NationStates Jolt Archive

Yes, I'm serious. Yes, dead serious. Shut up. :p

Before you dismiss this thread as garbage, give it a chance. You'd be amazed how therapeutic a little creative work can be.

What you'll need:
A pair of scissors
Several sheets of 8.5x11 paper
A pencil or pen
Something round (bowl, glass, tumbler top, etc.)
A solid surface at least as large as the paper
Before we begin, understand the goal is not to make a supremely beautiful snowflake. Just relax and enjoy the process. Your first few snowflakes will probably suck. :D

Take out a sheet of paper (chances are you'll screw up your first try, so have several sheets handy). Place it on the solid surface you've chosen.

Take your round object, and place it so the rim is face down on the center of the sheet of paper. Trace around the edge with your pencil or pen. The larger the circle, the easier your snowflake will be to make, so try to get a decent sized object to trace around.

Now use the scissors to cut out your traced circle. Doesn't need to be perfect, any decent circle will do. Believe me, I can't use scissors at all.

You should have something like this now:

http://www.darkchancery.com/images/offsite/step1.jpg

Take the circle, and fold it over halfways. Like so:

http://www.darkchancery.com/images/offsite/step2.jpg

At this point, fold the circle in half once more, like so:

http://www.darkchancery.com/images/offsite/step3.jpg

Now comes the creative part. Taking the scissors, cut patterns out of the edges of your folded circle. Triangles are easiest, but you can make squares, half-circles, zig-zags, whatever. You should end up with something like this:

http://www.darkchancery.com/images/offsite/step4.jpg

OK, maybe not that ugly. All that's left is to unfold the paper.

http://www.darkchancery.com/images/offsite/result.jpg

If you want a circle with a perfectly round edge (boring, in my opinion), do not cut the edge which is not folded.

If you cut off the tip in the third stage, you'll end up with a snowflake that has a hole in the center.

Some people fold the snowflake a third time, which causes more eclectic designs. I don't fancy it myself.

Obviously, a lot of practice is involved to get a snowflake that doesn't look like ass (such as mine), but that's the fun part. Give it a try. It might seem silly, but it's really relaxing. Feel free to post your snowflake if you make one. :)

http://www.darkchancery.com/images/offsite/result.jpg


Correct me if I'm wrong here but one of the chief characteristics of snowflakes is that they have six fold symmetry, not four fold, no?

Correct me if I'm wrong here but one of the chief characteristics of snowflakes is that they have six fold symmetry, not four fold, no?

Does it matter?

http://www.addictinggames.com/createasnowflake.html

All the fun of making a snowflake without having to fold, cut, or clean up.

Does it matter?

Ever read Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle?

Ever read Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle?

No.

Ever read Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle?Yes. Does it matter?

That's cool Sydenzia, I use to do stuff like that alot. Use to doodle alot also. Haven't done much of either since I got on the pc, but I agree that making stuff, tinkering, doodling etc. can be relaxing.

Yes. Does it matter?

If the fundamental crystalline structure of water at low temperatures didn't have a six fold symmetry, then the world would be a very different place.

As far as direct relevance to this thread goes - what are the basic visible qualities of snowflakes? (a) they are coloured white, (b) they form so as to create branches and voids around their central point, and (c) they have a six fold symmetry. I know that two out of three ain't bad, but just that tiny little bit of effort would give the paper cutouts more than just the vague resemblance to snowflakes that they currently have.

Trivial? Yeah, but to me the example in the first post is like telling you that in order to make a silhouette of an insect, the critter should only have four legs.

http://www.addictinggames.com/createasnowflake.html

All the fun of making a snowflake without having to fold, cut, or clean up.

Okay, that shit is fucking addictive!

If the fundamental crystalline structure of water at low temperatures didn't have a six fold symmetry, then the world would be a very different place.

As far as direct relevance to this thread goes - what are the basic visible qualities of snowflakes? (a) they are coloured white, (b) they form so as to create branches and voids around their central point, and (c) they have a six fold symmetry. I know that two out of three ain't bad, but just that tiny little bit of effort would give the paper cutouts more than just the vague resemblance to snowflakes that they currently have.

Trivial? Yeah, but to me the example in the first post is like telling you that in order to make a silhouette of an insect, the critter should only have four legs.We call that kind of behavior "nit-picky"...:D

We call that kind of behavior "nit-picky"...:D

If I was commenting on a site that told us how to make paper butterflies with three wings would that also be 'nit-picky'?

If I was commenting on a site that told us how to make paper butterflies with three wings would that also be 'nit-picky'?If the title of it were "Creativity and Stress Relief", yes, it would be nit-picky...
(Although I think it would be more appropriate to compare it to complaining about how "that butterfly doesn't have a clearly segmented head, thorax, and abdomen")

A Thousand Paper Doilies.

i'm sorry but this would make me :headbang: even more because i get so frustrated that i cannot do anything right and mine would totally suck :D