Easy and beautiful lacy DIY doily snowflakes or stars
I’ve become quite the snowflake expert because I love making them as easy and affordable Christmas decor. I have been itching to use paper doilies to make snowflakes. Paper doilies are just so delicate and pretty but also affordable. You can find big packs of them at the dollar store, grocery store, craft store, and of course Amazon in different color options. So in today’s tutorial, I’m showing you how to make paper doily snowflakes. Some might call them stars, or even flowers depending on how many endpoints you have.
Easy and beautiful lacy DIY doily snowflakes or stars
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My brown paper bag snowflakes are still super popular and I brought some of them back in last week’s home tour where I showed you our new cheap sparse artificial Christmas tree. I really wanted some different snowflakes though which is why I decided to make doily snowflakes.
You make doily snowflakes in different ways. As a kid, I made them simply by folding one sheet and then cutting the edges the way you do with simple printer paper which creates flat doily snowflakes. I love three-dimensional snowflakes though.
I made two different versions. One with a full paper doily and the other with a doily cut in half.
Materials needed
- pack of paper doilies ( I used brown round paper doilies, white oval paper doilies, and dark brown round paper doilies in different sizes)
- hot glue and hot glue gun
- scissors
Video tutorial
It is always helpful to have a video so you can see exactly what my hands were doing. You can also watch the video on my YouTube Channel and follow me over there if reading tutorials isn’t your thing.
Step-by-step paper doily snowflake instructions
Step 1: Fold the paper doilies
Take a paper doily and fold the entire doily in half. If you use an oval one then fold it in half so the longer, further apart ends meet.
Open the paper doily up again. Then fold in both sides of the lace evenly. It doesn’t matter how far. You can even make them meet in the middle to create different looks. I folded the lace in right were it ends and the solid paper starts.
Step 2: Glue the doily edges to create pockets
For the next step, run a thin line of hot glue along the edge of the lace down on both sides to the center of the folded piece of paper doily. You can see in the below photo and in my video where I started applying the hot glue.
TIP: I usually like using craft glue (or glue stick) for projects like this but in this case, it works out better to use the hot glue when you make sure that the inside of the folded pockets don’t glue together. The hot glue dries fast and doesn’t run which is perfect.
Fold the paper doily in half so the lace glues to the opposite side.
Open the folded and glued doily pocket up to make sure that it didn’t glue to the solid inside of the paper doily. Be careful not to burn yourself though.
Repeat those steps until you have enough folded and glued doily pockets to create a doily snowflake. You can do anywhere from 5 to 9 pockets (to create 5 to 9 snowflake points) depending on what look you want. I think that 5 represents more of a star shape though.
Step 3: Glue the doily pockets together
Now apply a T-shaped line of glue to the front of a doily pocket as pictured.
And then lay another doily pocket onto the one that has the hot glue applied. Repeat that same step with the amount of doily pockets that you are using.
Try to open the pockets again to make sure the glue isn’t leaking through the lace and gluing together the wrong areas.
Here you can see my glued stack of doilies.
Step 4: Glue the last pocket of the fan to the first one
Now you can open the stack of glued-together doilies into a fan and then apply another T-shaped line of hot glue to one of the ends so you can glue them together and form a finished doily snowflake.
Then all that’s left to do is to fluff and shape it a bit and figure out how you want to hang it. These types of doily snowflakes are three-dimensional and perfect for hanging in a window.
Bonus instructions: Half paper doily snowflake method
Since the three-dimensional doily snowflakes are a bit on the fat side, I wanted to come up with a way to make flatter less fat snowflakes by cutting the paper doilies in half. Let me show you. These types of doily snowflakes are perfect for hanging on a flat surface like a wall and in my case the fireplace mantel.
You start out the same way by folding the doily in half and folding in the lace sides toward the center.
After that, however, you fold the doily upwards in half again and then in half again. So when you open it you have a visible center line.
This center line is your guide on where to cut the paper doily in half. (If you are wondering, YES, you could cut the doily in half ahead of time as well instead of doing it this way.)
