glue Gun will work faster!!)
7) Ribbon or Cording (for hanging)

I've played around with a couple different sizes to start with, and really, I like using 4" squares to make the snowflakes that I've been doing. You could use a whole 12" sheet, and could really go down as small as you'd like (though the smaller you go, the more challenging it will be to work with!!). The only limit really is your imagination once you get going!!

To start with, I take the square of copy paper and fold it in half, forming a triangle. On the two 'straight' edges (NOT the folded side), I measure in 3/8", 3/4", 1 1/8" & 1 1/2". You'll also notice in the photo that I made little 'hash' marks about 1/8" back from the point where the first three points meet. When you go to cut your squares, you'll want to stop cutting at that point and not cut 'thru' to the corner. The inner most square is cut away, which is why there are no hash marks on that one.

Now, you'll have six squares cut to 4", and fold all of them the same way as you did the copy paper. I fold the copy paper around the outside of the folded designer paper and use that as my template (you could also mark each piece individually, but I tend to get impatient, so like to take this shortcut as I'm working!!) and then cut along each line (thru all the layers) on all of the pieces!

So far so good, right?! Next, you'll want to unfold each square, and using the pencil (or any sort of small cylindrical object you have nearby), roll the center square around it to add some 'curve' to the paper. I found that I really only need to do this on the center most square--the rest manipulate fairly easy as I go along!

Now it's time to start assembling each 'branch' of the snowflake. I let the glue gun heat up as I'm working on some of the earlier steps, and it's usually ready to go by now!! So, I pick up the snowflake and place glue on one point, and bring the point from the other side over to it and hold it for about 5 seconds and allow to dry/cool.

It's a little hard to see, but then I'll take the next square out and 'push' it back/away from the completed piece I just did, and then glue that point on the opposite side.

Again, doing the same thing for the next square--'pushing' it thru the center to wrap around the first post that I had made.

And finally, doing the same with the final square, which will complete one petal/branch. If you were looking for a simple ornament, you could even stop here and add a simple hanger and they'd be SUPER cute!!

For the snowflake, you'll have to repeat the above steps five more times to complete six petals of the snowflake. Lay them out so that they're all 'facing' the same direction (in this case, light to the left, and dark to the right).

When you assemble, you want to be sure that you're not flipping any of the pieces around, which is why laying them out is important! You'll start by gluing the center tip of THREE of the pieces together.

Then, come back and also glue the center of the left branch to the one next to it (to hold the snowflake together).

Create two halves, each with three petals.

Next step is to attach the petals to one another. I actually put them together a little past the first cut--I think the overall look of the snowflake is better that way, but again, it's really up to you!!