Origami fun

I got a new book yesterday and spent the afternoon happily working from it.  The book is 'Origami Jewellery' by Ayako Brokek and, not surprisingly, talks about how to make jewellery using origami.  This is something that I have dabbled with a bit in the past, but the book is useful as not only does it give jewellery design ideas, but it the diagrams are also suitable for smaller models.  While there are some lovely origami models out there (many that are beyond my skill level anyway) trying to make them out of small paper just isn't possible.

Why?  Well aside from the fact that things get fiddlier the smaller the paper, there is also limitations in the paper itself.  Remember the old fact that you can't fold a piece of paper in half more than seven times?  Well it's not entirely true- there is a Mythbusters episode that demonstrates this fact. However, they started with a really really big piece of paper and they also used a steam roller for the last one or two folds!  As paper gets smaller, it gets even harder- the thickness of the paper means that each fold is slightly bulged at the crease (take a piece of paper and fold it repeatedly and you'll see what I mean).  This influences the model far more on a small model than a large.

So some models have worked better than others, although I'm fairly pleased with the results for a first attempt.  These are experimental for an idea I have- which will use paper even smaller (yes, I know.  I'm mad, but I have a reason!).  The lines on the cutting board are centimeter marks and all the models were made from paper the size of the square shown- you can see how some models shrink in size!  The poor little owl (next to the square of paper and under the butterfly) has a very rounded head thanks to the relative thickness of paper.  I think I'll try a drop of glue to help hold him together in the final result.

But interesting side note- while checking a few things online for this post, I found a site that demonstrates that a piece of paper CAN be folded more than eight times.  In fact, they got to twelve folds!  Britney Galivan, the woman who figured it out, was both sneaky and clever.  She used an extremely long strip of paper and then worked out a way to fold the paper.  Impressive!

Now I'm going to head back and move into phase 2 of my grand plan (mwa hah hah hah.... erm, sorry).

If you want to try yourself there are some great sites online with diagrams and videos.  Just type origami instructions or origami diagrams into your favourite search engine.  Do start with something simple to start with- while that lovely dragon pattern looks fantastic, you will find it far better to get some skills under your belt (or fingertips), lest you end up with a large pile of origami rocks (take paper, scrunch up, throw away in frustration- repeat).