After trying out this modular wreath by Lidiane Siqueira, I attempted another of her wreaths, the Marieta Madala, a Christmas themed wreath, folded from 8 modules.  

It would, of course, look best with paper coloured red on one side and green on the other. Since I didn't this paper, I decided to go for red and green single sided origami paper. I like the way this has turned out and I think it would make a great addition to my Christmas tree. 

Model Details:

Model: Marieta Mandala 

Creator: Lidiane Siqueira

Difficulty Level: Simple 

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches (7.5 cms) 

Model Size: ~4 inches across

Modules: 8

Diagram: Criativa'rte

The Graciosa wreath is a very simple origami wreath by Lidiane Siqueira. It is also very economical. The wreath is made from an odd number of modules - 7 of them. Each module is folded from half a square.

The size I liked is a 7.5 cms square cut into 2. So for my wreaths, I used one sheet of 15 cms square, double sided origami paper. From this, I got 7 rectangles, 7.5 cms by 3.75 cms. The modules are very easy to fold. Each module forms 2 spikes of the wreath, so that the final wreath actually has 14 spikes.

Assembly is also quite easy, it is just a matter of slotting one module into the next. It is held together with glue.

Model Details:

Model: Graciosa  

Creator: Lidiane Siqueira

Difficulty Level: Simple 

Paper Ratio: Rectangle

Paper Size: 3 inches * 1.5 inches (7.5 cms * 3.75 cms) 

Model Size: ~3 inches in diameter

Modules: 7

Diagram: Criativa'rte

Recently, I had the pleasure of being a part of a farewell party for outgoing students of a class. This was the culmination of a 2-year intense study for a masters degree. Naturally both the outgoing students and the students who were giving the farewell were very excited and at the same time emotional.

For me, it was a chance to be around young minds, marvel at their creativity and guide them when I could. Given that origami is one of my keen interests, the students wanted me to incorporate a little bit of origami in their celebrations. So when I came across this idea of making invitation boxes using origami, I went ahead and did exactly that!

Since black and white were the event colours and personalised invitations were the need of the hour, I chose a variety of black and white single sided paper to make the invites. The paper is fairly thick, 120 gsm, which means the folding is not very complex 😀

The photo above is the invitation in the closed position. The 2 halves of the heart serve as handles to open up the invite. See below for the open one.

Model Details:

Model: Invitation Box

Origin: Traditional 

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square or Rectangle

Paper Size: 12 inches * 7 inches (While the tutorial calls for a square sheet of paper, since I wanted a different size invitation (4*3 inches), I worked with a rectangle sheet of paper.

Model Size: ~4 * 3 inches

Tutorial: Youtube

Here's a wreath that I made for Christmas. The problem is that I had made use of a tutorial that I had saved a long time back, but unfortunately I know neither the name nor the creator of the wreath. Hmm.. Big problem!

But I can say one thing - it is an easy wreath to make and looks excellent with double sided paper!!

Merry Christmas 🎄🎄

Model Details:

Model: Wreath 

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Rectangle, 1:2 ratio

Paper Size: 3 inch by 1.5 inches

Model Size: ~3 inches in diameter

Modules: 8

I love reading, so any time I come across origami bookmarks, I give them a try. Now, this bookmark is a simple and traditional design that I came across while browsing through David Petty's collection of origami designs.

The origami is made from a third of a square sheet of paper. So that basically meant I could make 3 bookmarks from one square! Cutting it into thirds was fairly simple, because it does not have to be perfectly measured. So I just eye-balled the approximate point and cut along that.

Model Details:

Model: Lighthouse Bookmark 

Origin: Traditional (Chinese) 

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: One third of a square

Paper Size: 7 inches * 2.3 inches

Model Size: ~6.5 inches

Instructions: British Origami 

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

The strawberry wreath is a simple variation of the origami traditional 16-pointed star. While the original star is single-coloured, this variation is double coloured and looks good with double-sided paper. The moment Little Miss saw the strawberry colours I had used for this star, she decided that it should be named the Strawberry Wreath :)

I have been meaning to make a tutorial on one of the traditional origami designs and have now revised the plan and decided to make one on this variation. So hopefully soon, I should have my next tutorial ready :)

Model Details:

Model: Strawberry Wreath

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3.5 inches

Model Size: ~6.5 inches in diameter

Modules: 16

Tutorial: Youtube 

Yet another simple modular origami made from a waterbomb base. This one is even named 'Quick and Easy Modular" :) The model looks complex but it is fairly simple to make. Reminds me of the origami spinner.

