Tanabata's August theme for Hello Japan is origami.
Woo hoo! I love origami. I'm passionate about origami. I use it to reward children in my class, both with objects I've folded and with lessons on how to create it. I decorate my classroom with origami, and I decorate Christmas trees in our home with origami. (My favorite is the white cranes which I'll have to show you when Christmas next rolls around.) I fold it whenever I need to calm my nerves because to me it's very relaxing to work with my hands while emptying my mind. Plus, I haven't the faintest idea how to knit.
Here are a few of the things I have to show you:
"Fruits of Love"
miniature boats...
a bottle of miniature stars...
a few of the cranes which will eventually amount to 1,000...
and origami bookmarks which when placed over the page of a book look like this:
It's so much fun to fold. I only caution you against ordering special paper on eBay; while the packages may be less than $2.00? One must take into account the shipping from Tokyo to Illinois.
(Since publishing this post, I have added photographs and directions for how to fold two kinds of bookmarks here. Also, the text stars I folded are here.)
It's so beautiful Bellezza! you are so talented... :)
ReplyDeleteThese are lovely! My boyfriend got a book of fancy paper for his birthday a couple weeks ago, from the Museum of Contemporary Art gift shop, and we've been delaying gratification--those bookmarks seem like a very good reason to use a few sheets.
ReplyDeleteNot so much talented, JoV, as overcoming some spacial reasoning deficits. ;)
ReplyDeleteNicole, let me know if you'd like step by step directions on how to fold them. They're very easy; I once had photographs with directions on my WordPress blog, but it's since been erased. At any rate, easy to duplicate.
ReplyDeleteI once decorated a Christmas tree entirely in origami ornaments. It was the most beautiful tree I've seen. I started making the ornaments in October, that year.
ReplyDeleteI love the book marks. I'll have to look for those. Looks like a good project for my students.
I love origami; have a few cranes & flowers & such as mementos of some very special people. And yes, those bookmarks would make an excellent class project. I found instructions online over the summer...they should be easy to locate.
ReplyDeleteBellezza, I howled at "besides, I can't knit." Me, either!
Happy Sunday.
C. B. James, I've folded the bookmarks with my third graders; they had no trouble at all following the directions, and they loved decorating the plain paper we used themselves. (Would I use my expensive origami paper with them to practice? Not on your life!)
ReplyDeleteDid you see I've since posted the directions? I hope you and your class have fun folding them, and remember you can also use favorite magazine pages, too. Or, any other kind of paper you have lying around.
ds, glad to make you smile with the knitting, or lack thereof, comment! Happy Sunday to you, too. xo
ReplyDeleteI could never figure out the stars! I have a few books, but sometimes the directions are hard to figure out.
ReplyDeleteMy mom had a fancy dinner party and I jokingly folded all her cloth napkins into swans and placed them on the plates. They actually looked pretty good (if a little floppy). :)
And I am one of the lucky recipients of your beautiful origami! I have the star necklace draped over my computer monitor and use your bookmarks on a regular basis. They are so lovely.
ReplyDeleteI really should learn Origami. My nerves could use a little calming this week!
How was your return to school?
One more hint that I should start discovering the beauty of origami, since I also lack any skills when it comes to knitting or other thread related hobbies, but I love paper :))
ReplyDeleteI used to do origami to relax, many long years ago. You seem to do it a lot!! Those are beautiful creations! Someday, I hope to get back to origami, but I cannot seem to keep a clean surface around here, now that my husband is traveling a bit less. I need to work on that. My heart is not happy if I can't create.
ReplyDeleteI love origami as well but I don't know how to do it the proper way.
ReplyDeleteIt's been ages since I've done any origami, but I've always enjoyed it. My fifth grade math/spelling/history teacher taught us origami. If I remember correctly, we even had a class project to make 1000 cranes. Fun!
ReplyDeleteWonderful origamis Bellezza. I was planning to do the same, making all the origami I can do...but change my mind and only showed one with step by step instruction. If I had time before August ends, I will do like yours :)
ReplyDeleteThe stars and the crane are my favorite activity when I have no book in my hand and waiting (or queueing) is getting boring by the minute. I used any paper available.ing to do the same, making all the origami I can do...but change my mind and only showed one with step by step instruction. If I had time before August ends, I will do like yours :)
The stars and the crane are my favorite activity when I have no book in my hand and waiting (or queueing) is getting boring by the minute. I used any paper available.
I'm so glad you posted for Hello Japan! this month. I was secretly hoping you would since I know how much you love origami. I need to try making the bookmarks soon. So pretty and practical for us book lovers. :)
ReplyDeleteall I can say is, these are beautiful, thank-you Meredith for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI still have a bookmark that I made after one of your blogposts Bellezza! I'm afraid I'll need to refresh my memory though, 'cause I can't remember how to duplicate it. But immediately after reading about this month's Hello Japan! task it came to mind. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm already looking forward to a picture of your white Christmas cranes. One of my x-mas decorations is a set of shiny golden pine trees (& one green) that I made as a teenager; I always hang them in the window. I'll try to remember to take a photo as well!
Wouldn't it be fun to have an origami session together at Nat's place? ;P