How Flat Paper Becomes an Intricate Six-Sided Snowflake

Most people make paper snowflakes as kids. You fold a piece of paper a few times, chop off the corners, and unfold a square with holes in it. But real snowflakes have six sides. Making a true six-pointed paper snowflake takes a bit more planning.

Folding The Angles

You cannot just fold the paper in half over and over. That gives you four or eight sides. To get six sides, you have to fold the paper into a specific triangle.

You start with a perfect square. You fold it in half to make a triangle, then fold that in half again to make thirds. The paper ends up looking like a tight slice of pie. This creates the correct base. If you mess up this fold, the whole shape comes out wrong.

Making The Cuts

Once the paper is folded tight, the cutting begins. This is where the design actually happens.

Cutting the bottom tip off changes the center of the snowflake. Cutting the top edge shapes the outside points. Removing wedges from the sides creates detailed branches. You have to use sharp scissors. The paper gets thick because you are cutting through twelve layers at the exact same time.

The Final Reveal

Unfolding the paper is the best part. But you have to be very careful. The paper is usually fragile because so much of it was cut away.

You slowly open the layers to reveal a perfect, symmetrical shape. Every single cut you made is repeated six times around the circle. And because you are just cutting by hand, no two snowflakes ever come out exactly the same.