The modular is made from 6 units which are pretty easy to fold. The modules lock well and require no glue.

Yet another project for beginners to modular origami!

Model Details:

Model: Quick and Easy Modular

Creator: Heather Shida

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 5 inches

Model Size: ~6 inches

Modules: 6

Tutorial: Youtube 

I am always on the lookout for some easy origami to teach Little Miss, my daughter. And when I find modular origami that she can do, I am doubly delighted. So yesterday, I happened upon this beautifully easy modular action origami, the origami magic circle and of course, had to immediately fold it. It is so simple that it took me all of 15 minutes to fold and assemble the 8 modules!

Each module starts from a waterbomb base. When assembling, absolutely no glue is required since each module locks well into the adjacent module. When assembled, the model resembles a flower (second pic). When the pointy ends are turned inwards, they end up meeting in the middle and the model becomes a circle.

A few tips:

* Use double-sided paper. Copy/printer paper is perfect for this model. This will ensure that the uncoloured side of the paper is not visible at the open end.

* If kids are attempting the model, use paper that is at least 4-5 inches in size. Little Miss, who is 6, found it difficult assembling the model when I gave her 3-inch square papers (slotting the two tabs simultaneously into the two pockets turned out to be frustrating for her).

Model Details:

Model: Magic Circle

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 5 inches

Model Size (circle): ~5.5 inches

Model Size (flower): ~8 inches

Modules: 8

Tutorial: Youtube

The traditional origami rabbit is pretty easy to make and there are plenty of tutorials out there to help out. I have been trying out other rabbits as well, and am amazed at the number of origami rabbits there are - everything from the super simple to the super complex! I think I can make these every day for a month and still have pending designs!

Model Details:

Model: Rabbit 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: ~2 inches in height and 1.5 inches across

Tutorial: Youtube 

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

After making origami prisms in the previous post, it seemed natural to try out the antiprisms next. Antiprisms are similar to prisms but the difference is that the side faces are triangles instead of parallelograms. Also, the top and bottom parts are twisted, relative to each other.

For these antiprisms, I used 3.5 inch squares - 3 squares for the triangular antiprism, 4 for the quadrilateral one, 5 for the pentagonal antiprism and 6 for the last one. The model isn't very stable though, and requires a dab of glue to hold it well in place.

A variation to the prisms gives a slightly different shape, when the sides are creased in. This gives a multi-sided star shape - like the 3-sided star and the pentagonal star in the pic.

This modular origami is again from Miyuki Kawamura's book - ‘Polyhedron Origami'.

Model Details:

Model: Antiprisms

Book: Polyhedron Origami

Author: Miyuki Kawamura

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3.5 inches

Model Size: 2 inches in height

Tutorial: Youtube

Prisms in Mathematics are polyhedrons where the top and bottom faces are polygons that are identical. The sides are parallelograms.

I was trying out the prisms from  Miyuki Kawamura's book 'Polyhedron Origami' for beginners. And it turned out to be really simple. Each of the prisms can be done in 10-15 mins in all.

Well, there really isn't much more to say! Give it a go :)

Model Details:

Model: Prisms

Book: Polyhedron Origami

Author: Miyuki Kawamura

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Model Size: 2 inches in height

Tutorial: Triangular Prism, Square Prism, Hexagonal Prism

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 💓

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you would know that I love making boxes :) And the easiest boxes to make are masu boxes. Masu boxes are actually traditional Japanese wooden, square boxes that were used to measure rice.

The origami masu box is made from a square paper and results in a square box. These make great gift boxes, if a lid is added to it. The lid can also be made from paper the same size. Some minor variations to the regular masu box folding results in a slightly larger and shorter lid. Tutorial for this is coming your way! So stay tuned :)

As for the box, it is fairly sturdy if made from scrapbooking paper, printer paper or gift wrappers. If you want sturdier boxes, then it is better to cut out thin cardboard paper (say, from cereal boxes) and insert them into the base and sides of the box.

Model Details:

Model: Masu Box 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: Any size from around 3 inches to 12  inches

Model Size: ~ a third of the paper size in width and a fifth in height. So if your paper is 6 inches, then the resulting box will be approximately 2 inches wide and 1.2 inches high.

Instructions: Origami Instructions

A few days back I read a joke that 90% of people using Google.com, use it to check if their internet connection is working and only the remaining 10% use it for searching! Well, it looks like most people I know were busy checking their internet connections today, cos I have got endless messages, pings, calls informing me that today is Akira Yoshizawa's birthday, thanks to the Google doodle today :) I have got suggestions on what I should post and what I should make!

