A few days back I read a joke that 90% of people using Google.com, use it to check if their internet connection is working and only the remaining 10% use it for searching! Well, it looks like most people I know were busy checking their internet connections today, cos I have got endless messages, pings, calls informing me that today is Akira Yoshizawa's birthday, thanks to the Google doodle today :) I have got suggestions on what I should post and what I should make!

I did take the suggestions to heart and made a little something with Akira Yoshizawa's very famous butterfly. The Yoshizawa Butterfly is, I think, one of the most beautiful yet simple butterflies that I have tried. It starts with a waterbomb base and is very quickly turned into a butterfly!

What I did with the butterfly, was to make a whole bunch of them in rainbow colours (or at least most of the rainbow colours) and place them randomly to a while background to form a collage of sorts.

If you notice closely, you will see that the butterfly wings are not completely flattened and the butterfly itself does not lie flat. This was a small variation I picked up from Nick Robinson's blog, where the wings are folded but not creased and a mountain fold holds the butterfly shape well.

Model Details:

Model: Butterfly 

Creator: Akira Yoshizawa

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 2 inches

Tutorial: Youtube

Instructions: Sanrio Town

With Valentine's Day coming up, a lot of us must be on the lookout for pretty things to make and gift. So naturally I went googling and came across this lovely heart box on Flickr!

The creator of the heart box is Natan Lopez. I understand that the diagram for the model will be published in the magazine '4 Esquinas' but am not sure when it is to be published. But in the meanwhile, the diagram and CP have been kindly shared by Natan on his Flick! profile (links below).

Some points that I learnt after trying out the heart a few times:

• For the base, I used a square that was slightly smaller than the one for the lid. I wasn't able to make them fit together well when I used squares of the same size.
• In Step 23 in the instructions, it is suggested that the corners be either folded or cut off. I suggest cutting them off; else there is a lot of folded paper which didn't make the folding easy at all!
• For the lid, in Step 25, adding one more valley fold around the box ensures that the base is slightly taller than the lid.

Model Details:

Model: Heart Box 

Creator: Nathan Lopez

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 7 inches for lid and 6.75 inches for base

Instructions: Flickr!

Instructions (CP): Flickr!

With Valentine's day coming up, the origami cube of love would make a great DIY gift 😀 It is a modular cube with a whole bunch of hearts in it! It is made from 6 units, each unit with a heart in one of the corners. The modules are made from half a square, that is, rectangles in the ratio of 1:2. They are quite easy to make. Duo-coloured paper must be used to get the contrast between the heart and the rest of the module.

The cube makes a great decoration and will make a good gift for a loved one..

Model Details:

Model: Cube of Love

Creator: Fumiaki Shingu

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Rectangle in ratio 1:2

Paper Size: 5 inches * 2.5 inches

Modules: 6

Diagram: Origami-club

The 8 cornered box or vase is a traditional origami that is made from a single sheet of paper. It starts off with a frog base. The origami is essentially a simple origami to make, though it involves a fair number of steps to complete.

Printer paper or other similarly thick (ie., 80 gsm) paper works well for this model. Thicker 120 gsm paper can also be used.

Model Details:

Model: 8 Pointed Star Box 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 8 inch squares

Model Size: ~3 inches in diameter and 2 inches in height

Instructions: Marigami's Site

Tutorial: Youtube

Valentine's Day is coming up and this time, I thought I would try out some handmade gift bags to go with the Valentine Day's gifts.

I tend to hoard paper pack in various themes. These are essentially 160 gsm thick paper with print that is coordinated under specific themes. Though they are not usually used for origami, they are great for making paper bags!

So I broke out the Valentine Day themed pack and ended up making these bags which are about 6 * 4 inches in size.

These origami star containers, that can double as vases, are a great traditional origami to fold. They are made from a single square sheet of paper, the thicker the better. I had initially tried mine with origami paper and then with regular copy paper. The copy paper one turned out to be much more sturdy. The folds are quite simple and starts from a square base.

They are great for storing little knickknacks. I filled up mine with little glass stones. They will also make great vases, though the mouth is a little wide, so you will need to either fill it with a whole lot of flowers or insert a small holder. Since a vase looks better if it is long, ensure that the last fold (before it is shaped out) is made smaller.

Model Details:

Model: Star Container 

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Simple

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 8 inch squares

Model Size: ~3 inches in diameter and 2 inches in height

Tutorial: Tweety Atelier

Tutorial: Youtube

This incredible goblet is made from a single sheet of hexagonal paper. A very interesting design to fold..

I had got this model during one of my random browsings and wanted to fold it immediately. But I had been putting off folding this model, since I was too lazy to cut a hexagon out of a square! And from seeing the instructions, I thought it might be difficult to fold. But in realily, it wasn't too difficult.

Single sided paper works quite well for the model. But if you don't want the inside of the goblet to be white, then duo-coloured paper need to be used. I had first used copy paper to fold the initial model and it turned out quite well. But of course, origami paper is the easiest to fold with.

Model Details:

Model: Goblet 

Creator: Samuel Randlett 

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Hexagon

Paper Size: 7 inches

Instructions: Asociación Española de Papiroflexia