{"title":"How to Make a Paper Snowflake","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/paper-crafts/how-to-make-a-paper-snowflake","category":{"slug":"paper-crafts","name":"Paper Crafts"},"creator":{"name":"Wonder Crafts","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWxddUY9PIMEYSj_UgtP2_A","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJWB69xNSvA"},"tldr":"Make a six-pointed paper snowflake from one square sheet. An easy fold-and-cut technique in 8 steps — works for kids, school projects, and holiday windows.","totalDurationSeconds":273,"difficulty":"easy","tools":["Sharp scissors","Pencil (for sketching the design)"],"materials":["1 square sheet of paper (8.5x8.5 inch trimmed from printer paper, or origami paper)"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Start With a Square Sheet of Paper","text":"Start with a square sheet of paper. Standard 8.5x11 printer paper works fine - just trim one end so you have an 8.5x8.5 square. Origami paper or thinner craft paper also works well.Thin paper cuts cleaner and is easier to fold tightly through multiple layers. Card stock is too thick for this technique."},{"number":2,"title":"Fold the Square in Half Diagonally","text":"Fold the square in half along the diagonal so you end up with a triangle. The folded edge runs along one of the sides; the long open edge runs along the bottom.Press the crease firmly. This first fold sets up the symmetry for everything that follows."},{"number":3,"title":"Fold the Triangle in Half Again","text":"Fold the triangle in half again, bringing one of the bottom corners up to meet the other. You now have a smaller triangle with the folded edge at the bottom and the open corners at the top.This second fold creates the four-fold symmetry. The next fold takes it to six-fold, which is what makes paper snowflakes look like real ice crystals."},{"number":4,"title":"Fold Into Thirds","text":"Now fold the triangle into thirds. Take the right corner and fold it across the front so its edge sits at about one-third of the way across the triangle. Then fold the left corner over the top of the right fold.The result is a long narrow wedge with overlapping flaps at the top. This is your snowflake blank."},{"number":5,"title":"Trim the Top Straight","text":"Look at the top of the wedge - it has uneven points sticking up from the third folds. Cut straight across with scissors to even them off.The angle you cut here decides the outer edge of the snowflake. A flat cut gives a hexagonal silhouette; a slight V-cut gives points; a curved cut gives rounded arms."},{"number":6,"title":"Sketch the Snowflake Design","text":"Take a pencil and sketch shapes along the two folded edges of the wedge. Anywhere you cut INTO a folded edge becomes the negative space of the snowflake when you unfold.Try chevrons, small diamonds, triangles, and short rectangles. The classic snowflake look uses 3 to 5 shapes per side, alternating between the two folded edges."},{"number":7,"title":"Cut Along the Lines","text":"Cut along the pencil lines with sharp scissors. Press the layers firmly together with one hand while the other hand cuts. The wedge has six layers of paper at this point - sharp scissors make a real difference.Take it slow on the smaller cuts. Clean clean cuts give crisp snowflake edges; ragged cuts ruin the effect."},{"number":8,"title":"Unfold and Press Flat","text":"Carefully unfold the wedge. Each cut you made repeats six times around the center to form the symmetrical snowflake.Press it flat under a heavy book for a few minutes to flatten the creases. Tape to a window or string it up with thread for a winter display."}],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-05-19T14:08:26.796Z","published":"2026-05-01T19:34:42.404Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}