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

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

Valentine's Day is coming up and this time, I thought I would try out some handmade gift bags to go with the Valentine Day's gifts.

I tend to hoard paper pack in various themes. These are essentially 160 gsm thick paper with print that is coordinated under specific themes. Though they are not usually used for origami, they are great for making paper bags!

So I broke out the Valentine Day themed pack and ended up making these bags which are about 6 * 4 inches in size.

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

This incredible goblet is made from a single sheet of hexagonal paper. A very interesting design to fold..

I had got this model during one of my random browsings and wanted to fold it immediately. But I had been putting off folding this model, since I was too lazy to cut a hexagon out of a square! And from seeing the instructions, I thought it might be difficult to fold. But in realily, it wasn't too difficult.

Single sided paper works quite well for the model. But if you don't want the inside of the goblet to be white, then duo-coloured paper need to be used. I had first used copy paper to fold the initial model and it turned out quite well. But of course, origami paper is the easiest to fold with.

Model Details:

Model: Goblet 

Creator: Samuel Randlett 

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Hexagon

Paper Size: 7 inches

Instructions: Asociación Española de Papiroflexia

These cute little sheep, designed by Roman Diaz, would make a great addition to an origami nativity scene, apt for Christmas!

The model works best with paper that is black on one side and white on the other. I initially tried out with brown/dark brown paper that had a 4 inch side. The second one I tried was the brown/yellow one, using 2 inch squares. So in the end the models turned out like a mother and her baby!

The folds are slightly tricky but doable and the end result is pretty realistic.

Model Details:

Model: Sheep 

Creator: Roman Diaz 

Book: 4 Esquinas

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 2 - 4 inches

Model Size: ~1.5 - 3 inches in height

Instructions: 4 Esquinas 

The Multi Points Star, by Ilan Garibi, is a great addition to my origami collection this Christmas. The stars are modular, easy to make and can be used to make stars with as many points as required, starting with 6 points.

I realised that paper that is thicker than usual origami paper works great for this model. So I ended up using printer paper, wrapper paper etc.

I tried with various sizes of squares as well, starting with 2 inch squares and finished with 4 inch squares. All looked great!

Model Details:

Model: Multi Point Star 

Creator: Ilan  Garibi

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 1.5 inches upto 4 inches squares

Modules: 6 modules and above

Tutorial: Youtube