We had a grand time this afternoon! It was a wonderfully messy, full-house sort of afternoon! A whole bunch of homeschoolers came over and we folded paper, twisted paper, and snipped paper to make pretty stars and snowflakes! It’s been a while since we’ve done a homeschool class, and I forgot how much I missed being around homeschooled kids. We talked about everything from raising chickens to Civil War dancing. Somehow we forgot to take pictures during the actual event, but I did pick up the camera before I picked up the broom, so here’s what was left…
Snowflakes cut from coffee filters! These are actually very good to use for younger children, since you can skip the steps of cutting a perfect square and rounding off the “tails” to get your pie shape. Coffee filters are also thinner than regular paper, so cutting through multiple layers of paper is easier. And… coffee filters are CHEAP. You can get a hundred or so for $1, and keep your little ones busy for hours! We ironed some of them between waxed paper, and some were just taken home “as is.” Snowflakes are pretty when taped to windows, and small ones can be put between lamination sheets, cut around, and used as ornaments! You can also use them as cake stencils… lay the snowflake on top of an unfrosted cake and sprinkle on fine powdered sugar or dust with cocoa. Remove the snowflake, and you have a pretty cake!
And Twirly Snowflakes! Chris and I first saw these at the Guild of American Papercutters’ Collection back in May… don’t they look pretty decorating the Yellow Barn at Landis Valley Museum?
I was excited when I saw my friend Michele was making these at Christmas… and she gave us the link for this tutorial she found! (Thanks Michele!!!) These twirly things were definitely a hit with the teens! They’re fun to make, not too difficult, and the sizes are variations are endless! Kate taught this project and really enjoyed working with the kids & Moms!
And Chris taught a group of brave souls to fold Moravian Stars! These are the smaller, folded paper version, (there’s also a paper folded large Moravian Star… very complex and lots of math involved! Maybe we’ll get Hubby to teach a class on that some day!) and are sometimes called Pennsylvania German Folded Stars. Chris is our star folding expert, and has probably made a thousand or so of these things! Our Freebie Friday Giveaway is the pattern… if you scroll down and click on the link, there’s a Word Document to download! Have fun!
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