Designing snowflakes

Ok, you've folded your snowflake, either with 5 points , 6 points, or 7 points.

Now what?

Now you start cutting like crazy is what! Have fun and be creative!

As I said before, I am NOT going to give you a snowflake pattern, because I believe that that would be getting in the way of your fun and creativity. Besides, if you wanted snowflakes designed by me, you could just buy the Holiday Snowflakes Cricut Cartridge. You're cutting snowflakes by hand--make it personal and unique!

If you're still a little hesitant, here are some ideas of how to design a cool looking snowflake. This is most definitely not the only way--just one way.

Use a pencil and draw LIGHTLY so its easier to erase from your final snowflake. I drew dark so you could see.
Take your prepared little folded snowflake wedge shape and draw a few lines on it. I'd say somewhere from 2-5, but you can do more if you really like cutting. Straight lines are easier to cut, but curved shapes are fun too.

Make sure they meet these criteria:

-All the lines are somehow connected to the others
-At least one of the lines touches each of the two folds

That's it. Here are a few I did:

Draw lines paralleling the ones you already made, to make a thicker shape.

Cut along the outer lines until you've got your shape cut out.

Open it up to see what you've created!

Thats not the only way to make a cool snowflake. Here are some other things you might want to try:

-Use the method above, but make the line widths vary--thick on one end and thin on the other, or maybe thick in the center and thin in the sides... lots of options!
-Use the same criteria as above, but with shapes instead of lines. Try circles, squares, triangles, stars, whatever.
-Remember, symmetry is your friend! Since we're working with folded paper, if you put the center of a symmetrical image on the fold, you'll get a whole one when you cut it out and open it up. Hearts, stars, snowmen, trees, leaves, people--so many symmetrical things!
-If you want a challenge, try writing a word and cutting it out. The same criteria as above still apply--all the letters must connect (cursive can be helpful here) and your design must touch each of the folded edges at least once.


I think its fun to play with the shapes created from the center of snowflakes you've already cut out.
Look at the two snowflakes in this picture--the smaller one is made from the piece left behind when the center was cut out of the larger one. Fun, right? I also like having various sizes of snowflakes, which looks more interesting.

Have other ideas or suggestions? Put them in the comments! Also, show us what cool snowflakes you made with these ideas.