I did take the suggestions to heart and made a little something with Akira Yoshizawa's very famous butterfly. The Yoshizawa Butterfly is, I think, one of the most beautiful yet simple butterflies that I have tried. It starts with a waterbomb base and is very quickly turned into a butterfly!

What I did with the butterfly, was to make a whole bunch of them in rainbow colours (or at least most of the rainbow colours) and place them randomly to a while background to form a collage of sorts.

If you notice closely, you will see that the butterfly wings are not completely flattened and the butterfly itself does not lie flat. This was a small variation I picked up from Nick Robinson's blog, where the wings are folded but not creased and a mountain fold holds the butterfly shape well.

Model Details:

Model: Butterfly 

Creator: Akira Yoshizawa

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 2 inches

Tutorial: Youtube

Instructions: Sanrio Town

The 8 cornered box or vase is a traditional origami that is made from a single sheet of paper. It starts off with a frog base. The origami is essentially a simple origami to make, though it involves a fair number of steps to complete.

Printer paper or other similarly thick (ie., 80 gsm) paper works well for this model. Thicker 120 gsm paper can also be used.

Model Details:

Model: 8 Pointed Star Box 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 8 inch squares

Model Size: ~3 inches in diameter and 2 inches in height

Instructions: Marigami's Site

Tutorial: Youtube

These origami star containers, that can double as vases, are a great traditional origami to fold. They are made from a single square sheet of paper, the thicker the better. I had initially tried mine with origami paper and then with regular copy paper. The copy paper one turned out to be much more sturdy. The folds are quite simple and starts from a square base.

They are great for storing little knickknacks. I filled up mine with little glass stones. They will also make great vases, though the mouth is a little wide, so you will need to either fill it with a whole lot of flowers or insert a small holder. Since a vase looks better if it is long, ensure that the last fold (before it is shaped out) is made smaller.

Model Details:

Model: Star Container 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 8 inch squares

Model Size: ~3 inches in diameter and 2 inches in height

Tutorial: Tweety Atelier

Tutorial: Youtube

While origami kusudamas and other modular oriami pieces are great decorations for Christmas, one must admit that they are not the simplest of decorations to work on. They are usually time consuming and, in my case, unless I start preparing for Christmas at least a month in advance, I find that I have very few pieces to decorate my house with.

That is where paper crafts help me out a lot! Paper craft decorations usually include glue and cutting and snipping but they are simple to make and I can get my daughter, Little Miss, to help me out as well!

One such is this modular star that I had done last year. I had also meant to post a tutorial but never got around to it. With Christmas around the corner, now is a great time for this tutorial! I hope you enjoy making this star :) Here are the instructions (Click on the picture for a larger one)

What is needed: 

• 5 or 6 squares of paper – about 4 – 5 inches is ideal. Thick paper is the best for making these stars, preferably card stock. 5 squares will give a 5-armed star and 6 would result in a 6-armed star. 
• Glue
• String
• Glitter, colours, paints, anything else that can add beauty to the star

Steps: 

1. For each of the squares of paper for the star, 
2. Fold in half, left to right, and unfold.
3. Fold in half, bottom to top, and unfold. 
4. Turn over
5. Fold one diagonal and unfold. Turn the paper over again
6. If you press the center of the square, the paper will start to fold down by itself, along the diagonal and the folds of steps 2 and 3.
7. Flatten down the folds to form a square. This is a square base in origami.
8. Repeat for the other 5 or 6 squares
9. Place one square base on top of the other and clip them together
10. Continue clipping the squares for the remaining pieces. Add the string in between 2 square bases. 
11. Once you are satisfied with the arrangement, apply glue to each of the clipped surfaces – ensure that glue is applied to the whole surface, else there will be a big gap in the middle of the star. Apply some extra glue to the string to hold it securely in place. Clip the glued star till the glue dried completely.
12. Decorate the star to your heart’s content and hang on your Christmas tree!

This modular wreath is a great project for beginner origamist who are just starting off with modular origami. It is a traditional design and quite simple.

I love how eye-catching the end result is! I had placed this at my desk in office and everyone who passed by, had a couple of remarks to make on the star :)

Model Details:

Model: Spiky Wreath 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 2 inch squares

No of Modules: 16

Tutorial: Youtube

Instructions: Tavin's Origami