Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. 2 Corinthians 9:15

May this Christmas be a time of reconciliation and peace, may the love of Christ be with us and His peace surround us. May our Christmas be a time of healing, giving and sharing.

Merry Christmas!

And here are a couple of really adorable Christmas earrings that I had recently folded. I absolutely love how well they have turned out!

The first pair is made with red beads and oxidised bead caps. And of course, red and white washi paper. The second pair is made from kami paper with wooden beads to add some green relief.

The Icosahedral Kit is yet another of the Polyhedron kits from Miyuki Kawamura's book 'Polyhedron Origami'. In this modular origami, 2 kinds of modules are used - the Edge module and the Vertex module. The icosahedron kit is made from a total of 12 vertex modules and 30 edge modules - a grand total of 42 modules.

Double-sided paper works best, since the back of the vertices are visible through all those gaps. The modules are fairly easy to fold and assemble. I used glue as a precaution, but it is not absolutely needed. The size of the paper that I had used was 3 inches and it resulted in a fairly big icosahedron - about 6 inches in diameter.

Model Details:

Model: Icosahedron Kit

Creator: Miyuki Kawamura

Book: Polyhedron Origami

Author: Miyuki Kawamura

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: 6 inches diameter

Number of Modules: 42

Tutorial: Youtube

A very cute mouse folded from a square. It is not very difficult to fold and works well with origami paper, 6 inch square.

I like these little guys, they are about 3 inches in size, excluding the tail.

This is the second model I am folding from the book 'Origami - 30 Fold-by-Fold Projects'. The other one I have folded was Francis Ow's Double Hearts. So far I have found the models fairly easy to fold. Hopefully I will try out a few more in the days to come. Specifically the elephant!

Model Details:

Model: Mouse

Creator: Eduardo Clemente

Book: Origami - 30 Fold-by-fold Projects

Author: Paulo Mulatinho

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 6 inches

Tutorial: Youtube 

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

What is Valentine's Day without one of Francis Ow's hearts? So here you go, Ow's Double Hearts.

The 2 hearts are made from half a square and each heart displays one side of the paper. So naturally, double sided paper with contrasting colours work best.

I used a double-sided 120 gsm 8-inch paper cut into 2. This was the only double-sided paper I had, so had to make do. But regardless, I was able to make the origami. So yay!!

Model Details:

Model: Double Hearts

Creator: Francis Ow

Book: Origami - 30 Fold-by-fold Projects

Author: Paulo Mulatinho

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ration 1:2

Paper Size: 4 * 8 inches

Tutorial: Youtube  

 This Christmas has been a very busy time for me. I had participated in a couple of Christmas sales and have been busy making paper jewelry! And paper jewelry is time-consuming work! So I didn't get a lot of time to make anything special for Christmas 2014.

One thing that I did try was this modular star. The star is actually made from Bascetta Star modules. The star requires a total of 24 modules. The modules are folded as usual. For assembly, instead of using 3 modules for the pyramids, here we use 4. From then on, it is pretty straight forward. Keep adding modules in a circle. I found it easier to assemble the circle first and then worry about fixing the centre. I used glue to hold the joints well, since I had planned on adding it to my Christmas tree.

The first star that I did was in rainbow colours. I think a better choice of paper would have been paper coloured on both sides, like copy paper. So I did another star with Christmas colours. Very happy with the result this time :)

So that is my Christmas decoration for this year. Hope you have fun with this model :)

A very merry and joyous Christmas to my readers. Have a wonderful day :)

Model Details:

Model: Modular Star

Creator: Paolo Bascetta

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: ~ 6 inches diameter

Number of Modules: 24

Tutorial Link (for making the modules): Youtube

Fumiaki Kawahata's most well-known origami is probably the Origami Yoda. But, I doubt I will ever make it - for one, I am not very clear on who exactly Yoda is (Star Wars and I are galaxies apart!!) and two, I am not really good at folding people/animals/birds from paper. Somehow my models don't come out with a smooth finish and end up looking very unrealistic!

The modular ball, on the other hand, is one of only 3 modular origami designed by Fumiaki Kawahata. I have always been put off by how complex it looks, until I finally gave it a try today. Surprisingly, it is pretty easy to make. There are 6 modules that are basically pleated. Each corner is folded perpendicularly to the initial pleat, to form 2 perpendicular arms.

Now the way the model is put together is something I have not seen before! There is none of the usual tabs and pockets to assemble the model. Instead, 2 modules are placed facing each other, so that their perpendicular arms meet in the centre. Now, these 2 arms hold in place a third module. It is a little tricky initially, but pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Only thing to remember is that, if one module is taken out, the whole model will come undone.

Model Details:

Model: Modular Ball

Creator: Fumiaki Kawahata

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3.5 inches

Model Size: ~ 3 inches

Tutorial - Modules: Youtube

Tutorial - Assembly: Youtube