Real snowflakes have six points but most of the snowflakes we draw or cut have 8. Follow along here and learn how to cut a snowflake with six sides.
Snowflakes have six sides…
While every snowflake may be unique they do have one characteristics that is always the same. Because of the way they’re formed snowflakes alwasy have six points.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’ve produced many cut paper or hand drawn snowflakes that have 5 or eight points. I call it artistic license. What we draw doesn’t always have to mimic real life.
But there may be times when we want what we make to be accurate and I can show you how!
Choose a paper to cut your snowflake from…
In all the pictures you’ll see I cut my six sided snowflake from a coffee filter. I love making snowflakes from coffee filters because the filter paper is so light. It’s easy to fold and easy to cut through multiple layers. However, these steps will work just the same with any paper you choose.
You’ll also need scissors. That’s it!
Start with a few simple folds….
First flatten your coffee filter paper. Fold it in half and then in quarters.
These steps are the same whether you’re starting with a circle, like the coffee filter, or a square paper.
At this point you’re left with with 90 degrees of the circle. Leaving what’s already been folded still folded, we want to fold that remaining 90degrees into thirds.
Imagine each of the next folds to be about 30 degrees. You could, of course, use a compass. But I find it just as easy and effective to estimate the folds lightly and crease the folds when you’re happy.
This is the IMPORTANT part of cutting a snowflake with six sides….
At the top of your folded snowflake cut at sharp angle from one of the top corners down. Cutting that triangle of “extra” off is what will create the six strong points of the snowflake.
In the picture above you can see the difference. I didn’t cut off that extra bit on the snowflake on the left but I did on the the one on the right. While the left snowflake has 12 points the right one has just six- which is what we want!
Want to see the six sided snowflake making in action….
Follow along with the video below if you’d like to see how to cut a snowflake with six sides.
More snowflake crafts….
These snowflakes are made from doilies and get their color from watercolor paints. Fold them as instructed above to get that six sided shape but in color!
These snowflakes are made from coffee filters (just like these) but they have an extra bit of vibrant color added with washable markers. I love this process!
