Kirigami Instructions

Here’s kirigami instructions on how to make a paper snowflake.

Kirigami Instructions

1. Fold a piece of paper in half.
    
2. Fold in half again but only make a small crease to show the midpoint. Fold the bottom right corner upwards to make a 60° angle at the midpoint (begin to fold into thirds).
    
3. Fold the bottom left corner upwards to meet with the folded right-edge of the paper.
    
4. Trim the excess paper to form a cone shape.
    
5. Make several cuts out of the cone shape and then unfold to discover your paper snowflake. Be careful not to cut too much – that will cause the entire snowflake to fall apart.
    

Note that cutting half-a-heart will open to reveal a heart cutout. Similarly, cutting a semicircle will reveal a circle; and cutting a triangle will produced a diamond shape.

Hints and Tips

• For young children, it might be better to fold the paper into quarters instead of sixths. Children can understand “fold in half and then fold in half again” whereas folding into thirds can be challenging.
• Be extra careful when children use scissors. Paper snowflakes are beautiful and sometimes children become careless in their enthusiasm. As well, folded paper is thick and can be tricky to cut.
• Cutting will be easier if you use thin paper. Check out these packs of origami paper from amazon.com
• These snowflakes look great when taped to a window. If a window is not available, the snowflakes also look great on a colored backing.

Kirigami Samples

Below are some samples. The smaller design on the left opens up into the snowflake on the right.

More unique designs: