This little heart box is my attempt to organise my desktop with a few recycled boxes. For the first one, tried out a heart box. The base is made from cardboard, since I wasn't too sure I would be capable of weaving a heart shaped base!! 😄😄 The heart-shaped cardboard was covered with newspaper that was then painted the same colour as the tubes.

Based on the size of the box, I started with tubes placed at an interval of 1.5 cms. I find this is the ideal placement of tubes. I tried 2 cms distance but I found the weaving to be too spaced out. Smaller distances makes weaving difficult for me! So 1.5 cms it is.

After that, it was a very simple weave with 2 tubes. Finishing off was also pretty easy. Then it was just a matter of glazing the box to give me a really hard and sturdy heart-shaped organiser for my desk.

Model Details:

Model: Heart Shaped Desk Organiser

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial for making the edge: Youtube

A Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there! This Mother's Day, I had made a couple of newspaper woven heart containers (photographed only one though) to 2 special ladies in my life - my mom and my mom-in-law.

These two women have always been supportive of everything I do and have encouraged me to go after my dreams. They are both strong women and have been instrumental in helping me become stronger, both mentally and spiritually. And to these wonderful women, I wish a very happy Women's Day :)

To create these heart containers, I decided to use some lovely card stock paper with pink and blue hearts. Little Miss helped me pick out matching grosgrain ribbon for the bows. I went with an odd number of base tubes so that the dark blue/light blue combination would show up better.

I must say that forming the dip at the top of the heart was quite challenging. I still have to perfect it. Since the shape was something different, I ended up having to make a base form. This ensured that my piece did not go out of shape. I have finally got the hang of managing the height of the containers. So in the heart box, the height was pretty much consistent. 

So that's about it. I already have a couple of orders for making these heart boxes. So I'll get cracking and will be sure to post pics of the completed items. And once again, a happy Mother's Day 😃

I love these little heart stud earrings that I had made recently! A wonderful hand-made gift for a friend.

This was the first time I am trying out stud earrings instead of hanging ones. Well, I have made star earrings in the same way before, but this, I found, was much more delicate than the stars, so that meant I had to use additional reinforcements to ensure it doesn't bend. So, a lot of experimentation later, voila! A couple of pretty, delicate yet strong heart earring studs.

Model Details:

Model: Heart Earrings 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Instructions: Origami Instructions

Valentine's Day - a very nice time to make origami hearts! So I found these easy hearts, which take about 5 minutes to complete :)

I had intended to make these hearts as covers for a couple of boxes that I had, so I made them from big, 6-inch paper. I love polka dots, so I had this lovely red, polka dot wrapper paper which I was able to use now. This paper is a little thicker than the 80 gsm printer paper, which made it very good for this heart.

Now, all I need to do is fix them on top of 2 boxes that I am making for my husband and my daughter. And I am all set for Valentine's Day!

Model Details:

Model: Hearts 

Creator: Haui Boglárka

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 6 inches

Model Size: 5 inches across and 4.5 inches in length

Instructions: Zsuzsiorigami  (no longer available)

Tutorial: Youtube

This month has been a busy time for me, as I am getting ready for an event. And here is what I have been working on..

These stars set in spirals are decided difficult to make! I wish there were some instrument that would make this easier, but for now, I make these spirals by hand. And those spirals add so much of beauty to these earrings. I have also made star earrings with a single crystal and a few with a coil as a dangler but these, I hope, will be the highlight of my star earrings. In addition to red, I am also making these earrings in rainbow colours.

Another of the star earrings. I must admit this is the first time I am attempting any wire work. And simple as it should be, it has its own challenges for a beginner. Considering the number I am planning on making, I think I should soon turn out to be fairly good at making these spirals! And these star earrings in spirals are by far my favourite in this collection! 

