Beautiful snowflakes made of paper for the New Year. Materials and tools used. How to make a volumetric paper snowflake with your own hands?
Paper snowflakes are an excellent interior decoration for the New Year celebration. For many, they are an obligatory attribute of this holiday, and they begin to decorate their house with them from the very beginning of winter. With the help of such crafts, you can create a cozy snow-white fairy tale and a truly magical atmosphere in the room. It is noteworthy that making such a decor is not difficult. Sleight of hand and imagination are important in this creative process, so even a child can cope with the task and decorate the house with paper snowflakes.
Materials and tools for making paper snowflakes for the New Year
Now in stores you can buy a completely different decorations for the New Year: Christmas tree decorations, tinsel, garlands, figures of Santa Claus, Snow Maiden, Snowman, candles and much more. However, to this day, many people make paper snowflakes with their own hands and at the same time receive not only aesthetic pleasure, but also have a pleasant time with their children on long winter evenings.
This process is very useful for children, because develops fine motor skills and trains the imagination. And since making a snowflake out of paper is quite simple, this pastime becomes a true entertainment.
An additional advantage of such homemade decorations for the New Year is saving money on the purchase of ready-made decorative ornaments, because expensive materials are not required for their manufacture. Usually everything you need is in every home.
Materials and tools for making paper snowflakes for the New Year:
- Paper … The density of this material should be no more than 80 g / m2… Thicker paper is difficult to scissor, even when folded in just four layers. Plain office paper is suitable for cutting snowflakes with a simple pattern. For more complex compositions, it is better to take sheets with a density of 65 g / m2… The format can be A5 or A4. You can also buy special square-shaped origami blanks with a suitable side length. We choose the color depending on the main creative idea. In addition to office paper, you can use children's colored paper, sheets of newspapers, magazines. A more expensive option is silk paper.
- Stencils … There are many paper snowflake stencils on the network that can be printed on a printer and cut out with your own hands, making an interior decoration with an openwork pattern. This method allows you to create a large number of snowflakes of the same format. Similar stencils can be made independently by rolling the paper several times and drawing the lines along which you want to cut. Usually, such blanks are made by mothers and grandmothers for younger children, although babies very often like to use their own imagination, so unique paper masterpieces are born.
- Scissors … The cutting edge should be sharp enough to easily cut through multiple layers of paper. Its length should be within 5-8 cm. Now there are special curly scissors on sale that allow you to make the edge in a zigzag shape or in the form of a wavy braid. If children take part in making beautiful paper snowflakes for the New Year, it is better that the end of the cutting blade be rounded or limited by a plastic tip. Finger rings should be comfortable and fit for the palm of your hand. For cutting out very small parts, you can use a straight-blade nail scissors.
- Glue … It is best to apply the glue in the form of a pencil. With its help, it is easy to smear thin parts, while the paper does not become too damp. Bonding takes place quickly enough and without the need for long-term fixation. A modern alternative is a glue gun, but it is more suitable for fabrics, cardboard and heavier materials.
- Paper clips … This auxiliary material allows you to fix the glued elements until the glue is completely dry.
- Stapler … In some cases, you can simplify the task of making Christmas decorations using a stapler. The size of its staples should be small, preferably up to 1 cm.
- Needle and thread … They are sometimes used to hold individual parts together instead of using glue. You can also make a paper garland using thread.
How to make a paper snowflake for the New Year?
The art of cutting paper designs is quite ancient. Originating in China, it quickly spread throughout the world, attracting both adults and children. Nowadays, many families have started a tradition of making paper decorations for the New Year. So, in a matter of minutes, you can cut an ordinary snowflake. But many people prefer to slightly complicate the task and make a voluminous decor, because such crafts look much more spectacular and festive. We suggest making paper snowflakes for the New Year using our simple recommendations with step-by-step photos.
Volumetric eight-pointed snowflake for New Year's decor
The eight-pointed snowflake looks incredibly attractive. This decor option is in demand for decorating premises in the garden and schools. Educators and labor teachers, together with children, easily make paper snowflakes on New Year's Eve.
Step-by-step making of a volumetric eight-pointed paper snowflake for the New Year:
1. In order to make voluminous and very beautiful paper snowflakes, you need to prepare 2 square elements from paper of any color. Their original size is 15x15 cm.
2. We make the first fold, clearly combining two opposite corners of the square. It turns out a triangle with one right angle.
3. We fold it, combining 2 sharp corners. The resulting element has only 4 layers. We do the third bend in the same way, combining the sharp corners of the triangle. We get an element in 8 layers. One of the resulting sharp corners is free, later these will be the tops of the flower. The second corner, the inner one, forms the core.
4. Measure from the top of the right angle about 2-3 cm in both directions and cut off the corner in a semicircle from one mark to the other.
5. Along the semicircular cut from the free corner, make 2 more cuts along the same trajectory. Passing with scissors to the inner vertex, we leave 0, 5-0, 7 cm before the bend. To get the second same element, we follow the above recommendations with the second square.
6. When unfolded, beautiful four-leafed flowers are obtained.
7. Next are skillful fingers and a glue stick. As you can see in the photo, each petal has 3 lobes - outer, middle and inner. To make this snowflake for the New Year from voluminous paper, we glue the top of the middle lobe to the core of the flower. When doing this, do not bend the paper tightly. We do this manipulation with each petal.
8. The resulting snowflakes already look pretty and festive enough, so they can serve as an ornament for flat surfaces.
9. Next, combine 2 flowers with the flat back side in such a way that you get a flower with 8 petals, and carefully glue it in several places. Making such a voluminous paper snowflake with your own hands does not take much time. This process is quite simple and fun.
10. The result is a gorgeous double-sided snowflake with voluminous petals. Typically, this decor is hung on threads along the walls or from the ceiling. Sometimes they even decorate windows or a Christmas tree with it.
If you connect imagination, then the inside of each petal can be made more interesting. For example, after forming 3 lobes of petals, cut out an element in the shape of a Christmas tree branch in the inner part, as it was done with an orange snowflake.
Using the same patterns of paper snowflakes, you can make larger New Year's decorations, taking as a basis square sheets with a longer side - 15, 20, 25 cm. But in this case, you need to choose paper of higher density. This will allow the finished product to keep its shape well and delight with its beauty for a long time.
