Creating Holiday Cheer

Ever since I was little, I always wished we could have a white Christmas just like in the movies. The only problem with that is that we live in California. So because we didn’t have any real snow to play in, my dad taught me how to cut paper snowflakes to fill our windows with instead. I fell in love with it right away!

Every year the designs got bigger and more elaborate, and now it’s become one of my favorite family traditions. Every winter we break out the paper and scissors and fill the house with paper snowflakes. Everyone joins in and makes their own unique designs. We even have our friends and guests join in whenever they come over.

I’ve become the family snowflake guru since I love it so much. I get to teach everyone how to fold and cut the paper just right in order to create perfectly balanced patterns. All it requires is 3 easy folds, a good pair of scissors, and some imagination.

A basic snowflake has 8 sides, but sometimes I get extra fancy and make one with 6 sides by folding the paper into thirds rather than halves. That’s my own signature move, perfected over years of practice and experimentation.

There’s something meditative and peaceful about folding the paper and imagining what each design will be. I like to crease the paper carefully to make sure the design stays as symmetrical as possible. Each triangle cut turns into a diamond, an arrow, or even a star-burst if it’s placed just right. Sometimes I add swirls or even flowers to create softer springtime designs. The more shapes you cut out, the more delicate and lacy the snowflake becomes.

Everybody who comes over gets a turn to try their hand at cutting a snowflake and to leave their mark on our growing collection. Most people start slow and then find their own rhythm once they’ve made two or three. I love seeing my friends discover the joy of creating these beautiful paper crystals out of simple folds and cuts. The end result is always a grand reveal, and is always far more beautiful than they first expected. Many of them now know how and look forward to snowflake season just like I do.

The beautiful thing about paper snowflakes is that everyone can make something special and unique every time. No two snowflakes are the same. All of our friends and family participate throughout the holiday season until the new year rolls around and every window has been filled.

Some are large, others small. Some simple, others elaborate. Each one represents someone we love and a joyful memory we share. This way we can have a white Christmas every year no matter what the weather is like outside.

This year we weren’t able to have friends over because of the pandemic, so our windows felt empty and sparse in comparison to past years. We had to find some way to create holiday cheer without any of the parties or gatherings we usually love so much. Our solution was to turn our favorite snowflakes into Christmas cards.

We cut paper snowflakes out for each of our loved ones and mailed them out so everyone could have a snowflake for their own window at home. Some people even sent flakes back that we got to hang in our windows too! I loved seeing my friends’ pictures of their windows at home as they made their own winter wonderlands.

Sharing our love for paper snowflakes has always brought us joy, and this year it also helped keep our spirits high when we needed it most. It gave us a way to stay connected and to celebrate together even though we were far apart.