Icosahedron

This is a modular design I came across on the Internet recently which is not really Origami but is nonetheless very pretty. It follows the same principle of putting together units to form a modular model but the similarity with Origami ends here. This model requires the use of scissors and glue and patience, of course.

The blog, Jeweled Platypus, has a post dedicated to this pretty model and I was quite taken with the photographs of the model. It makes use of commonly found printer paper and there is also a ready-made template which is available on this said post.

Instructions to make this model:
The blog post also details out the instructions to fold this model and the number of units (20 units) required. 10 copies of the PDF template are required, with each sheet having cut outs of 2 units. I am pasting an excerpt of the instructions from the said post here for your easy reference:

If you’d like to make your own icosahedron (the more elaborate one of those two), download this template (PDF) and print out ten copies of it. Here is what you do:

1. Cut out one figure along the bold lines.

2. Score all its curved dotted lines with a dead ballpoint pen or the tip of a lead-less mechanical pencil or something like that. Fold the tabs back and forth to make sure they’re flexible. Pinch gently along the scored curves to begin to form the curved module shape, with the dashes on the inside.

3. Apply white glue or a glue stick to one of the module’s small tabs and connect it to its neighboring bit of paper.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 for the rest of the modules (twenty modules in total).

5. Glue modules together on the large tabs. Be sure to have five modules around each corner, i.e. flowers always have five petals. When you have a few modules together, you can insert a pencil or straightened paperclip through the holes to push tabs with glue together to make sure they stick.

I think this model looks really pretty and will make a wonderful hanging in the home! One can try folding this model in colored paper using the template cut outs as a stencil to make the units.

Pig (Quentin Trollip)

Today I decided to fold another one of Quentin Trollip’s designs. I selected tissue foil as my paper choice and spent my morning making duo colored tissue foil. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time wet folding this model even though it is suggested in the diagram that wet folding will give you the best results. Somehow, I could never do that right without my patience giving way towards the end! Tissue foil turned out to be my next best option as it provides the flexibility to shape the paper at will.

Paper to Use:
I have made tissue foil paper duo colored white at home this morning and used it to fold this pig. I daresay I had problems with the placement of the tissue paper hence the air bubbles you see on the texture of the tissue foil. The size of the paper I used was around 30 cms or 12 inches, square shaped. My end result was a pig measuring 5.5 inches in length and 3 inches in height, approx.

How to fold this Pig:
You will be able to find the diagram to folding this pig on Quentin Trollip’s website. It is pretty well explained and even has details on the type of paper to use and final size to paper ratio.

In addition to the diagram, I have also found an instructional video on Youtube.com which I am sure will aid your understanding of the diagram. I am embedding it below for your easy reference.

Bear (Design by John Montroll)

This is a design I picked up from the book – License to Fold by Nicholas Terry. It is relatively easy to fold and does not require any wet folding or shaping.

I used a 15 cm square sheet of origami paper which is single side colored. I had purchased this pack (AITOH brand) from my nearby Michaels store, recently.

It took me around an hour to fold this model and thats mostly because I had to redo the ‘neck’ part of the bear as I wasn’t all that happy with it.

In addition to finding this model in Nicholas Terry’s book, you will also be able to find an Instructional Video on YouTube on Joan Montroll’s Origami Bear. The link above is to Part I of the series, you will be able to check out the other 4 parts pretty easily from there. This is a 5 part series and each of the videos are very short in length. It has been recorded with the permission of John Montroll (as per what the Video says).

I hope you find it easy to fold!

Swan (Design by Manuel Sirgo)

This is a pretty model, the diagram to which I found on the Internet (freely available). It is designed and diagrammed by Manuel Sirgo in 2003. It requires a bit of shaping in order to give it the ‘feathery’ look.

I used a single side colored foil paper of Aitoh brand which I was lucky enough to find at Michaels (Atlanta area). This was the first time I bought foil paper from Aitoh and I suppose I read somewhere that the quality of their origami paper is pretty good. These papers are imported from Japan and the company specializes in Asian art materials, children’s craft kits and other Japanese paper products.

It comes in paper sizes of 15 cm or 6 inches in size but I found it pretty alright to make a small little swan as a test fold. You would need to start folding with the color side facing upwards (i.e. towards you) in order to get the body of the swan white in color and the beak of a different color.

Diagram of the Swan:

You can find the diagram to this pretty swan on the Internet and it is freely available. This is the link to it – Manuel Sirgo’s Swan diagram

Christmas Tree (Design by Vladimir Serov)

This is my first try at 3D origami and I must say, it really is time consuming The original design had about 4 layers of leaves out of which I managed to make 3 layers and then propped the top with a leafy tree topper just to complete the look!

This is a design I came across on the net while browsing for Christmas Origami designs for this season. I think this is the prettiest Origami Christmas tree out there so far.

What paper to use:

You can buy leaf green A4 sized paper at Michaels or any other craft shop you have nearby. Each sheet of A4 sized paper yields around 32 small rectangles which are then folded into units to connect and make a shape. each of the rectangles will measure around 3 inches by 2 inches approx when you cut them out from the A4 sized paper and the triangular units will measure approx 3/4 of an Inch in size.

How to fold the units:

This is my very first model in 3D origami and I found this Instructional video on 3D origami for Beginners very useful. Jewellia explains how to fold the triangular units very nicely and even provides tips in folding.

How to fold the Christmas Tree:

I followed the diagram I found of Vladimir Serov’s Christmas tree and followed it to the mark up until I had to improvise for my laziness and avoid folding the bottom layer of leaves but still make the tree look like a Christmas tree

The number of units and how to connect them are clearly shown in the diagram. I am sure you will find it clear to follow… Vladimir Serov has even explained the diagram to fold the 3D origami star which you can try. The numbers shown for each of the rows in the diagram depict the number of units used to fold that section or row. I found it easy to connect ’section’ wise rather than following the rows of units.

You can even fold an Angel or a Star as your tree topper!