Flowers vs. Snow

Every year the same thing happens:  You think spring is coming, you even see little bits of green starting to push their way through the ground and you're like "It's getting warmer!  Can't wait!" Then....it snows.  Ha ha, April Fool courtesy of Mother Nature. 

The other day one of the kids at work asked me to show her how to make a snowflake.  Urgh.  I didn't want to see any more of those things whether they be actual frozen water or just paper.  So I said I'd show her how to make a flower to color instead and it came out great so now I'm going to show you.

You will need:  an 8 x 10 piece of paper, scissors and nubby, broken crayons with the paper all peeled off.

* Square your paper off.  Fold the bottom corner over to one side like this and cut off that extra bit like this to make a big triangle. Save that extra piece for later!

* Fold your big triangle in half and then fold that one in half.

*Now the tricky bit.  Fold the top of your triangle (the side with the fold) over toward the cut edges of the triangle.  It makes this sort of wonky icecream cone shape.

* Cut the top off of the "icecream" so it's now just a skinny triangle.

* Now make the top a little more interesting.  You can round it off, make it jagged or do a swoop like I did.  You can also make some little cuts up the sides and cut the bottom tip off if you like or leave it smooth if you'd rather not.

 * Open it up and it'll look like a snowflake. 

*Take your crayons and rub them from the center to the edges like the spoke of a wheel.  The crayon will be darker on the edges. 

If  you use more than one color it makes a cool gradient effect.

*Take the extra bit from the side that you cut in step one, and make a leaf or two.  Color it in and add some details.

Now make a whole bunch of them and tape them onto your window to blot out leafless trees and brown grass!