These heart earrings are another favourite of mine. Most of these earrings have a little dangle and are about 5-6 cms in height. Little Miss insisted that I make a few smaller ones too - she is very sure that kids will want to buy them and the ones with the dangle might be too big for them! :) 

Leaf earrings always, always catch the eye. Any time I have worn my leaf earrings, I always receive compliments on my earrings. And people find it so hard to believe that it is paper! I am making these earrings in 2 sizes - 3 cms and 4 cms. Most of them are made from pearlescent momigami paper which adds a beautiful sheen to the earrings. Once again, I am making them in a variety of colours. The little pearl on the top goes well with the pearlized paper :)

And finally, wreath earrings are something that I always make. Made from 16 little bits of paper, they are pretty difficult to handle but look great when worn! I am making these earrings in a variety of washi and chiyogami paper. The gold accents in the chiyogami paper adds definite appeal to the earrings. I am also trying to turn them into studs (earrings on posts instead of fish hooks), though I might not be able to work it out in time for the event. But even on fish hooks, these earrings aren't all that dangly or large.

I have more earrings that I am working on and will post them soon.

After the round wreath made from little paper rosettes, here is another wreath - this one a red, heart wreath. I had used red/brown sheets, cut circles from the paper and rolled these rosettes before gluing them to a heart-shaped wreath base.

I had made one mistake that I will need to rectify in my next wreath. I think I should have painted my wreath base red before adding the flowers. Right now, I can see bits of the white base between the flowers.

But all in all, it was a fun project. Little Miss helped me too, so it turned out to be a time of mom-daughter bonding as well.

Model Details:

Model: Paper Rosette Heart Wreath 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Circle

Paper Size: 3 inches in diameter

Model Size: 13 inches in length and 12 inches across

Tutorial: Youtube

This dual coloured heart is designed by Andrey Lukyanov, an Ukrainian origamist, who has designed a whole bunch of heart/love-based origami! Using Google Translate, I gather from his website (which is in Russian), that this heart represents 2 halves of love which builds a new life.

As far as the model goes, the creator has made a detailed video on how to fold it (link below). After the initial pre-creasings, the model is collapsed on these creases. That point is not very clear in the tutorial. It took me a couple of tries to get this right. Another potential problem area is pleating the leaf. I had used 6-inch paper and the pleats are really tiny!

The obvious choice of paper is a single-sided red paper. I have used pearlized momigami paper and I love the texture it adds to the model.

Model Details:

Model: New Life Heart 

Creator: Andrey Lukyanov

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 6 inches

Model Size: ~2.5 inches in length and 3 inches across

Tutorial: Youtube (Part 1 and Part 2) 

This heart dish is a modular dish, made from 4 squares. An apt origami for Valentine's Day I thought. I am not able to find out the creator of this model. The youtube tutorial that I referred to, mentions that it is Tomoko Fuse, but unfortunately I am not able to find this model under her name on the Origami database. And well, whether the creator IS Tomoko Fuse or not, it is still a good one to fold, especially for a day of love.

Origami paper might be a bit too thin for the heart bowl. Printer paper or gift wrapper, about 80 gsm or so should result in a good, not-so-flimsy dish. Fill it with some hearts and it should make a very nice, unique, handmade gift :)

Model Details:

Model: Heart Dish

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Model Size: ~1.5 inches tall and 4 inches across

Modules: 4

Tutorial: Youtube

Did you know that the traditional gift for a first anniversary is paper? Well, with Valentine's Day so close, I ended up collecting my favourite paper heart earrings, a unique gift for a unique day.

I remade a few of my heart earrings for my daughter, Little Miss. The purple ones turned out to be her favourite and the right size for her :) 

A couple of years ago, I had attempted these heart boxes by Robin Glynn for the first time. While I had not perfected it, it still turned out great. So this time, with Valentine's Day coming up, I decided to give it a go again.

This time, I wanted to make it sturdier, so attempted it with thicker paper. That is, with 120 gsm from some of the paper packs that I had with me. So, in addition to being really pretty, these boxes also turned out to be functional.

