The sampan is a traditional Chinese fishing boat. And the sampan origami is also a traditional origami which is easy enough to be tried out by kids; probably for a rainy day..

The sampan can be made in a couple of ways and like most traditional origami, there are plenty of places you can get both the instructions.

The one featured above is one kind of sampan, the only difficult part here is turn the model inside-out! :) But once a couple of these sampans are completed, it is pretty easy to do!

This is a slightly more complicated one but again, doable by kids. There are also lots of beginner origami books which give instructions for both these sampans..


Model Details:

Model: Sampan 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 7 inches

Instructions for the first sampan: Origami Instructions

Tutorial for the second sampan: Youtube 

The curler units by Herman Van Goubergen are deceptively easy to make. In fact the basic units are easy to make since they involve creating a water bomb base and curling the 4 arms towards the centre. But putting them together into a ball takes time.

The curler units can be assembled into different spherical structures. A cuboctahedron (12 units), a rhombiccuboctahedron (24 units), an icosidodecahedron (30 units) are various structures that can be made from the curler units.

What I have tried out is the Icosidodecahedron, made of 30 units i.e., 12 pentagons and 20 triangles. Each pentagon is surrounded by 5 triangles and each triangle by 3 pentagons.

The curler unit assembly looks good whether it is done in a single colour or in an abundance of colours. I did mine with a mix of colours. I got bits of all possible colours that I have with me and made my curler units. And I really liked the colourful end result :)

Model Details:

Model: Curler Icosidodecahedron 

Creator: Herman Van Goubergen

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 5 inches

Model Size: ~4 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

Instructions: British Origami

Tutorial: Youtube


I still am fascinated with shells and spirals and Tomoko Fuse's shell/nautilus (am not really sure of the difference between the two!) from her book on spirals (Let's Fold Spirals) is a good place to start.

The spiral sea shell A which I tried, turned out to be an interesting origami to fold. The diagram is clear and makes the folding quite easy. The shell is quite realistic if done in the right colours.

Model Details:

Model: Shell/Nautilus 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Let's Fold Spirals

 Author: Tomoko Fuse

Language: Japanese

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 7 inches 

The origami balaika is created by Tomoko Fuse and is detailed in her book 'Home Decorating with Origami'. She describes it as an objet d'art in the book :) The design looks intricate and delicate and the more pleats there are, the better it looks.

Well, I managed to do the objet d'art and as suggested in the book, made two of them and glued them at one of the edges. It looks very difficult to make but the instructions provided are very clear and quite doable. The biggest problem was making those squashes after the pleating is complete. But after I had done an initial couple of practice ones, I was able to do that also reasonably well :)

Model Details:

Model: Balaika

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Home Decorating with Origami

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 8 - 9 inches
The Christmas Tree Ball or Origami Icosidodecahedron is a modular origami made from 20 squares of paper. This is, in fact, Tung Ken Lam's jitterbug units assembled into an icosidodecahedron. The jitterbug units are themselves quite easy to make. They can also be assembled without glue, though I prefer gluing the modules together.

I had this pretty wrapper paper that was great for this model. But it looks equally good in solid colours. Thin origami paper might not hold the shape well.

Model Details:

Model: Jitterbug Icosidodecahedron / Christmas Tree Ball

Creator: Tung Ken Lam (creator of jitterbug units)

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper size: 4 inches

Number of modules: 20

Diagram: Nick Robinson's site

Tutorial (for the jitterbug icosidodecahedron): Youtube
Well, to tell you the truth, haven't had time to try any new origami today. So thought I would share this origami Twister that I had done as part of our Christmas celebrations.

The twister or an Origami Medial Rhombic Triacontahedron is a mouthful to pronounce! The design is by Miyuki Kawamura and is made from 30 rectangles of paper, in the ration of 2.5:1. The design was published in Origami Tanteidan Volume 5. This is one of my most time-consuming origami to date. It can be held together without any glue, but I preferred gluing it in a few places so that it didn't come undone easily.

Model Details:

Model: Origami Medial Rhombic Triacontahedron / Twister

Creator: Miyuki Kawamura

Book: Origami Tantedian 5th Volume

Language: Japanese

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: 2.5:1

Paper size: 7.5 by 3 inches (Ratio 2.5:1)

Number of modules: 30

Tutorial Link: Youtube

The origami star box is a simple container, made from a single square of paper. It is also a practical box, quite useful to store little clips and things.

Thick paper should be used, if a sturdy box is required. Duo coloured paper works well, since the star flaps are formed from the other side of the paper than the rest of the box.

Model Details:

Model: Star Box 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Tutorial: Youtube