Archive for the ‘Origami’ Category
Mother’s Day is just a few days away, so if you are making your mother a special card, now is the time to get it done. Origami projects are really beautiful, and just imagine how pleased your mother will be if given an origami card on her special day.
Anyone can go to the store to find a card, and I’ll admit you can find some really nice ones. ( Sometimes you have to pay a ‘really nice’ price, too.)
The card pictured here is very simple, yet beautiful and different. You’ll never find one like it in any store. It won’t cost you an arm and a leg to make it, and you can have it finished in no time.
(Click the underlined link above for more origami ideas.)
Origami is just another word for the art of paper folding in such a way as to represent an object. Origami paper can be any paper that will hold a crease or a fold, although some papers are preferred over others. Origami paper is sold in squares varying in size. It is generally white on one side and colored on the other (sometimes patterned).
Washi paper, made from fibers of the bark of the gampi tree, is stronger than ordinary paper made from wood pulp. This paper is available on the commercial market, but is expensive. Foil-backed paper, a sheet of thin foil glued to a sheet of thin paper, is sometimes used in origami. The foil paper is available in a multitude of colors. Likewise, one can make tissue foil by gluing a piece of aluminum foil to the front and back sides of a piece of tissue paper.
Kami appears to be the most popular paper for origami. It is the easiest to find and the cheapest to buy (other than plain white copy paper.) As a rule, it is printed on one side only with a solid color or pattern. Also, as we’ve mentioned before, paper money is a popular medium for origami.
The best way to get started in origami is by following some easy origami diagrams. Once those folds and creases are learned, that is the time to move on to more advanced ones.
As a child, many of us learned to fold a sheet of paper into a pinwheel or perhaps a box, an envelope, a hat, a boat, or an airplane. (Remember writing a note on a piece of paper, folding it into an airplane, and sending it flying across the school classroom?) These were all simple items to make. By mastering the techniques we used for these projects, we are then in a position to learn new folds and methods and move on to more complicated designs.
Origami is an interesting craft. I’ve often watched someone take a plain, ordinary piece of paper, crease and fold it back and forth and eventually manipulate it into an art form. How fascinating!
Those of you who have mastered this craft know that you must follow a few origami folding instructions. There are several basic folds and techniques to learn. Once these are learned, the process should become much easier.
No doubt most of us at one time or another in our life have created an origami project. I can remember, as a child, folding the corners of a sheet of paper to the center of the paper itself, sticking a pin through the center where the ends of the points overlapped, and attaching it to a stick. Taking it outside in the wind and watching it turn and whirl was great fun. The result, a pinwheel, was just one example of origami for kids to make.
The sailboats, airplanes, hats, and other items we made, though slightly more complicated, were all simple projects using origami. Once a child has mastered these skills, he can easily progress to more advanced paper folding designs.
Money origami is simply the art of origami (paper folding) using paper money. While the thought of using a small $1 or $5 bill may appear to be rather limiting, the objects created are often quite impressive. Some time ago I received an email with photos of several items created from money. Whoever created these was really talented, as the results were extraordinary. Most if not all of them had used the designs in the money in such a way as to be features of the item they created.
What would make a person think of using money for this purpose? Perhaps he or she had a long wait somewhere – at the airport, in a restaurant or doctor’s office, and just pulled out a bill and started playing with it. Seems like a good way to pass the time!
According to Wikipedia, origami is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. The word origami originated from oru which means ‘folding’ and kami meaning ‘paper.’
There are only a few different folds used in creating this craft, but these folds can be combined in various ways to represent an object. This is done by using geometric folds and creases, usually without gluing or cutting the paper. What is fascinating about this is that this is done using only one sheet of paper. The finished creations are often very amazing, appearing to be complicated to create.
It’s often said that idle hands do the devil’s work, and there’s no better way to increase the skill and dexterity in your fingers than by folding paper into intricate designs. The ancient art of origami began in China around 100 AD. While paper cranes and flowers are just a couple of the most popular origami staples, the possibilities are virtually endless. Much about the end result is determined by the size and thickness of the paper.
Origami for kids can teach patience – a real virtue that will serve them well when pursuing other hobbies or just dealing with people on a day-to-day basis. It’s also beneficial for children to learn how to handle an incorrect fold – will they crumple the paper into a ball out of frustration, or patiently smooth out the crease and try again? Fingernails should be trimmed short so as not to break, but not so short that one cannot make an effective crease.