Iris folding is one of my favourite crafts, and winter is such a lovely time of year for it. There are so many beautiful seasonal shapes that work with folded papers – from robins and snowflakes to Christmas trees, baubles and snowmen.
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I’ve gathered together some of my favourite winter iris folding patterns, including several of my own free iris folding templates, plus some lovely designs from other iris folding creators.
Whether you’re looking for a cosy winter afternoon craft, handmade Christmas card ideas or a new papercraft to try, hopefully you’ll find a pattern here that inspires you.
What is Iris Folding?
If you’ve not tried iris folding before, it’s a papercraft technique where folded strips of paper are layered following a numbered pattern. The finished design often creates a beautiful spiral effect – a little like the iris of a camera.
You don’t need lots of specialist equipment to get started either. Paper, card, sticky tape and something to cut your aperture are the main essentials.
If you’re completely new to the craft, you can find my full Iris Folding for Beginners guide here:
You can also browse my complete collection of free iris folding templates and patterns here:
Free Winter Iris Folding Patterns from Busy Busy Learning
I’ve gradually been building up my own collection of iris folding patterns, and there are a few that are particularly lovely for winter crafting.
Robin Iris Folding Pattern
Robins always make me think of winter. My free robin iris folding pattern is also one of the designs I’d recommend if you’ve never tried iris folding before. It’s a simple pattern that’s suitable for complete beginners.
I originally used some recycled brown packaging paper for part of my robin. Iris folding is a brilliant craft for using scraps of paper, wrapping paper and even the patterned insides of envelopes. The finished robin would make a lovely handmade Christmas card, but it’s not so Christmassy that you couldn’t use it for winter cards or artwork too.
I particularly like this pack of origami paper in reds and whites. I love that it’s not a festive pack but it can equally be used for a Christmas robin as well as keep in your stash for all year round projects.
Oh Christmas Tree Iris Folding Pattern
For something more festive, my Oh Christmas Tree iris folding pattern is another free download. Christmas trees work particularly well for iris folding because you can have lots of fun choosing your papers.
Traditional greens look lovely, but there’s no reason your tree needs to be traditional. Blues and silvers would create an icy winter tree, while brightly coloured patterned papers could make something much more playful.
Lantern Iris Folding Pattern
If you’ve already tried some of the easier patterns and fancy something a little more challenging, have a look at my free lantern iris folding pattern. You can also change up the colours and it becomes a Christmas bauble design.
The actual folding pattern is based around a fairly straightforward hexagon, but the narrow frame makes this one more fiddly to put together. It’s one I’d recommend for a more experienced iris folder.
Although lanterns work beautifully for festive crafts, I think this design is lovely throughout the darker winter months. You could use rich reds and golds, icy blues and silver or experiment with completely different colour combinations.
You can make your own tassels for this project or you can purchase pre-made ones like I did. You can purchase bumper packs like these or there are smaller packs of just ten here.
Winter Iris Folding Patterns from Pretty in Paper by B
If you’ve followed my iris folding posts before, you’ll probably already know that I’m a big fan of Pretty in Paper by B. Bethan has an enormous collection of iris folding patterns, card apertures and kits, including lots of winter and Christmas designs.
These are paid patterns rather than free downloads, but there are some gorgeous designs to choose from.
Snowman Iris Folding Pattern
The Snowman Iris Folding Pattern would be my first pick for a winter roundup. It’s marked as a beginner design, so it’s a lovely option if you’ve mastered a simple iris fold and want to make a seasonal card.
The download includes the iris folding pattern, pattern guide, greetings card template, instructions and an SVG cut file if you’d prefer to use a cutting machine. I love that a snowman also gives you lots of scope to personalise your finished card with different colours and embellishments.
More Free Winter Iris Folding Patterns
There are some brilliant iris folding resources elsewhere online too.
Craft with Sarah Free Iris Folding Patterns
Craft with Sarah has a large collection of free iris folding patterns.
For winter, have a look for the Snowman Iris Folding Pattern (a medium difficulty) and Christmas Bauble (a beginner) Iris Folding Pattern. There are also plenty of non-seasonal designs if you find yourself hooked and want something to make once winter is over! You need to create a log in to download.
Hunkydory Festive Iris Folding Downloads
Hunkydory also has a collection of free festive iris folding templates, including a snowflake, Christmas tree, stocking and angel. For a winter rather than specifically Christmas project, my favourite from the selection is probably the snowflake.
Winter Iris Folding Paper Ideas
One of my favourite things about iris folding is seeing how different the same pattern can look just by changing the papers.
For a winter palette you could try:
- icy blue, white and silver
- navy blue with holographic paper
- kraft paper with cream and muted greens
- traditional red, green and gold
- recycled wrapping paper
- old book or music paper
- metallic papers
- pearlescent origami paper
Thin paper usually works best for iris folding. I generally look for paper around 60–80gsm, as thicker paper can quickly make the back of your design rather bulky. Don’t forget to raid your paper scraps before buying anything new – iris folding is brilliant for using up narrow leftover pieces.
Winter Iris Folding for Children
Iris folding can be a lovely craft to do with children too. Younger children may need an adult to prepare the aperture first, particularly if it needs cutting with a craft knife. Once that’s done, children can follow the numbered pattern and add the paper strips.
It’s a lovely activity for practising:
- following a sequence
- fine motor skills
- pattern and colour choices
- concentration
- careful positioning
For beginners and children, I’d start with a straightforward design such as my Robin Iris Folding Pattern before moving on to something more intricate like the lantern. Maybe choose some winter or festive colours and have a go at the humble square which is the perfect first iris folding project.
Glitter card is great stash resource for iris folding. I like to make sure that it’s glitter card where the glitter is well stuck on and doesn’t come off. I like to use it for the borders of designs as well for the centre of the iris.
More Iris Folding Ideas
If these winter patterns have got you wanting to try more, you’ll find lots more free designs in my iris folding library.
There are patterns for different seasons, celebrations and occasions, with more being added over time.
Browse all my free iris folding patterns here:
And if you’re completely new to iris folding, start with:
Iris Folding for Beginners – Free Templates, Patterns and Tutorials
Iris Folding Resources
We R Makers Guillotine Trimmer
One of my favourite purchases recently is the We R Makers Mini Guillotine. It’s perfect for small projects and gives a lovely clean cut. Although I replace the blades on my other paper trimmers, they just haven’t been giving me the smooth cut I’ve been looking for. The We R Makers Mini Guillotine can easily cut the shorter side of A4 paper and the 6×6 inch origami paper I use for iris folding and other projects.
However, if you mainly cut on the larger side of A4 and up to 12×12 inches then the standard size one may be worth a look. I was delighted that my daughter told my other half just how much I would love the larger version and they purchased it for me for my birthday this year. I’m thrilled! I keep the mini one in my project bag for quick little snips and then my large one is on my craft table for bigger projects.
Card Blanks
I’m generally quite a purist when it comes to card blanks. This is because I want the creation to shine. With this is mind I generally use three different plain white card blanks. I use a 5 x 7 inch for anything that isn’t suitable on a square design. A 6 x 6 inch square for most other projects. If I want something to look particularly wow then I go for an 8 x 8 inch card and use a thicker border backing.
Happy folding!