Hanging Snowflake Garland

I have a secret confession.  I've never been able to make nice paper snowflakes.  Ever.  My snowflakes looked like a child's art project, cut out with round-tipped scissors.  Not only did mine always turn out chunky, but they were never really symmetrical.  This year I was determined to learn how to make delicate, airy snowflakes.

A tutorial at Martha Stewart showed starting with the square piece of paper, folding into a triangle, then into another triangle.... then -- wait a minute!!  This is where I usually start cutting out shapes.  But there's not one, but TWO extra steps before that!  There's a double-fold plus an extra cut.  I think I know why my snowflakes have never worked before...

Armed with this information I started cutting shapes in November, well before it was appropriate to decorate the windows.  By the time December rolled around I was getting pretty good at making nice delicate shapes.  And then I found maya*made.  Her snowflake tutorial showed the exact steps I had just learned to make great snowflakes (apparently I was the only one that was never taught how to properly make a snowflake).  But she went beyond that and created a lovely hanging display of her snowflakes.  She crafted her snowflakes out of newsprint -- a wise plan to turn something targeted for the recycle bin into such lovely art.  This material also adds an extra dimension in that the snowflakes are so delicate that the slightest air current sets the garland twirling.  It truly adds a touch of magic, and isn't that what we seek at this time of year?