Season's Greetings Everyone!

Compliments of the Season to all of you!

I have made it a point to have an Origami Star as my Christmas Tree Topper for the last couple of years and have continued with that for this year, too. I usually select a 3D model of a star, and mostly Modular, so that I can place it on the top most leaf / branch sticking out of my tree.

I chose Tadashi Mori’s Kusudama Sparkle to adorn my tree for this year. This is quite easy to fold and it has a pretty solid assembly. I actually found this a lot easier to assemble as compared to my last year’s assembly of Paolo Bascetta’s Stellated Icosahedron which I made for my tree in 2010.

So, back to Tadashi Mori’s Sparkle Kusudama… This is an ingenious model which has a very interesting folding sequence. The best rendition, in my opinion, would be with pearlized or tissue foil paper which has a slight metallic shimmer to it.

Paper to use:
The size of the paper really depends on how large you would like your finished model to be. I the instructional video shown below, Tadashi Mori uses paper measuring approx 9 inches in size – square shaped and single side colored.

I used Pearl Tissue-foil Paper – 40×40 cm (15.75″x15.75″) from Nicolas Terry’s shop. I wanted a shade of dull gold for the star and hence this choice. I cut 15 squares measuring 8 inches each from these sheets of paper (I used 2 in all), and then as the instructions in the video mentioned, cut each of these 15 into half… making it 30 rectangular sheets of paper in all.

If you would like a brighter star, you can choose the Gold colored tissue foil paper from Nicolas Terry’s shop. He even has a silver colored option in case you are looking out for that to match the decor of your tree.

How to fold the Sparkle Kusudama:

Tadashi Mori’s instructions are clear and detailed. Steps for assembling the star are also shown properly and he even uses markers to show the various folds, so you will definitely find it easy to follow.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, too!

Rose (Design by Evi Binzinger)

This is a design diagrammed and shared by Evi Binzinger on Flickr. This design is a lot easier than other Rose designs out there, but there is effort required to get the curves for the petals especially – as with all origami floral designs which emphasize on the beauty and bloom of the flower.

I found this design quite easy to fold and shape – the folding sequence is easy to follow and the instructions are very clear. You can combine this design with a design for leaves by other origami designers to get a prettier look, too.

Paper to use:
The designer suggests the use of foiled paper, wet folded paper and duo colored paper for folding this model. I used 15cm sized square sheet of duo colored tant paper which I purchased from a quaint little Japanese shop in Little Tokyo, LA, a few weeks ago.

How to fold this pretty rose:
The designer – Evi Binzinger – has taken the trouble of diagramming the folding sequence for this design and has also generously shared them on Flickr.

Have a great week ahead!

Swan (Design by Hoàng Tiến Quyết)

This is one design which has been lying unfinished on my table for quite some time. I had trouble on one particular step in the folding process and just couldn’t get past that step.

Luckily for me (and a lot of other folders, as well) Tadashi Mori who is well known for his instructional videos on various designs by different Origami Artists, has created a very detailed and helpful instructional video on H.T.Quyet’s Swan.

Paper to use:

This model requires shaping, so care should be taken as to not to use very thick paper. My rendition is in Tant paper which is duo colored in white. The paper shape to start with is a triangle – and the size of the paper I started out with is approximately 14.5 inches (hypotenuse), and 10.25 inches for the other 2 sides.

How to fold H.T.Quyet’s Origami Swan:

The diagrams to this model can be found in Origami Tanteidan #16 which you can buy from Nicolas Terry’s online origami shop. The folding sequence consists of 35 steps and this instructional video explains each and every step in details providing a lot of references when folding. This makes it easier to complete folding the model, too.

You can also check out the instructional video by Tadashi Mori which you can view below:

Double Star Puff Pyramid (Design by Robin Scholz) - Top View

This is a design I folded today after getting back from work. This is a design by Robin Scholz which has a nice and interesting folding sequence. The end result is a dainty star puff which you can also tweak to have variations.

My attempt of this design is in tant paper measuring approx 9 inches in size, which I have cut into a Hexagon. This is double colored green on both sides. There are two versions of the diagrams made available by Robin – one which is a condensed version and the other a more elaborate sequence which can be followed much more easily. You can find both here.

How to cut a Hexagon from a square or rectangular piece of paper:
Based on your choice and size of paper, you should be able to follow Sara Adams’ helpful video on cutting a hexagon shaped paper.

Floral Perpetua (Design by Dasa Severova) - Backlit

A few weeks ago, Dasa Severova designed a very pretty Perpetua flower design; what’s more is that she also took the pains to take a series of photo diagrams of the folding sequence and share it with everyone.

This floral design is indeed very pretty and if you are at ease with squash folds, and multiple collapses of paper, you should be fine.

Paper to use:
For my rendition, I have used duo colored tant paper measuring 35 cms in size. You can choose to fold this design with Kami paper, tissue foil or any paper you like. Paper measuring a minimum of 9 – 10 inches should be used as this design has a series of folds which will become quite tough if you fold it using a small sheet of paper to begin with.

Floral Perpetua (Design by Dasa Severova)

From the square, you will have to cut out an Octagon, which is what you will begin your folding with. When starting to fold, in case you are using single-side colored paper, remember to start with the colored side facing you / upwards.

The completed model of mine measures approximately 9 inches in size.

How to fold the Floral Perpetua:
Dasa Severova has generously shared the instructional album on Flickr. She has demonstrated 3 levels of collapsing / folding and she does mention that you can increase this number if you feel like it. Tips on variations are also provided by her in the folding sequence.

Have a great week ahead!