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 

The Poinsettia Floral Ball is a beautiful kusudama from Meenakshi Mukerji's book 'Marvelous Modular Origami'. I have been wanting to make this model for quite some time, but never got around to it! So when I got some pretty pink wrapping paper, I finally gave it a go. Well, red paper would have been the obvious choice for a poinsettia flower, I do realize, but I kinda liked this paper for the model.

The modules are pretty easy to fold. Assembly is also fairly simple. The lock is quite strong, but I did end up adding a little glue to a few corners. All these ball-like modulars tend to get thrown about a bit, so always makes sense to add some glue at the joints. The floral ball is fairly large - mine was about 5.5 inches in diameter (I had used rectangle that were 4 inches by 2 inches).

The book provides quite a few variations in the floral balls and hopefully, I will soon get around to folding those as well :)

Model Details:

Model: Poinsettia Floral Ball

Creator: Meenakshi Mukerji

Book: Marvelous Modular Origami

Author: Meenakshi Mukerji

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 4 inches * 2 inches

Model Size: ~5.5 inches in diameter

Modules: 30

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

I have not been the most active blogger these days, mainly because I am experimenting with paper jewelry and well, that is pretty time-consuming. Though I enjoy making paper jewelry, there is nothing like folding a good solid modular origami to get one back in the blogging game! This modular icosahedron is a fairly easy model to complete and is folded from half a square. So 15 squares, cut into half gives the 30 rectangles required for the icosahedron. The base unit is Lewis Simon's Triangle Edge Module.

Some points to note:

* I worked with coloured copy paper (80 gsm), which resulted in a good, sturdy model.

* If you are working with single sided paper, be sure to start with the coloured paper facing down (as given in the diagram).

* If your model is going to be tossed around (and believe me, this icosahedron very quickly becomes a football!), then be sure to add a dab of glue at the joints.

Model Details:

Model: Icosahedron from Triangle Edge Modules

Creator: Lewis Simon

Book: 3D Geometric Origami

Authors: Lewis Simon, Bennett Arnstein and Rona Gurkewitz

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle

Paper Size: 3.5 inches * 1.75 inches

Model Size: ~3 inches

Modules: 30

Tutorial: Youtube 

My daughter, Little Miss, has recently become very keen on recycling and reusing whatever she can. So when I was recently asked to make a few origami lotuses, she came up with the idea of making literary lotuses! And we are both delighted with the way the lotuses turned out. We initially tried a complete literary lotus - that is, the flower and the leaves were an old book paper. But our second attempt - book paper lotus with green copy paper leaves were more to our liking.

One thing I did find was that, the book paper is much thinner than the copy paper - which meant pulling out the petals had to be done with more care, else we risk tearing the paper. And since the paper was thinner, the literary lotus turned out a little smaller than the one made entirely from copy paper.

Model Details:

Model: Lotus

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle

Paper Size: 3 inches * 5.2 inches

Model Size: ~4 inches

Modules: 12

Tutorial: Youtube 

This month's theme at the Origami Society of Madras is a little different from usual. This month, we are working on a theme author instead of a theme object. And the author we have voted for is the grand-master of origami - Akira Yoshizawa.

The beauty of Akira Yoshizawa's models lie in the simple, elegant lines of his fold. His genius is evident in the way he captures an animal or an insect with the fewest folds possible! Ofcourse, there are a number of complex models to his name but his simple ones are the ones that capture the attention of even a beginner origamist.

His most popular model is the butterfly. I love this butterfly. When I first started teaching my Little Miss some basic origami, this was among the first models I taught her. And she became quite famous in her class, because she could fold a butterfly while most of her classmates folded only boats :) And inspite of the butterfly being an easy model to fold, it still looks amazingly like a butterfly! No wonder Akira Yoshizawa is credited as an origami grand master!

So today, what I folded was the origami shrimp from his book "Origami Museum Animals". Though the model is called a lobster, I think it resembles the shrimp more than it resembles the lobster. Again, with the fewest of folds, the grand-master has beautifully helped me fold a couple of cute little shrimps! Each shrimp is folded from a triangle formed by cutting along the diagonal of a square. In the notes, he has said that if the paper is thin enough, we can fold the square along its diagonal and then proceed with the shrimp, but I preferred folding it from a triangle. It helps that we can fold 2 shrimps from a single square which is what I did.

Model Details:

Model: Shrimp / Lobster

Creator: Akira Yoshizawa

Book: Origami Museum Animals
 
Author: Akira Yoshizawa
 
Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Triangle

Paper Size: 9.5 inch square cut along the diagonal

Model Size: The body measures ~ 3.5 inches and the antennae measure ~ 3.25 inches