Christmas Found: Faux Snow Flakes

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Take a plain ol piece of printer paper (8.5x11")

...and fold it in half.

On the folded side, find your center mark...

...by folding it in half again and pinching the bottom corner.

Just pinch the corner, like this (see on the lower right?)...

I drew a little line so you can see where the center mark is...

Now fold the bottom corner up from that center point so that your bottom right corner is now pointing up near the top left corner

Press down to create a fold.

Then do the same with your lower left corner.

Fold that up to meet the top right edge.

Then fold that in half.

It will look like this...

Now you'll want to trim the excess.

See that short piece in there? You want to cut off everything that's past that edge.

Like this...

So you're left with the triangle piece (on the left in the pic below).

You can toss the extra bit that's on the right

Now draw your design. Try not to cut to far into the smallest angle (over there on the left in the picture below) because that will be the center of your flake. If you cut to far in, it will tend to fold in on itself. Keeping the center in tack will give you a strong flake. That's an oxymoron... but it's true.

I penciled in the areas that will be cut away.

Then cut, cut cut.

Once it's cut, slowly and carefully unfold the paper.

Be sure to press down on the seems as you open it.

It tends to want to fold back up on it's own.

Once it's open, you can place each flake in between the pages of a big, heavy book to get them super flat.

Then string them along a piece of fishing line or floss across the ceiling or tape them to your window.

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Wondering what designs I made to get the flakes in the collage pic up top?

Well wonder no more!

Here's the folded, cut piece (above) along with the open design (below)...

Now that I've completely overloaded you with paper cutting, go make some flakes and decorate!

Found here:
Bon Temps Beignet: Faux Sneaux Flakes

Christmas Found: Faux Snow Flakes

Holiday Craft: Wrapping Paper Stars | Christmas Display Ideas

These stellar but surprisingly easy party decorations (they come together with just a few cuts and twists) are made from all those odds and ends of holiday wrap you'd otherwise toss in the trash. Hang one or dozens to brighten up the house come party time.

Materials

• Heavy wrapping paper or origami paper
• Scissors

• Clear tape
• Hole Punch

Instructions

1. Cut eight 5- by 5-inch squares from heavy wrapping paper (you can also use precut origami paper).
2. For each square: fold in half to form a triangle, pretty side out; fold in half again.
3. With scissors, cut into the first fold (now folded in half) about 3/4 inch down from the top, stopping about 1/4 inch from the end. Make a similar cut about 3/4 inch down from the first, as shown.
4. Open the square completely, plain side up, and bring up the 2 inside points to form a roll. Tape the points together with double-sided tape.
5. Flip the square over and tape together the middle points. Flip the square over again and tape the outer points.
6. Tape each of the 8 sections together, middle ring of one to outer ring of the next, to form a chain; tape the first and last sections together to form the star.
7. To secure the star, tape the tips together in the center. Punch a hole at the top of one of the points and pass a string through to hang.

Found Here:
Holiday Craft: Wrapping Paper Stars | Christmas Display Ideas | FamilyFun

DIY Christmas Topiaries

Twine Christmas Tree Topiary from The Thrifty Crafter

The Thrifty Crafter has has a couple of Christmas topiary tutorials on her blog that I love. The first is this twine wrapped Christmas tree topiary and the second is the red berry tree topiary. Both would make beautiful centerpieces for Christmas. I am adding these to the collection of Christmas topiaries I love, inlcuding this gorgeous white felt Christmas tree from Bliss Bloom Blog:

The glitter tree topiary from Eighteen25:

The edible Christmas tree topiary from Jeanne Bennedict:

And the fabric tree topiaries from The Pleated Poppy:

Found on:

Christmas Found

Twine Christmas Cone Trees

For the complete post, scroll to the bottom & click through to the site.

So I got some of this stuff to use instead, (I know, I know), and it works MUCH better.

I wrapped the cones in parchment paper and secured it with pins, and then wrapped the soaked twine around the cone in a crisscrossing pattern, wringing it out a little at a time as I went. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to make sure that your cone is structurally sound, you'll need to do lots of crisscrossing. This ensures that each piece of twine has another piece to help support it.

You'll also want to make sure that your bottom strands are straight all the way around the base, or your Christmas trees may end up with a little gangsta' lean going on.

Once I was finished with the twine, I put green raffia in the stiffener and wrapped it around the cones as well, just for a little color and a different texture.

Once all was dry (I usually left it overnight), I used a knife to separate the parchment paper from the cone, peeled the paper away from the twine and here is the end result!

The best part about making trees this way is that you can make several trees using only one foam cone as the mold. I wanted to try out a few different things, so this let me experiment on the trees without “using up” one of the foam cones, since they are kind of expensive. I have a plain pair, and this pair that has just a few tiny berries hot glued on in various spots.

Another set I spray painted white, sprayed with glitter, and then hot glued on these larger berries.

This one I actually used the little cone for (I had two, so I was willing to lose one of them). I spray painted the cone and the twine separately, hot glued the twine onto the cone, and capped it with (of course) little berries.

I even made one for some Valentines Day decor.

What do you think? Not to shabby, right? I love these. I made tons of them all December long and then gave almost all of them away as gifts. Which means I get to try out some new options this year. :)

If you love these but don't feel like the hassle, I also have short and tall versions available in my etsy shop here.