With Christmas in the air, I decided to make a little Christmas wreath for my Christmas tree. This wreath is designed by Francesco Guarnieri and is made from 8 modules. It is pretty easy  and quick to do and makes a great addition for the Christmas Tree.

My first attempt was using white washi paper with red flowers, contrasted with plain red paper. Quite liked the contrast in this. But for a more traditional Christmas look, I guess the usual red-green combination works best. The model works best with double-sided paper. 3.5 inches squares were ideal for my requirements, and resulted in a great about 6 inches in diameter.

Model Details:

Model: Stella Ghirlanda / Star Garland

Creator: Francesco Guarnieri 

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3.5 inches square

Model Size: ~6 inches in diameter

Modules: 8

Instructions: Origami poesie di carta

Tutorial: Youtube

Merry Christmas!

After viewing many, many, MANY images of newspaper woven, Christmas themed articles on Pinterest, I decided to try out Santa's sleigh - seemed easy enough - oval shaped basket, a couple of runners and we are pretty much done. Or at least that is what I thought!

The basket was easy enough to make. I used an oval container as a form, cut out a cardboard base, covered with Christmas themed paper, weaved the basket with red and green newspaper tubes.

The challenge turned out to be the runners! Threading my tubes with wire so that it will hold the shape was itself quite a challenge! The wire needed to be thin enough to go through the tubes but thick enough so that it did not bend too easily. Once I threaded the tubes, using red tubes, I made 2 long lengths, similar to the cup handle. Here, it appears I did not wet the tubes, because quite a few of them cracked repeatedly :( Finally, I needed to figure out a way to hold up the sled above the runners. I am still not happy with the way this turned out and I am yet to figure out an effective way to do this.

Finally, this was the result:

Not what I had hoped for, but I know that my next effort will be better :) 

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 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 

This wreath is from David Petty's book 'Origami 1-2-3'. I have previously tried out a few projects from this book and promptly lost the book! That is, till I found it during some house cleaning :)

This modular piece sounded interesting, so I tried it out. But as per the design, the wreath does not end with pointed ends. The ends are folded down into the neighbouring module to form a kinda blunted wreath. Check out the next picture for the actual wreath - the one in yellow is the way to go. The pointed end one is not very stable and needs to be glued in place if you actually want to use it somewhere.

I used regular copy paper, cut into 2 inch squares. It resulted in a pointy wreath measuring about 4 inches in diameter and a blunted wreath about 2.5 inches in diameter.

The most curious thing for me, about this wreath was that it requires 13 units! I have never come across another model that required 13 modules :) For the blue one, I did add 14 modules though - it was just a tad more stable with 14!

Model Details:

Model: Wreaths / Flower Wheel

Creator: David Petty

Book: Origami A-B-C

Author: David Petty

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 2 inch squares

Model Size: ~4 inches (blue one) and 2.5 inches (yellow one)

Modules: 13 or 14

Carmen Sprung must be one of the few origami artists who uses paper in ratios involving square root(√) values! One of the previous Carmen Sprung's designs that I had worked on was the √3 Schachtel, which used paper in the ratio of x:√3x.

The Mennorode Star uses paper in the same ratio ie., x:√3x. In the diagram, she has also explained how to get this size, from a square sheet of paper. The design is a modular star, made from 12 units.

At least 2 colours are required to bring out the pattern in the completed star, and to avoid confusion while assembling it. It is suggested that multiple colours be used when assembling the star for the first time. This is helpful in order to clearly see how the arms fit together.

Though the star is pretty easy to assemble, the instructions are not that simple. And it isn't in English either, so I put google's translate services to good use :) OrigamiNut has posted a video on Youtube with a tutorial for folding and assembling the units. Unfortunately, I discovered this after I had completed the star. The tutorial should make the job fairly easy I think.

Model Details:

Model: Mennorode Star 

Creator: Carmen Sprung

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: x:√3x

Paper Size: 2.9 inches by 5 inches

No of Modules: 12

Instructions: Origamiseiten

Tutorial: Youtube

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 

After a whole lot of Christmas crafts and tutorials, here is another beautiful modular star, created by Christine Blasek. There are about 3 variations to this star and all of them look great!

The model has 8 units in all and I wanted to bring out that change in colour in the centre of the star, so I had used some of my precious duo coloured origami paper. And I think the star justifies the paper :)

I did find a youtube video for making the original kalami star. Since the variation is an extension of the original star, I think the video should be helpful if you are stuck while folding it.

Model Details:

Model: Kalami Star 

Creator: Christine Blasek

Website: Kalami
 
Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Modules: 8

Instructions: Kalami

Tutorial (for the original Kalami Star): Youtube

While origami kusudamas and other modular oriami pieces are great decorations for Christmas, one must admit that they are not the simplest of decorations to work on. They are usually time consuming and, in my case, unless I start preparing for Christmas at least a month in advance, I find that I have very few pieces to decorate my house with.

That is where paper crafts help me out a lot! Paper craft decorations usually include glue and cutting and snipping but they are simple to make and I can get my daughter, Little Miss, to help me out as well!