The pink and white boxes are my absolute favourites. Naturally, these boxes have been duly handed over to Little Miss! She apparently is once again in need of boxes for her things!

The blue box, termed "Love is in the air", was specially requested by a friend.

And with that, we come to the end of the post :)

Continuing from my previous post on handmade envelopes, here are more of these envelopes. I made a couple of sets of these envelopes with little origami decorations. The paper used, both for the envelopes and the decorations, is thick, handmade paper in antique gold and copper gold. Thick paper = simple origami! So I had to discard quite a few ideas I had. I am sure I will try more of these envelopes with slightly more complex origami decorations soon :)

The first of them have a little cherry blossom in one corner of the cover. The toughest part of folding these little flowers, turned out to be snipping off the corners, since I had to cut with multiple folds, without distorting the shape. Quite a task!

The last set of envelopes had a little origami hearts in them. The hearts were pretty simple to fold. And while the cherry blossom envelopes look lovely, I love the sentimentality of a little heart on the cover 💓

With Valentine's day coming up, the origami cube of love would make a great DIY gift 😀 It is a modular cube with a whole bunch of hearts in it! It is made from 6 units, each unit with a heart in one of the corners. The modules are made from half a square, that is, rectangles in the ratio of 1:2. They are quite easy to make. Duo-coloured paper must be used to get the contrast between the heart and the rest of the module.

The cube makes a great decoration and will make a good gift for a loved one..

Model Details:

Model: Cube of Love

Creator: Fumiaki Shingu

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 5 inches * 2.5 inches

Modules: 6

Diagram: Origami-club

Trialling out a bunch of paper earrings, made from Japanese washi paper. I still have ways to go, but I think I have made a good start. 

I used predominantly green paper for this set. The biggest problem with making paper jewellery is dealing with the size of the modules. But while the going in difficult, the end result is very good.

Most of the designs are from Ayako Brodek's book on Origami Jewellery, a real keeper if you are inclined towards making such jewellery. The most useful part was the size details provided for each design.

I also tried out some traditional, simple designs such as the star and the wreath. The only problem with these designs was that I had to experiment quite a bit to arrive at the optimum size of paper.

All the earrings are made sturdy by glazing. And this also makes them water resistant.

Paper hearts are really great to make! They are simple and however badly you end up making them, they still turn out great :) So ended up making these heart earrings.

I love how the colours pop in the gold and orange earrings. Absolutely my favourite. These next ones in blue are a more subtle version, complete with a couple of heart beads to liven them up.

With Valentine's Day just round the corner, I found this interesting table card, complete with a little heart at the top. The table card is made from 2 pieces - a base and the heart. It was a little challenging to fold, but I love the result, especially the red card with white heart.

Model Details:

Model: Heart Card 

Creator: Hans Birkeland

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 7 inch square

Model Size: ~2 inches across

Diagram: Origami Resource Center 

 

Most origami boxes are modular pieces and to get a box this size, you would need really small modular units, which could turn out to be tedious to make. But this box is just perfect in size!

One thing that I would suggest is that, if you are giving this to someone, it would be better to glue the little pocket that is on the inside of the box. I also glued the join at the top of the box to prevent it from opening up!

Model Details:

Model: Heart Box 

Creator: Robin Glynn

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: A4 (297 mm * 210 mm)

Model Size: ~4 inches

Diagram: Origami Diagram

Tutorial: Youtube (Part 1 and Part 2)

This super cute pyramid box is easy to make and looks different from the traditional square or rectangle boxes. This looks especially cute when the box and the lock are done in contrasting colours. It would make an ideal gift box for presenting chocolates and other small things. Just add a string/loop at the top and you have a lovely box that can be hung from a Christmas tree perhaps.

A possible variation for the lock is Tomoko Fuse's stopper from the variety of stoppers from the book 'Home Decorating with Origami'. I have used the heart shaped stopper.

Model Details:

Model: Pyramid Box 

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Tutorial: Youtube