This modular wreath is a great project for beginner origamist who are just starting off with modular origami. It is a traditional design and quite simple.

I love how eye-catching the end result is! I had placed this at my desk in office and everyone who passed by, had a couple of remarks to make on the star :)

Model Details:

Model: Spiky Wreath 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 2 inch squares

No of Modules: 16

Tutorial: Youtube

Instructions: Tavin's Origami

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

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 Congratulations Crane or the Kotobukizuru is a variation of the traditional crane and is also a traditional design. It is a Japan custom to fold these cranes when congratulations are in order, such as a wedding.

It isn't exactly easy to make but it isn't too complicated either. And though it is a traditional design, it isn't a very common one that we see in origami books. So it is a different design to try out and is bound to garner more interest than the traditional peace crane.

The Congratulations Crane is described in the book 'Essential Origami' by Steve and Megumi Biddle. The same crane is also described in the blog 'Origami Weekly', although there it is described as 'Hiroshima Crane'.

The only difference between the 2 cranes is in the way you arrive at Step 16 of the crane described in 'Origami Weekly' (Step 11 in 'Essential Origami'). Whereas 'Origami Weekly' describes steps including a sink and a couple of inside-out turns, the steps described in 'Essential Origami' are simpler to do. From then onwards, both the instructions are the same.

As for the paper to be used, origami washi paper is the best fit for this model since the squashes require paper that does not tear easily.

Model Details:

Model: Congratulations Crane 

Origin: Traditional

Book: Essential Origami

Authors: Steve and Megumi Biddle

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 6 inch squares

Tutorial: Youtube

Diagram: Origami Weekly 

This Cherry Blossom dish is made from 5 squares and includes glueing. It is quick to make and comes out looking really good. I didn't really like the choice of paper I had used but I did manage to make it.

There is a kusudama, made from these units as well. It is a dodecahedron (a 12 pentagon ball) and is made up of 12 flowers, each with 10 petals. So it is made of 120 modules! A bit too much for me right now :)

Model Details:

Model: Cherry Blossom Dish 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Modules: 5

Instructions: Origami-Instructions

Tutorial (for making the Cherry Blossom Kusudama): 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 

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 

A traditional origami tried out by many is the frog. It is made from, surprise, surprise, the frog base! And as with most traditional designs, there are numerous sites with instructions on the net on how to make it.

Frogs are best tried out with thin origami paper, since there is a lot of folding involved and a thicker paper will not hold these folds. Try them out with a green paper to make your frogs more realistic :)

Model Details:

Model: Frog 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 6 inches

Tutorial: Youtube 

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 sampan is a traditional Chinese fishing boat. And the sampan origami is also a traditional origami which is easy enough to be tried out by kids; probably for a rainy day..

The sampan can be made in a couple of ways and like most traditional origami, there are plenty of places you can get both the instructions.

The one featured above is one kind of sampan, the only difficult part here is turn the model inside-out! :) But once a couple of these sampans are completed, it is pretty easy to do!

This is a slightly more complicated one but again, doable by kids. There are also lots of beginner origami books which give instructions for both these sampans..

Model Details:

Model: Sampan 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 7 inches

Instructions for the first sampan: Origami Instructions

Tutorial for the second sampan: Youtube 

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