One such is this modular star that I had done last year. I had also meant to post a tutorial but never got around to it. With Christmas around the corner, now is a great time for this tutorial! I hope you enjoy making this star :) Here are the instructions (Click on the picture for a larger one)

What is needed: 

• 5 or 6 squares of paper – about 4 – 5 inches is ideal. Thick paper is the best for making these stars, preferably card stock. 5 squares will give a 5-armed star and 6 would result in a 6-armed star. 
• Glue
• String
• Glitter, colours, paints, anything else that can add beauty to the star

Steps: 

1. For each of the squares of paper for the star, 
2. Fold in half, left to right, and unfold.
3. Fold in half, bottom to top, and unfold. 
4. Turn over
5. Fold one diagonal and unfold. Turn the paper over again
6. If you press the center of the square, the paper will start to fold down by itself, along the diagonal and the folds of steps 2 and 3.
7. Flatten down the folds to form a square. This is a square base in origami.
8. Repeat for the other 5 or 6 squares
9. Place one square base on top of the other and clip them together
10. Continue clipping the squares for the remaining pieces. Add the string in between 2 square bases. 
11. Once you are satisfied with the arrangement, apply glue to each of the clipped surfaces – ensure that glue is applied to the whole surface, else there will be a big gap in the middle of the star. Apply some extra glue to the string to hold it securely in place. Clip the glued star till the glue dried completely.
12. Decorate the star to your heart’s content and hang on your Christmas tree!

Well, it is past Christmas, but that doesn't mean that I can't post a tutorial to make Christmas paper globes :) These globes are very easy ornaments to make and can be a good craft for turning waste into wealth. I have reused a lot of Christmas greetings, left over card stock, to turn out these pretty globes.

Now on to the tutorial:
What is needed?

• 20 cards - either greeting cards or card stock. I prefer greeting cards, since they add a lot of colour and bring out the Christmas spirit.
• Something to draw a circle from. I usually use a cup with a circular mouth.
• Glue or stapler. Stapler works just fine if you are using greeting cards and the pins are hardly visible. If solid colour card stock is used, then glue will be better.
• Glitter, rubber stamps or anything else that takes your fancy and can be used to decorate the globe.

Steps:

1. Using the circle, cut out 20 circles from the greetings/card stock.
2. Next, fold an equilateral triangle into the circle. You can just eye-ball it and fold 3 corners to form a triangle.
3. Once you have folded the triangles, take 5 of the circles, and join together, either glueing or stapling them as shown in the picture. You will need to make 2 such sets. They form the top and bottom of the globe.
4. For the centre of the globe, join the remaining 10 circles in a straight row so that alternate triangles face the same side.
5. Make a circle from this by joining the ends together.
6. You are almost done :) Once the circle is formed, 5 tabs can be seen, where one of the sets made in Step 3 will be stapled/glued.
7. Do the same on the other side and you are done.
8. Decorate the globe using glitter, rubber stamps, ribbons, buttons and anything else you like. Add a loop to hang it by and you are done :)

The Snow-capped Sonobe is another variation on the Sonobe created by Mitsunobu Sonobe. This variation is created by Meenakshi Mukerji and is from her book 'Marvelous Origami'. 

Two-sided paper, coloured on one side works best for this model, though that is not what I have used!

Model Details:

Model: Snow-capped Sonobe 

Creator: Meenakshi Mukerji

Book: Marvelous Origami
 
Author: Meenakshi Mukerji
 
Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inch squares

Modules: 12

Christmas is almost here!! I love this time of the year. And this year, to add to the usual joy of Christmas, I will also try and add as many posts on Christmas origami as possible :) And to kickstart this season of love, here is a Sunken Sonobe 3 unit assembly.

The usual 3 unit sonobe assembly is called Toshie's Jewel, folded by Toshie Takahama. The sunken sonobe is a variation from the sonobe units, one I like a lot! The units are not that easy to assemble, at least the 3-unit version of sunken sonobes, but they make lovely Christmas tree decorations.

Model Details:

Model: Toshie's Jewel and Sunken Sonobe

Creator: Toshie Takahama

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inch squares

Modules: 3

Instructions: Sonobe Unit, Assembly 

This is actually a very simple modular star, made from simple square bases. I had actually done this as a wealth-from-waste project, using some left over wedding invitations that my brother had given me. His invites were a gorgeous combination of red and white and I also loved the texture of the card. So I reused the card to make a simple star ornament. Just a bit of glitter and I was done.

And I will also post a tutorial on making the star. It is quite simple and would make lovely Christmas decorations..

Model Details:

Model: Simple Modular Star

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 5 inches

Number of Modules: 5

Instructions: PaperNPearlz

Yet another ring from the book 'Origami Rings and Wreaths' by Tomoko Fuse. This one is just the perfect thickness that makes it a perfect addition to my Christmas wreath collection.

I had used some Christmas wrapping paper and I love the mix of red and green in the ring. The ring is made from 16 squares. I had used 3 inch squares and the final ring measured about 4.5 inches in diameter - not big enough to hang on the door, but would look good on our Christmas tree. I even added a loop at one end to help hang it up.

Model Details:

Model: Ring 10

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Origami Rings and Wreaths

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: 4.5 inches in diameter

Number of Modules: 16

The Stellated Dodecahedron, commonly called the Bascetta Star is a very popular modular origami and was designed by Paolo Bascetta. This spiky star becomes especially famous during the Christmas season. Though there is still some time for Christmas, I decided to give this a go.

It is a very simple design to work on and will be a good one for beginner origamist who wish to do some modular origami. As with most modular origami, folding the individual modules is an easy job and creating the star from the modules is slightly more complicated.

The design works best with dual coloured paper.

Model Details:

Model: Stellated Dodecahedron (Bascetta Star)

Creator: Paolo Bascetta

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Number of Modules: 30 Units

Tutorial Link: Youtube