If you’re looking for a cool way for kids to make paper snowflakes, use paper doilies! Add some water colours to make a flurry of COLOURFUL PAPER DOILY SNOWFLAKES to string into a garland or display on a window.
I got the idea to make these colourful paper doily snowflakes last week when the hooligans were crafting with doilies to make the Doily Angels and Doily Christmas Trees for their homemade Christmas cards.
Click here to see all of our snowflake crafts.
Watching them fold the doilies for those crafts reminded me of the snowflake folding process, and I thought the delicate, lacy doilies would be perfect for making snowflakes.
A paper snowflake craft is fun in itself, but it’s even more fun when you add colour. And when you add colour to a doily snowflake, it makes the details in the doilies really pop.
I experimented and made these ones myself, and I loved the way they turned out!
I’ll definitely have the kids make a bunch as a winter craft when they come back after the Christmas holidays. I think they’ll look great strung into a garland or decorating our big living room window.
If you don’t have watercolours, don’t worry. Your doily snowflakes will still be beautiful even if you leave them white.
Let me show you how to make them.
How to Make Colourful Paper Doily Snowflakes
Supplies:
- paper doilies in various sizes
- liquid watercolours
- paint brush
- scissors
- baking sheet
- cooling rack
Colour your Doilies
You’ll want to colour your doilies before you do any folding or cutting.
To colour the doilies, lay your doily on a baking sheet so the watercolours don’t stain your work surface.
Dilute your liquid watercolours with a bit of water until you’re happy with the intensity of the colour, and then brush the water colours all over the doily.
Transfer your wet doilies to a cooling rack to dry. You can use a hairdryer to speed up the drying process.
Don’t worry if your dry doily looks a little puffy and wrinkly. We’ll take care of that later.
Fold your Doily
To fold your doily into a snowflake, make the following folds:
- Fold your doily in half
- Fold in half again
- Fold one one side 1/3 of the way in
- For the other side 1/3 of the way in so it perfectly overlaps the previous fold to form a narrow, triangle
Cut your snowflake pattern
Make cuts into the edges of your snowflake.
I forgot to snip off the pointed tip of my triangles when I was making my snowflakes. I wish that I’d remembered to because it would have made a nice centre for my snowflakes, so be sure to remember to cut off the tip when you’re making yours.
Unfold and Press
Carefully unfold your doily to reveal your beautifully detailed, colourful snowflake.
Use a warm iron to gently smooth out any wrinkles and folds lines in your doily.
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
