Step-by-Step Snowflakes - Part 1

Alright... are you ready for this? I think my iPhone just wanted to retire on me! It's been busy at work with pictures of the snowflakes!! Warning: It's a LONG post! I tried to be as descriptive as possible! 

Well, here goes nothing...

 {supplies: 6 sheets of paper, scissors, tape}

 {step 1: take 1 of the sqaures}

 {step 2: fold diagonally into large triangle}

 {step 3: fold triangle in half to make smaller triangle}

 {step 4: pick up on fold, as if holding the "mouth/point" away from you}

 {step 5: cut strips roughly 1 inch wide, beginning at fold, until about an inch away from ends}

 {step 6: repeat 4 times, stopping about an inch away from the other end (creates 5 sections)}

 {make sure you cut on the fold, and don't cut all the way to the other side}

 {step 7: carefully unfold once}

{step 8: unfold again, all the way}

 {view from back, see how cuts end before the middle fold}

 {get the tape ready!!}

 {step 9: gather 2 middle pieces together}

 {step 10: overlap the corners, do not pinch them together}

 {step 11: place tape over in order to hold together}

 {you're going to flip this over, so the piece you just tape is on the table}

 {now on backside!}

 {step 12: gather the next two pieces in order}

 {bring together}

{step 13: fold them over each other, then tape!}

 {time to flip again}

{get ready to pull together}

  {step 14: once flipped to other side, take next 2 strips, fold together, and tape}

{time to flip once again}

 {step 15: now take these two, fold them together}

{step 16: fold over and tape. then flip back to other side!}

{step 17: now take the last 2 pieces, fold them together}

 

{step 18: fold over and tape!}

{one is complete! now you must repeat 5 more times with the other squares!}

Step-by-Step Snowflakes - Part 2

 {ready?!?!}

 {note my boss in the corner}

 {i cut and fold all of them usually before doing any taping}

{i had the kids do all the folding first, then all the cutting, then all the folding/taping/flipping}

 {so repeat the process 6 times, and you will have 6 of these babies!}

 {gather 3 of them together in this way}

 {pinch them together in the middle at the ends}

 {bring the 3 tips together to staple them}

 {with this big paper i used 3 staples, regular paper only usually needs 1 staple}

 {so now we need to reinforce them in the middles, so we will staple in those parts as well}

 {grab the middles (where you taped the outer sections) and staple them together}

 {yup, right there!}

 {so those are the 3 places where you now have staples!}

 {now repeat with the other 3 sections}

{if you're OCD like me, make sure the pattern of colors is the same!}

 {place them together like shown, so middle pieces meet}

 {bring the two center tips together and overlap them}

 {staple these two together, again with bigger flakes, staple once or twice}

 {see how they overlap?}

 {now 2 more places to staple - the 2 sides where we brought the sections together}

 {all the places where we now have staples!}

 {do you feel successful?}

{fabulous! hang from ceiling with paper clip!}

 

 {this is what my kids had to do before we started. i demonstrated with already square scrapbook paper}

{for regular construction have kids fold it to make a square, then cut off excess piece}

{recycle the excess pieces for bookmarks!}

Now if you can bring yourself to have your kiddos do it, you must go step by step. You must go extremely slow and model each step. I had them all face the same way as me and did it in front of them. About 10 of them will manage to do something incorrect. It takes more patience than you'll have. You'll have 1 who just can't do it correctly no matter what and you'll help him and he'll love you for it. You'll have 4 that look like they did something wrong, but they didn't. You'll have 7 that need you to draw the lines on the folded triangles because they just can't seem to figure out how to make the cuts. You'll need a billion tape dispensers and tape. You'll need even more patience to staple them for all 30 kids. You'll need a nap when you're done. The kids will be beyond words excited. You'll be super amazed at them that they got through it. Your room will look gorgeous. You'll be in awe of how they help each other. You'll be able to brag about how amazing your class is at following directions and creating fabulous things. You'll be exhausted beyond belief, but it will be SO WORTH IT! I promise!

All of these are estimations. But realistic estimations.

Well, now that I've spent an entire evening doing this tutorial I'm going to go give my supervisor some attention, because as you have noticed, he's clearly lacking attention.