The Art and Craft of Origami

The first time I saw an origami piece, I was enthralled. That this delicate bird was made from paper blew my mind. Origami is the Japanese art form of folding paper into various shapes like butterflies, hearts, flowers, boxes, birds, or animals. Ori means folding and kami means paper. Learning this art form requires guidance, instructions, and lots of patience. Whether you’re making something simple or very complex, you’ll need to follow a specific pattern. Origami books are a good source to start with and a new one just hit the market, Tomoko Fuse’s Origami Boxes.

Origami Unique Gift Boxes

Tomoko Fuse’s Origami Boxes was created by an Origami master and he offers step by step visual and written instructions. This book is all about making a variety of different boxes with decorative lids. There are three sections and each requires different levels of skill and precision.

Part 1 – Simple Boxes from Square Sheets
Part 2 – Modular Boxes from Multiple Square Sheets
Part 3 – Modular Boxes from Rectangular Sheets

The front of the book has a legend of the Origami symbols and Basic Folds. Unless specified, glue is not needed unless you feel you need the reinforcement. You can also choose thicker paper for more stability. All the instructions are clear, easy to follow and in color. Plus they show several examples of what the end product should look like. So I tried to make a few of the simple boxes but my precision was off. My boxes were askew, but being new to this art form, I appreciate that it will take some time to master these techniques. They suggest you start off with the standard size origami paper until you’ve grasped the basics before experimenting with different sizes and types of paper. This is my next step. What I did find is that this form of creativity, although requires concentration, is quite relaxing and enjoyable.

Origami Paper

To create any origami form, you can actually use any paper. As long as it folds well, you’ll be fine. But, there are several types of paper that are characteristically used in making origami art.

Kami paper is used the most because it’s inexpensive, thin, and pliable and comes in unlimited colors. Typically one side of the paper is patterned and the other side is solid. The Stripes and Solids packages if filled with 300 sheets of unique prints and vibrant colored pages. Each sheet is double-sided – some sheets have a print on one side and a solid on the other side — other sheets have a solid color on both sides. There’s enough paper here to assemble a multitude of various sculptures.

Traditional Washi is handcrafted from the fibers of the gampi tree so the paper is super strong even when made thin. The downside is that sometimes you’re unable to sharp fold due to the long fibers. But we don’t have to make our own paper, we can pick up a variety pack that offers 300 high-quality origami sheets printed with 12 different natural-looking and attractive Japanese washi prints. It has a handmade look and resembles the real thing.

There are many benefits to learning origami. Aside from being relaxing, you improve your eye-hand coordination, thinking skills, problem-solving, learn fractions, and various angles and it’s therapeutic.

Disclaimer: I received product to facilitate a review. All opinions express are my own, yours may differ.