Repost of a FUN snowflake How To...

I'm decorating today...YEAH.....I just love to decorate for Christmas. Since I'm going to be rather busy today I thought this tutorial I did last year would make for a great repost today. It's a fun project and you can decorate these so many pretty ways. So..while I'm busy tearing up the house decorating....have some FUN!!!

I thought with it being that time of year when most of us think of sharing and giving (which by the way... I feel all year long ^_^) that I would share my resyculbinz way of making snowflakes. It's a fun project that I think anyone would enjoy doing. These snowflakes can be used in so many different ways to decorate for the Holidays. Make some up for your tree...or perhaps to attach to a winter wreath....or as a pretty tag to attach to a gift...or make several to put together as a banner. I know that you will find a way to let this fun and simple project work for YOU.  Let's get started:

Supplies you will need:  

Empty toilet tissue or Paper towel roll

Ruler

Pen or Pencil

Scissors

Glue

Clothes Pin

Fabric or Yarn

Buttons..Beads..Broach..Embellishments

For the snowflake that we are making today, we need 15 pieces. Take your empty paper holder and mark off every 1/2 inch. This will give 16...one extra to get you started on your next snowflake ^_^.

Once you have made all your marks, take the holder and mash it flat and keep your marks showing on top. Take your scissors and cut your strips where you have marked. Actually, you can make your strips be as narrow or as wide as you want them. I just like the 1/2 inch ones...but you can decide on what size you want on the next snowflake that you make.

Once you have cut up all your strips, this is what you should have.....a MESS...no no just kidding. You can see from the ones on the left that I have pulled apart a bit that they look a little like petals. That's what we want...perfect. You did a great job!!

Choose five of the petals that look about the same size. I say this because, some of us, even if we have our project marked, we still can't cut to straight. Ri iight? Ohhh please say I'm not the only one. It doesn't count if you have one of those nice paper cutters...that's cheating.

Once you have the five picked out then we need to glue them together. It doesn't take a lot of glue but I like to use one that is fairly fast bonding. Put a touch of glue on the end side of a petal and stick it to another petal. Attach the clothes pin to the two petals and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes. To speed the process you can do this with all five pieces at the same time...attaching each to the other. This will be the top part of our snowflake. Put it over to the side and let's do the bottom part now.

This is how the bottom part of the flake should look. Same process as the top, lay out five petals that are similar in size. Glue them together. Once it is dry then you are going to add the remaining five pieces. Place a petal in between the original petals. Glue those in place and let dry.

This is what you should have now that both the bottom and the top of the snowflake is dry. Wasn't that FUN?

Now is when you decide what you want your snowflake wrapped in. You can use yarn...there are so many wonderful kinds...wool yarns....sparkling yarns....twisted yarn...I think you know what I mean. You can also use fabric. Which is what we are using today. A white cotton fabric. Now remember this project is from my Resyculbinz file...which means I love to use recycled items. You know that the paper holder fits that category but your fabric can too. Old shirts...old sheets....old pillow cases, which is what I used for this project. Take your fabric and cut just enough down to be able to tear it. The snowflakes look great with a few of the fringes that tearing the fabric leave. I made strips measuring about 1 inch wide. I tear a few to start with and then do more as I need them. We all wrap differently so I think this is the best way not to tear to many.

To start your wrapping all you need to do is wrap your fabric around the center. I place the end at the back of the flake, wrap it over the front and then back under coming out to one of the petals. Now you simply start wrapping each petal.

 It makes for a neater wrap at the tips of the petals if you twist the fabric once and then wrap down the other side. Continue this step until all of the snowflake is wrapped. Once the top part of the flake is complete put it aside and do the bottom piece the same way. When both pieces are complete, lay the smaller flake on top of the larger flake and you can either wrap a few of the petals together that are touching each other. Or you can put a few stitches to hold them together.

Now is the best part...well..I think so but you know how I love to embellish!! You can put a pretty pin in the middle....perhaps sew some beads on the tips or leave plain. Remember that each and every snowflake that is created by nature is a true one of a kind.

I hope you enjoyed this snowflake project. I would love to see your photos if you do try it. There are so many things that you can do with this basic idea.  Enjoy..have fun!!!

Just to show that you can do more than snowflakes with this project. What do you see if you add even more petals to the basic bottom pattern? Let me give you a hint.....picture the center 10 pieces of this done in red and then the outer 10 pieces done in greens. A Pointisetta!!

Until next time.....Hugs,
Regi