Now, you only have to glue one lace side together the way you did earlier in step 2. Again, make sure the lace doesn’t glue to the inside of the folded part.
Repeat that again until you have enough to create a snowflake.
Now you glue the stack together not with a T-shaped line of glue but with an L-shaped line of glue.
Here you also need to make sure that the flat ends of the snowflake sides don’t glue to the next piece.
When you open this type of doily snowflake fan, you have a doily snowflake with a flat side.
Here you can see a light brown and dark brown doily snowflake. I love the dark brown one because it is so different.
How to hang doily snowflakes
I like using command hooks for most of my Christmas paper decor. The clear hooks with adhesive strips are great.
I have also glued skewers to some of these doily snowflakes. That way you can stick them into planters or the garland greenery on my fireplace.
Fishing line is also a great way to delicately hang the snowflakes from curtain rods.
Finished doily snowflakes
Aren’t they super pretty? Which color is your favorite? They definitely have a flower-type quality to them.
I used my favorite battery-operated candles again on my fireplace mantel. And the clip-on candle version on my tree below.
Check out the rest of the boho living room and Christmas decor.
DECORATING TIPS: Doily snowflakes look beautiful hanging from curtain rods, around the fireplace, hanging from the ceiling, in a Christmas tree as ornaments, or as gift toppers.
My other DIY paper snowflake tutorials
If you like snowflakes as much as I do then you might like some of my other snowflake crafts that I have made over the years. To me, they are all very pretty and rather easy to make with a few cheap supplies. It’s once again proof that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to have beautiful Christmas decor.
Check out how I used the other snowflakes in my holiday home decor…
Tschüß,
How to make doily snowflakes
Learn how you can create beautiful three-dimensional lacy paper doily snowflakes in a variety of colors and sizes as unique and affordable Christmas decor.
Instructions
- Fold the paper doilies
Take a paper doily and fold the entire doily in half. If you use an oval one then fold it in half so the longer, further apart ends meet.
Open the paper doily up again. Then fold in both sides of the lace evenly. It doesn't matter how far. You can even make them meet in the middle to create different looks. I folded the lace in right were it ends and the solid paper starts. - Glue the doily edges to create pockets
For the next step, run a thin line of hot glue along the edge of the lace down on both sides to the center of the folded piece of paper doily.
Fold the paper doily in half so the lace glues to the opposite side.
Open the folded and glued doily pocket up to make sure that it didn't glue to the solid inside of the paper doily. Be careful not to burn yourself though.
Repeat those steps until you have enough folded and glued doily pockets to create a doily snowflake. You can do anywhere from 5 to 9 pockets (to create 5 to 9 snowflake points) depending on what look you want. I think that 5 represents more of a star shape though. - Glue the doily pockets together
Now apply a T-shaped line of glue to the front of a doily pocket as pictured.
And then lay another doily pocket onto the one that has the hot glue applied. Repeat that same step with the amount of doily pockets that you are using.
Try to open the pockets again to make sure the glue isn't leaking through the lace and gluing together the wrong areas.
Here you can see my glued stack of doilies. - Glue the last pocket of the fan to the first one
Now you can open the stack of glued-together doilies into a fan and then apply another T-shaped line of hot glue to one of the ends so you can glue them together and form a finished doily snowflake.
Then all that's left to do is to fluff and shape it a bit and figure out how you want to hang it. These types of doily snowflakes are three-dimensional and perfect for hanging in a window.
Notes
- I usually like using craft glue (or glue stick) for projects like this but in this case, it works out better to use the hot glue when you make sure that the inside of the folded pockets don't glue together. The hot glue dries fast and doesn't run which is perfect.
- You can glue a skewer to the doily snowflake's back. That way you can stick them into your decor such as greenery.
- Use command hooks like the clear hooks with adhesive strips to hang the snowflakes on the wall.
- Fishing line is also a great way to delicately hang the snowflakes from curtain rods.