The Origami Pinwheel Cube is designed by Tomoko Fuse and is found in her book 'Multidimentional Transformations Unit Origami'. The cube is formed from just 6 units, so as compared to the other cubes that I have done in recent days, I found it pretty quick to complete. 

The name of course, comes from the pinwheel shape that is seen on each of the faces. Origami paper that has different colours on both sides will work best. 

Model Details:

Model: Pinwheel Cube 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Multidimensional Transformations Unit Origami
 
Author: Tomoko Fuse
 
Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inch squares

Modules: 6

Tutorial: Youtube (Folding and Assembly)

The origami Goldfish is a simple extension of the samurai hat. It does involve a couple of cuts though, so have a pair of scissors in hand before proceeding with the origami :)

Similar to the kabuto, dual coloured paper would be the best for the goldfish. If made small enough, they make beautiful earrings too!

Model Details:

Model: Gold Fish

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Model Size: ~2.5 inches

A Kabuto is a Samurai helmet and is a part of the Japanese armour. The origami Samurai Hat, though, is a beginner origami that takes about 2 minutes to learn! They are fun to make and are great as party hats. The hats can be made from any kind of paper, starting with newspaper! But they look best when made from dual coloured paper, so try it out :)

Btw, here is a little titbit about the Kabuto - this little helmet was the inspiration for the helmet of Darth Vader in the Star War films.

Model Details:

Model: Samurai Hat or Kabuto

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Instructions: Origami Instructions

Tutorial: Youtube

Model Size: ~2.5 inches

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

Isn't this guy really, really cute! Especially that little tail!

When I saw the tutorial on Youtube, I simply had to make one immediately. It is actually quite easy to make and resembles an elephant quite well :) This one that I had done was from a 4 inch square paper (since I didn't have a grey in any other size), but I was still able to finish the elephant quite easily.

Model Details:

Model: Elephant 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Tutorial: Youtube 

The traditional origami butterflies are always great to make. They work with any kind of paper - origami paper, copy paper, gift wrapper and any other that we can lay our hands on.

These butterflies are easy to make and would be good as a little something on the wall I think. Small size is the key. Paper size 3-4 inches is a good size.

Model Details:

Model: Traditional Butterfly 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 3 inches

Instructions: David Petty's Origami

The Kawasaki butterfly is yet another easy butterfly, made from half a square - economical and pretty! The creator is the amazing Toshikazu Kawasaki, better known for his origami rose. The butterfly can be found in his book 'Origami Dream World - Flowers and Animals'. 

Model Details:

Model: Butterfly 

Creator: Toshikazu Kawasaki

Book: Origami Dream World - Flowers and Animals
 
Author: Toshikazu Kawasaki
 
Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 3 inches by 1.5 inches

Tutorial: Youtube

Akira Yoshizawa's butterfly is one of the prettiest butterflies I have folded. The butterfly starts from a waterbomb base. There are precisely 4 folds following the waterbomb base and voila! You have a beautiful butterfly.

The beauty of this butterfly lies in the simplicity of the folds. This was amongst the initial origami that I folded and I assure you, if you are a beginner origamist, this is a must-fold.

Have a go at it :)

Model Details:

Model: Butterfly 

Creator: Akira Yoshizawa

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Tutorial: Youtube 

Today is Good Friday, the day when Christ's crucifixion and death on the cross is remembered by Christians world over.

On this day of sacrifice, I folded this traditional cross from a strip of paper in the ratio 1:30. We usually fold this cross from palm leaves on Palm Sunday, but to me, the meaning of the cross is more profound on Good Friday. So I love folding this cross every year on this day to remind myself of Christ's amazing sacrifice for man.

I usually make this cross from 10 mm quilling strip - the perfect paper for making strip origami, be it stars or crosses! Here though, I have used single-sided paper and this has given me a small square in the centre.

Model Details:

Model: Cross 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Strip

Paper Size: 1 cm by 30 cms

Instructions: Origami Resource Center 

These earrings are made from a variation of the sonobe units, created by Mitsonobu Sonobe. They are easy to make and look very elegant. They actually look much prettier that this :) My photographic skills at fault here.

They are made up of 3 modules each. Each module takes about a minute to make, so creating the unit takes about 10 minutes maximum! Add a couple of beads and earring hooks and voila! You have a very nice pair of earrings.

I initially tried making it with 1 inch squares, but they turned out to be too small and all details were lost. This is made from 1.5 inch squares. I guess even 2 inch squares will look good.

Model Details:

Model: Diamond Earrings from Sonobe Units 

Creator: Mitsonobu Sonobe

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 1.5 inches

Modules: 3

Tutorial: Youtube 

There are plenty of origami vases, ranging from the ultra simple to the super complex. This vase is a simple one and shouldn't take a few minutes to complete.

As with a lot of my origami, I folded this from wrapper paper. I love how both these vases turned out! The glossiness in the paper adds a shine which looks great in my opinion.

