I’ve recently been introduced to kirigami. It’s a variation on origami which uses scissors to make fabulous paper cut designs. Suddenly, paper cutting is a year round activity, no longer limited to winter snowflake making. Kirigami involves folding a square of paper into a base, cutting with scissors or an x-acto knife, and unfolding to reveal the symmetrically repeating design. Different bases lead to 4, 5, or 6 pointed designs. There are even ways to fold the paper that create butterfly and heart shapes. Wow.

I cannot describe the satisfaction of simply cutting along lines and then unfolding to discover you’ve made a beautiful creation. So I put together a design for you all to try out. Download the pdf here and print it out on regular 8.5 x 11 paper. Fold, and cut away! If you’re printing on scrap paper you’ll want to print on the already used side, leaving the blank side for your finished cut out.