Quilled Snowflake Decorations

Quilling is a very nice technique that I learned when I was little and although I really liked it, I stopped doing it after a short time (like most things I did!). Luckily I tend to keep everything, and when I recently started to think about trying it again, I remembered that I still had the quilling tool that I got back then!

So here is the first quilling creation I've made in years!
The shapes you can make with this technique are endless so you can really have fun creating your own. It's also perfect to do with kids because it's so simple to do! 
Since I love snow and snowflakes, I decided to make snowflake decorations for my Christmas tree and I am going to show you how to make a couple in this Instructable. They are actually 2 snowflakes in one!
I hope you enjoy it!*

_{*and if you do, please vote :D thank you!}

• a sheet of white A4 paper (the one you use for printing)
• slotted quilling tool
• white glue and painting brush
• scissors or cutter
• pencil
• ruler

The first you have to do is dividing your piece of paper in stripes.
The stripes must be 0,5 cm (0.19 inches) large and as long as the longest side of the sheet of paper.
It's very important that you make all the strips the same width so use a ruler and a pencil to do this.

When you are done making all your strips you have to cut them.
I started cutting them using scissors but after the first strip I actually used a cutter because I realized that it would have been much faster!

Try to be as accurate as possible in this step.

Let's start with the coils!

Take one of the strips you have just cut and insert one of its ends in the quilling tool.
Start to rotate the tool making sure that the paper is tight and keep rotating until you reach the other end of the strip.
When you do, remove your paper roll from the tool and glue the end to secure it.

Your first coil is done!
This is going to be the center of the snowflake.

Now you need to make another coil like that but before gluing it to close it, release it a little between your fingers so that it won't be as tight as the first one (loose coil).
Secure it with glue.

We are not going to leave this coil round this time.
Press one side of it with your thumb and index finger to create a teardrop shape.

Now make other 5 teardrops, for a total of 6.

Glue the tip of the teardrops all around the first coil you made, using white glue.
You'll obtain a shape that will remind you of a flower.

Make other 6 loose coils.
We are going to give them a new shape now.

Instead of pressing it on one side only, you need to press the coil using both of your hands at once so that the coil becomes more like an oval. This is called eye.

Make 6 eyes like that and glue them between the petals of the "flower" you made before.
Always look at the pictures to understand how it should be.

Cut 3 strips in half now to obtain 6 strips.

With these shorter strips you have to make 6 tight coils, just like the first one you made. The only difference is that they will turn out smaller, of course.

Glue the smaller coils to the tips of the "eyes" you made in step 5, always using white glue.
Because these shapes are so small and round you need to press them a little to make sure that they stick together.

This is already a nice snowflake! 
If you want to keep it this way, skip the next steps and go to step 10.

Now make 6 regular loose coils and glue them on the teardrops, between the eyes.

Let's make a new shape now.
Create other 6 loose coils and secure them with glue.
Shape them with the tip of your fingers to obtain a square. You need to press two sides like you did for the eyes then press against the inside of the coil to create other 2 angles. Rotate it to adjust it.

Glue the edge of the squares to the big loose coils you made in step 8.

Your other snowflake is done!

You need a coil with a hole in the middle to be able to hang the snowflake.

To do this, use a thin cylinder (I used the grip of my quilling tool, a round pencil would be fine too) and rotate a strip around it like you did for the other coils. The only difference is that instead of gluing the paper at the end only, I glued it at the beginning as well, to make sure that the paper forms a circle that doesn't move on the inside.

Glue this piece on one of the tight coils of your snowflake.
If you prefer, you could also spread some transparent varnish on the whole surface so that your decoration will become glossy and more resistant.

Pass a lace through the hole and you are ready to hang your snowflake on your Christmas tree!