The vase does require glue to hold the folds in place, but is still a good design to fold.

Now all that remains is making the roses/flowers that should go into the vase :)

Model Details:

Model: Chinese Vase 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 6 inches

Tutorial: Youtube 

The first time I saw pics of this basket on google, I badly wanted to make it, but couldn't find the instructions anywhere. And when I finally found them a few days back on bloomize (link below), I just had to try them out and they came out quite well too..

These baskets look best when made in double sided paper that is thicker than the regular origami paper. The basket came out well, though I had some problem making the handle and finally had to resort to glue. The orange and white basket is made from single sided paper. Both the baskets were made from 10 inch paper and as you can see, it came out quite big and broad.

And in addition to being cute, they also serve well as Easter baskets and for carrying little toys :)

Model Details:

Model: Wide Basket 

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 10 inches

Tutorial: Bloomize 

This super cute pyramid box is easy to make and looks different from the traditional square or rectangle boxes. This looks especially cute when the box and the lock are done in contrasting colours. It would make an ideal gift box for presenting chocolates and other small things. Just add a string/loop at the top and you have a lovely box that can be hung from a Christmas tree perhaps.

A possible variation for the lock is Tomoko Fuse's stopper from the variety of stoppers from the book 'Home Decorating with Origami'. I have used the heart shaped stopper.

Model Details:

Model: Pyramid Box 

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Tutorial: Youtube 

The origami gyroscope, created by Lewis Simon, is actually an octahedron skeleton with a cube-shaped opening in the center. It is an easy modular origami and can be attempted by those new to origami.. It is made up of 6 square bases and 6 waterbomb bases. The square bases are placed over the waterbomb bases and connected together.

And by the way, the square bases are the only ones that are visible in the completed gyroscope. The waterbomb bases are not visible at all. When I had made it for the first time, I thought that both the bases will be visible and had used contrasting paper for them. And after assembling a couple of units, I realised that the waterbombs are not going to be seen at all! So you might want to just use white paper for creating the waterbombs :)

Model Details:

Model: Gyroscope

Creator: Lewis Simon

Book: Modular Origami Polyhedra

Authors: Lewis Simon, Bennett Arnstein, Rona Gurkewitz

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Number of Modules: 12

Tutorial: Youtube

I have been trying out more of the star earrings.. Those are the easiest earrings to make I think and I love making these tiny little stars! :)

Tomoko Fuse's 'Home Decorating with Origami' was my choice of book for the day. I tried out the Hana. As described in the book, this is an abstract flower made from a square of paper.

The pleating is similar to the Balalaika and the thinner the pleats, the better it looks. She suggests that you start with a 6*6 inch square and that is what I did. She also suggests that it is possible to make the Hana with 5, 6 and 8 sides.

Model Details:

Model: Hana 

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Home Decorating with Origami

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 6 inches

A very simple modular origami is the fluted diamond by Molly Kahn. In addition to being simple to make, they can also be used in many places. They make beautiful decorations, make them small enough and you can turn them into earrings or pendants or even bracelets or maybe mobiles.

These are made from 2 squares of paper, from the square base. The units have pockets and flaps and are assembled using those. This can be a bit tricky at first.

Model Details:

Model: Fluted Diamond 

Creator: Molly Kahn

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Modules: 2

Instructions: Origami Resource Center 

The origami lily is a popular traditional origami. It is easy enough to be tried by a beginner. Placing one lily inside another gives an appearance of a whole lot of petals.

And there are so many different things that you can do with the lily. These look good as single flowers; if a stalk and leaves are added and a bunch of lilies are gathered together, they would look lovely in a flower vase; It is also possible to form a lily kusudama.

Model Details:

Model: Lily 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Instructions: Origami Instructions 

The origami star box is a simple container, made from a single square of paper. It is also a practical box, quite useful to store little clips and things.

Thick paper should be used, if a sturdy box is required. Duo coloured paper works well, since the star flaps are formed from the other side of the paper than the rest of the box.

Model Details:

Model: Star Box 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Tutorial: Youtube 

Quite a few origami baskets are very simple to make and have a utilitarian value as well. And since my last post on baskets, a few of my friends wanted me to try out some simple baskets. They are pretty new to origami, so keeping it simple was my aim.

The first basket I tried out was this simple Easter basket. It comes complete with a handle. Glue the handle in place so that it can be used to carry little eggs.

The next is a very cute Pointed Basket that I found on Youtube. I loved making this one, since it was quite easy to make, but it should be creased properly and accurately. It looks good when made with a big piece of paper. I used a square of 10 inches for this one. Rather than a regular basket, I think this will make a great bread basket.

The last basket that I tried was one that we had done as kids. We used to use these bags to carry small stuffed toys. Quite easy to make. The handle needs to be glued so it does not keep popping out.

Model Details:

Model: Simple Baskets

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Tutorial: Easter Basket, Pointed Basket