After doing quite a bit of newspaper weaving, I tried my hand at magazine art. In both kinds of art, the principle remains the same - reusing old paper to create new objects. So paper from magazines and newspapers can be rolled in the same way, to form long paper tubes. These paper tubes can then be used in a  variety of ways.

In the case of newspaper weaving, since the paper is not very glossy, it is more conducive to colouring and weaving. Magazine paper is glossy, shiny paper, so colouring the paper is very difficult. And in any case, the glossy print stands out without the addition of any colours. But of course, given the shiny nature, it is quite difficult to weave using this paper. So I decided to convert the magazine tubes into pen holders.


The process for making the pen holders is pretty easy - glue the tubes to form a long rectangular strip and then roll it around a cardboard base to form a pen stand. But the process is quite tedious and quite time consuming. The pen-stands though, are really eye catchy!

Well, that was my bit to save the environment 😃 I think any one can give it a go. And end up with unique, handmade pen stands which make great gifts as well. Please gift only to those who appreciate handmade things though.. Else, it is just a waste of time!



Well, after completing the Plain Octagon Box from last week, I couldn't wait to try one more of the boxes from Tomoko Fuse's 'Joyful Origami Boxes'. 

This time, I tried out the Double Pinwheel box described on page 70. For the assembly, I tried the second assembly, since I wanted the back of the paper to be visible as much as the front. The folding and assembly are not too difficult.

So now, I just have to try the variations on Page 72 😊



Model Details:

Model: Octagon Double Pinwheel Box

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Joyful Origami Boxes

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3.5 inches

Model Size: 3.5 inches across

Number of Modules: 16

'Joyful Origami Boxes' by Tomoko Fuse is an amazing book if you like folding origami boxes. I had previously tried out a couple of the models from the book - The Heptagon Starry Pinwheel Box and the Hexagon Pinwheel Box. But this was way back in 2011, so when I got another opportunity to fold something from this book, I decided to try out the Octagon series.

Similar to the Hexagon and Heptagon boxes, Tomoko Fuse has given detailed instructions for making quite a few Octagon boxes - Pinwheel, Flowery Pinwheel, Starry Pinwheel and Double Pinwheel are some of the variations she has detailed in the book.

What I have folded is the Octagon Box - Plain, found on page 69. The folding is pretty straight forward and as always, steps are accurately described. Assembly was also fairly easy. I used coloured printer paper, so that the box is nice and strong.

I do hope to fold more of these boxes in the coming days. Page 72 gives a list of variations on the Octagon Box and this is something I absolutely want to try.

Model Details:

Model: Octagon Plain Box

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Joyful Origami Boxes

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3.5 inches

Model Size: ~3.5 inches across and 0.75 inches in height

Number of Modules: 16