Recycled Snowflakes

Recycled snowflakes are one of my very favorite Christmas decorations. They're easy to make and we have lots of fund making them with the kids.

Sometimes we hand them, sometimes we put them in the window. They glitter really nicely and you can make them in various shapes and sizes.

I really enjoy making projects that revolve around recycling and when it comes to toilet paper rolls we always have loads of them. Some of my other projects are the toilet paper roll cryptex, the fire-breathing dragon and this pencil stand.

Supplies

- toilet paper rolls (the amount depends on the size of the snowflakes and how many of them you want to make, count one roll for one smaller snowflake)

- solid glue or glue gun

- liquid glue

- paint brush

- glitter (I use silver)

- sewing needle

- thread (white, golden, silver

Step 1: Making the Shape

1. Press the toilet paper roll with your hand and then cut it into 5mm/0.2in stripes.

2. Glue 5 stripes together joining their centers as shown in the photo. It will make a flower-like shape.

3. Then take another 10 stripes, flatten them and fold them in half. Glue the center of both sides together with the solid glue/glue gun. This will create a shape, let's call it "butterfly".

4. Glue one butterfly to each of the 5 stripes of the snowflake as shown in the picture. Let it dry properly.

5. Glue one more butterfly into each of the previous butterflies.

6. Glue another stripe between every two stripes of the snowflake. This will add 5 more stripes to the snowflake.

7. Glue one butterfly to the new stripes. Let everything dry. Now you have the largest snowflake done.

8. You can go on making the same snowflakes but if you want to have different ones, the eighth picture shows two more types.

Step 2: Adding Glitter

1. Lay the snowflake on a flat surface and cover the edges in liquid glue using a brush. I like to use a lot of glue because it creates a nice effect once you add the glitter.

2. While the glue still isn't solid, sprinkle the snowflake with the glitter. Let is dry completely, turn the snowflake around and repeat on the other side.

Step 3: Hanging the Snowflakes

1. Thread the needle and use it to pull the thread through the snowflakes to connect them and to add a piece of thread for hanging.

It doesn't matter in which part of the snowflake you pull through the thread and how you combine the snowflakes, you're free to experiment.

Hang the snowflakes in a place where you can enjoy the sparkly glitter.

Hope you liked this instructable as another way to re-purpose all those toilet paper rolls that I'm sure many of us have at home!