Let it snow (paper), Let it snow (paper), Let it snow! (...paper)

The East Coast has been hit by a pretty big storm, and NYC is blanketed in its first layer of the cold, white stuff. E and I had a fun morning of shoveling out the car, dealing with a disgruntled old man who was upset we got a little snow on his sidewalk, and then discovering that the car wouldn't start anyway. We're holding out hope that it'll be an easy fix, though the tow truck driver who came to rescue us guessed it was the starter and not the battery as we had suspected. I don't know anything about cars, by the way.

In honor of the snow, I wanted to finally put up the paper snowflake tutorial I'd been talking about for ages. I learned to make paper snowflakes from my eighth grade algebra teacher, and her method has been the best I've tried! I love to string paper snowflakes up in windows, and they also look pretty on garlands strung up over doorways! Really, the trick is in the folding, and don't be afraid to experiment with different shapes when you're cutting!



1. Start with your nice, clean sheet of regular old copy paper. Get out your safety scissors, and grab any children old enough not to cut their fingers off while using safety scissors.


2. Remember when you were in grade school and you made cootie catchers? You're going to use the same procedure to achieve a square of paper for your snowflake. Fold the top edge down to meet the left hand edge...


3. And cut off the bottom strip of paper! You can use this to make smaller snowflakes if you want!


4. Fold your folded triangle in half...


5. And half again, and you're ready to start hacking away with those scissors! Also check out my awesome glitter-tipped festive holiday nails!



6. If you want your snowflake to be essentially round, you want to cut off the top corner, starting on the longest side, or the hypotenuse. Make it rounded, in the general direction I've noted in this photograph. You can also just work with the shape as is, but you're going to end up with a square-ish snowflake.


7. Get to work cutting! You're going to focus on cutting into the center of the triangle from the folded edges, so everything that you cut will be mirrored. For example, above I've shown you how to cut hearts and stars into your snowflake. It's pretty self-explanatory. So just cut, cut, cut...


8. Til your snowflake is all snipped out. Remember, don't cut straight across the body of the snowflake, or... you'll just be cutting your snowflake in half. Womp, womp.


9. BIG REVEAL! Carefully unfold your snowflake (more detailed cuts can kind of get stuck on themselves, so be gentle!) and you're good to go! I like to give the paper a quick once-over with the iron so it lies flatter.  Tape it to the window! String it from the ceiling! Whether you're in California or Canada, you can have a White Christmas!

And here are some other snowflakes I've made this season, though I have yet to hang them up.

Triumphant over the boy.

I spent a lot of time with the guy in that video last night. His voice is actually pretty soothing. My fiance, E, had an interview today for an internship next semester, and decided he wanted to rock a Windsor knot as opposed to his usual half Windsor (who knew tying ties could be so nuanced?). So, for the last week or so, I would occasionally see him reading or watching tutorials about how to tie it, and last night he finally actually got out a tie to practice.


Cut to about 20 minutes later. He's frustrated because he can't tie the damned thing and I am sick of listening to him complain. I go get one of his ties and sit down with the video above. After a few incredibly unsuccessful attempts, I did it! It was sloppy, but it was done! I kept practicing and sooner or later I had it pretty much figured out. Tried to help him learn, watched the tutorial with him, etc., but this is the guy who has trouble fitting a whole load of groceries in the fridge. He's not exactly gifted with spatial reasoning skills.


Finally, he handed over the tie he was planning to wear today (and a sharp tie it is) and, head hung low, asked me to tie it for him and then slip it off without untying it so he could just wear it today. Yes, this happened. He then watched me tie an expert Windsor knot (I believe his words were, "You look like a fifty year old man who's been doing this for 25 years.") without even the aid of my buddy in the video. That's right, kids, I've got it memorized. And this morning, he slipped the tie over his head, neatened it up, and was off to his interview, looking very authoritative with that fat knot. My dad, who taught me to tie his ties when I was about 9, would be so proud.

I kind of wish women wore ties with their professional getups. The tie sections in men's stores are full of bright, shiny colors, and it's like one of those wire MENSA 3D puzzles, except you can actually figure it out without getting out lock cutters.

Generally fabulous!