Kirigami is an art form where paper is folded & cut to create beautiful designs.(2)

Fold the paper differently to change the symmetry. You can have
* 4-fold symmetry (fold in half and then half again),
* 6-fold symmetry (fold in half, then into thirds),
* 8-fold symmetry (fold in half, then into quarters),
* 12-fold symmetry (fold in half, then into thirds, and then fold in half again). At this level, thin paper is a must. Keep in mind that real snowflakes have a six-fold symmetry and sometimes a 12-fold symmetry. If you fold the paper into four or eight sections, it shouldn't be called a snowflake anymore.

Make lots of small cuts instead of a few large cuts. More cuts will give a more lacier look.

Make long cuts that go deep towards the other side of the paper. This will give you an elegant design instead of the chunky kindergartener look. Be careful though, too much cutting will cause the entire snowflake to fall apart.

Robert Ryan has taken kirigami one step up by layering a paper cut design over top a gown. Definately a one-of-a-kind dress! Other incredible designs can be found in these web sites:

Bekah Gjerde's Flicker photos

Kanako Yaguchi's web site

David C. Stredulinsky's web site GW Hart does modular kirigami

Books available from Amazon.com

3D Kirigami and Origamic Architecture
When paper is cut to make pleasing artwork, it can be called kirigami. Thus pop-up cards, origamic architecture and other elaborate cut-outs can also be called kirigami. This type of artwork is beyond paper snowflakes and deserves to be shown in a separtes page. [Photo by P Callesen]