Cherry Blossom Ball (Design by Tomoko Fuse)

I have chosen to fold a Kusudama again, after simply ages! This design is one, which is probably on everyone’s “Most Wanted Origami Design” list!! – The famous Cherry Blossom Ball…

It is a Tomoko Fuse design and is from the book – Unit Origami: Multidimensional Transformations – which is a collection of pretty designs in modular origami. I took approximately 2 weeks to complete this model. I daresay it can be done in a day or two, too, provided you sit at it diligently.

What you need:
1. 30 square sheets of Origami Paper, preferably of 5″ in size or larger.
2. 2 sheets (A4 would do) of a contrasting color (to the 30 squares you are using) in order to make the dual colored petals.
3. Lots of patience!

It doesn’t matter if your paper is single-side colored or dual-side colored. Either can be used with the same results. Also, if you don’t have Origami or craft paper at hand, you can use wrapping paper, too.

How to fold this model:
If you are one of those who do not own the Tomoko Fuse book, then YouTube.com comes to your rescue. Barbabellaatje’s video on – How to fold an Origami Cherry blossom Ball - is very helpful and easy to follow. Tips are provided within the video itself on the assembly of this model.

Assembly of this model is really tricky and requires lots of patience. You need to assemble the 30 units in groups of 3′s and 5′s as shown in Barbabellaatje’s video. It is a good idea to use slightly larger sized paper for the individual units as this makes it easier to assemble. Also, I have seen that using a single color throughout (like an all red model or an all blue model) for the main unit (instead of multiple color sheets) makes it look really nice; the ‘petals’ are also more prominent in these units.

I have used 5″ Square sheets of paper to fold this model. It gets a bit tricky during assembly though, so I definitely agree with Barbabellaatje’s suggestion to use larger sized paper.

Another thing, which I have done to this model, is that I have folded separate ‘petals’ for the flowers and simply placed them in the already existing pink ‘petals’ formed from the previous interconnected folding. I do think it gives a nice touch to the model on an overall basis, by adding contrast.

I have recorded a video of the completed cherry blossom ball, showing the these contrasting ‘petals’. For the main / base model (the cherry blossom ball) however, you will have to refer to Barbabellatje’s video…

My apologies for the abrupt ending of the video, I ran into a glitch with the camera.

Please click on ‘play’ on the video embedded below…

I have got a few requests to record a video on folding the little black petals which I have done for the cherry blossom ball. So I managed to get around to doing that this weekend….. I hope this helps!

Enjoy folding!!