I don't usually fold animals or birds, but this little sparrow was a delight to fold. I also liked the look of it. It doesn't look like a real sparrow, more like the cartoon version, with a nice long tail and a pair of jaunty wings.

The sparrow fairly easy to fold, though I did get stuck in the third step initially. For those trying out for the first time, please remember that in the second step, the rabbit ears has to be completed on the front and then repeated behind. Only then does step 3 work out right. Steps 6 and 7 are slightly tricky. The rest is pretty easy.

The creator, Perry Bailey, suggests using single coloured paper, so that the head and the body are the same colour, but I think duo coloured paper provide a better appearance, such as my little sparrow here.

Model Details:

Model: Sparrow

Creator: Perry Bailey

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4.5 inches

Model Size: 2 inches in height and 3.5 inches across

Diagram: Origami Diagram

As a kid, I was an avid Enid Blyton fan. And as such, was quite familiar with mushrooms and gnomes and fairies and elves. So when I came across this origami mushroom, designed by Matt Slayton, well naturally, I had to fold it!

I had initially tried it with orange momigami paper. It came out well, but I think the wrapping paper in red with white dots makes a better mushroom. 3-4 inch squares result in an ideal size for these mushrooms.

Model Details:

Model: Mushroom

Creator: Matt Slayton

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 - 4 inches

Model Size: 3 - 4 inches in height and 2 - 2.5 inches across

Diagram: Origami Diagram

This gift box, designed by Robin Glynn, is yet another of his economical designs. The entire box, including the closure at the top, is made from a single square of paper.

A 6-inch square gives a small box (about 2 inches in size, 1 inch in depth) that would be a good size for a ring, or a pair of small earrings. A bigger square, say 8 inches, results in a slightly bigger box, about 3 inches in size and about 1.5 inches in depth.

The paper I first used was the usual origami paper. Not good for the box. The sides are not strong, since it isn't a modular box, so it cannot serve any purpose. I then tried with scrapbooking paper, 160 gsm heavy paper. This was perfect. The open box was from a 6-inch 160 gsm paper, with a woodsy appearance. My favourite though, is the black and white box, made from an 8-inch 160 gsm paper.

Model Details:

Model: Gift Box 

Creator: Robin Glynn

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 6 - 8 inches

Model Size: 6 inch square results in a box of side 2 inches and depth 1 inch
8 inch square results in a box of side 3 inches and depth 1.5 inches

Tutorial: Youtube

Diagram: Origami Diagram

Happy New Year, dear readers! I hope this new year is a blessing to all of you.

So I wanted to start off the new year on the blog, with a beautiful project. I was working on a complex origami, which wasn't turning out to be much of a success! So I ended up putting it aside, incomplete for now, and instead started working on an easier (but more time consuming!) project, namely a paper rose wreath.

This rose wreath is made entirely from paper (the pages of an old book, to be precise). I have been working on this wreath for the past week, a few hours each week. And though it was a back-breaking and time-consuming work, I am delighted with the end result! And now it hangs proudly in my work room and I keep admiring it every few mins!! I know, vanity indeed!!

The purpose of the rose wreath was two-fold. One, I wanted a project for New Year and two, I wanted to try out a recent purchase of mine - the EK Success Circle Scissors. It arrived a few days back and ever since, I have wanted to do something with circles. And these roses start off as circles, so it was a perfect way to start using my scissors. And I must say, I am absolutely fascinated with the scissors! I needed to cut about 250 circles (that is how many roses there are in the wreath) and with the circle scissors, this was a piece of cake - all done in less than an hour :)

Of course, making the roses was the major work. It took me about 8-10 hours to complete. The base can be a foam wreath base. But I had made my own wreath - cardboard cut in shape, lined with bunched up newspaper then layered with tissues that are held down with a mix of glue and water. Allow to dry over night and you have a rock solid wreath base. Glue on roses, add a ribbon - red for a little colour. And voila, your wreath is ready!

I am now thinking of making a Valentine day's wreath, using red roses. What do you think, dear readers?

Model Details:

Model: Paper Rosette Wreath 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Circle

Paper Size: 3 inches in diameter

Model Size: Wreath diameter - 12 inches

No of Units: ~ 250 

Tutorial: Youtube

Yet another design by Martin Sejer Andersen that I recently folded :) This was initially named 'The Unnamed Ring'! and has recently been christened the Braided Ring.

The ring is made from 14 modules. The modules start off with folding into fifths. So a template comes in handy. I quite like the little bits of colour (white in my case) that can be seen at the edges and at the centre of the ring. Btw, the ring is a 3D ring, but can easily be converted into a flat 2D version. But I did find the 3D version more stable than the 2D one!

Model Details:

Model: Braided Ring 

Creator: Martin Sejer Andersen

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: ~ 4 inch diameter

Tutorial: Youtube

Modules: 14

I am sure most of us have tried our hand at weaving paper mats, at least when we were kids. I have made quite a few paper mats and then moved on to making little bowls by using the same technique.

Recently, my sister-in-law, whose office is eco-friendly, wanted me to try using newspapers to make an eco-friendly waste paper basket for her office. It appealed to me very much, so I got to work folding newspaper sheets into thick strips to form the basis for my woven basket. Unfortunately, the end wasn't very appealing!

I searched around for another way and with Youtube to my rescue, finally figured out how to roll newspaper tubes and use these as the basic material for making my basket. This tutorial gave me a good start. I made a bowl initially and since that turned out quite fine, I then made a basket.

As per instructions from my daughter, Little Miss, I coated the finished products with a layer of glue/water mix - apparently that is how it is done in some of the art shows that she watches on TV! The end result was a very stable, recycled, eco-friendly bowl/basket, that is great for storing a variety of things. I am yet to make the waste basket though!

I recently ordered a lot of origami paper from Kim's Crane and am now thrilled with my supply of beautiful origami paper :) And since I had so much of variety, I decided to start off making Christmas decorations from them. And, I think the most common origami decoration for Christmas must be the Sonobe!

So here are a whole lot of origami sonobes made in a variety of colours and patterns, all set for Christmas. I am yet to add satin ribbons for hanging them from and I will be all set. I also ended up making a few Christmas stars, which you can see scattered around.

I worked on both 30-unit and 12-unit models. All using 3-inch squares, so all of them ended up pretty much the same size.

Model Details:

Model: Sonobe

Creator: Mitsunobu Sonobe

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inch squares

Model Size: 3-inch in diameter

Modules: 12 or 30

Tutorial: Youtube