World Origami Days Celebrated!

World Origami Days was founded by an American Committee to spread awareness about Origami. The World Origami Days is celebrated every year beginning from 24th October to 11th November. Also, Japan celebrates 11th November as Origami Day.

I am not a member of any committee but I love Origami, and since the day I started practicing Origami I have no regrets.

We celebrated the World Origami Days at Art Hours, by folding a new origami model every week. (Here, 'we' implies my daughter and me).

Origami is a challenge to me and folding a new model gives me immense satisfaction and peace. Generally, I don't follow video tutorials but prefer to search for diagrams instead. The entire process, beginning from understanding the fold diagram to folding the entire model, is like solving a puzzle -and this is where the entire fun and challenge lies. Watching a video to fold an origami model is no fun for me - it's like you are reading a mystery story and your killjoy friend tells you the ending of the story, or you go to watch a suspense movie and somebody tells you the end - same is the case with doing origami. If you know the ending it is no fun...However, sometimes I do watch videos when the folds are too complicated, but not all origami models have video tutorials so that makes me happy as I can continue taking up new challenges!

'World Origami Days' was just a pretext for us to try some new origami models. Thanks to the wonderful creations made by the origami artists around the world and thanks to them for uploading the origami diagrams and tutorials on the internet. It has helped origami lovers like us and many others around the world, to fold and explore new origami models.

In this blog, I am not only posting the origami models we attempted but also the links to the tutorials which we followed, wherever possible. We attempted a new model each day beginning from 24th October to 10th Nov. Unfortunately on the last few days of the World Origami Days when I had planned to conduct a workshop, I fell sick and I had to cancel the workshop. I, hereby apologize to all those students who were keen to attend the origami workshop but I had to cancel the same due to my personal health issues. Hope to see them participating in our future workshops.

Day 01: Mandala Serenata

Design Credit: Vagner Alves/Carla Godoy

We folded a variation of the original model as we learned to fold it from a video tutorial and here's the link to the same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_C01a1GQ5c

Model details: 

Category: Modular Origami
Level: Intermediate, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 3.5 stars (with 1 being easy and 5 being most difficult in terms of complications in folds involved)

Uses rectangular units

We folded it using a gift wrapping paper

Mandala Serenata folded by Art Hours

Day 02: Variation of Mandala Serenata

Design Credit: Carla Godoy

We folded a variation of the original model as we learned to fold it from a video tutorial and here's the link to the same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_C01a1GQ5c

Model details: 

Category: Modular Origami
Level: Intermediate, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 3.5 stars

Uses rectangular units

We folded it using colored printer paper.

Variation of Mandala Serenata folded by Art Hours

Day 03: Mandala Tamba Taja

Design Credit: Falk Brito

We folded the model following an origami diagram. You will surely get it on the internet.

Model details: 

Category: Modular Origami
Level: Intermediate, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 3.5 stars

Uses rectangular units

We folded it using origami paper.

Origami Mandala Tamba Taja folded by Art Hours

Day 04: Origami Tico Star

Design Credit: Maria Sinayskaya

We folded the model following a video tutorial and here's the link to the same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyZKB4eaD1A 

Category: Modular Origami
Level: Intermediate, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 3.5 stars

Uses square units, requires no glue.

We folded it using origami paper.

Origami Tico Star folded by Art Hours

Day 05: Origami Clutch Purse

Design Credit: Chrissy

We folded the model following a video tutorial on paperkawaii.com

Category: Single Sheet folding
Level: Intermediate, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 3 stars.

Uses square sheet of size 6"

We folded it with an origami paper.

Origami Clutch Purse folded by Art Hours

Day 06: Origami Navigator Star

Design Credit: Maria Sinayskaya

We folded the model following an origami diagram, you can surely find it on the internet.

Category: Modular origami
Level: Easy, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 2 stars

Uses 4 square units, requires no glue.

We folded it using colored printer paper sized 8.7 cm square each.
This one is fun to fold and even kids can try folding this one. My kid had fun folding this one.

Origami Navigator Star folded by Art Hours

Day 07: Origami Mandala Macuxi

Design Credit: Falk Brito

We folded the model following an origami diagram, you can surely find it on the internet.

Category: Modular origami
Level: Intermediate, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 3.5 stars

Uses 8 rectangular units.

We folded it using gift wrapping paper sized 10cm x 3cm.

Mandala Macuxi folded by Art Hours

Day 08: Origami Humming Bird

Design Credit: Not sure

We folded the model following a video tutorial by Mohamed Galal and here's the link to the same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si-Mhbu3UCI&t=1s

Category: Single sheet folding
Level: Difficult, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 5 stars.
Though the model is difficult to fold, the video tutorial is very clear and elaborates every step with accompanying diagrams of the folds.

We folded it using McDonald's carry bag paper. 

Origami Humming Bird folded by Art Hours

Day 09: Origami Elephant

Design Credit: Fumiaki Kawahata

We folded the model following a video tutorial by Leyla Torres and here's the link to the same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InIpbaPdA54

Category: Single sheet folding
Level: Intermediate, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 4 stars

We folded it using 6" square origami paper.

Origami Elephant folded by Art Hours

Day 10: Origami Lotus

Traditional design. You can find lots of diagrams and tutorials on the internet hence am not posting a link.

Category: Single sheet folding
Level: Easy, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 2 stars. 

We folded it using tissue papers.

Origami Lotus folded by Art Hours

Day 11: Origami Miniature Mandalas

Design credit goes to many artists. You can find the links to many such stars and patterns in Origami-club.com.

Category: Modular Origami
Level: Easy, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 2 stars
All the models below have 8 square units.

Used paper scraps as units which were as small as 1.5cm squares

We folded it using colored printer paper.

Miniature Mandalas folded by Art Hours

Day 11: Origami Long Bookmarks
Category: Single Sheet folding

Heart Bookmark

Design credit: Jo Nakashima and here's the link to the video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gml2j4bvT88
Level: Intermediate, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 3.5 stars
Well, those who know Jo Nakashima's Origami Models would agree that his designs are not easy as they look!

Crane bookmark

Design credit: Bob Stack, Video tutorial by Yakomoga and here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdYTw1u8xk8

Level: Intermediate, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 3 stars

Both the models can be folded from a rectangular sheet.

We folded the bookmarks using origami paper.

Origami Long Bookmarks folded by Art Hours

Day 12: Origami Long Bookmarks
Category: Single Sheet folding

Pencil Bookmark

Uses a rectangular sheet of paper.

We watched a video tutorial for this bookmark and here's a link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z73dByO_PVI
Level: Easy, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 1 star.

Crane bookmark

Uses a square sheet of paper.

We followed a picture tutorial on http://www.all-about-origami.com/
Level: Easy, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 2.5 stars.

Cat bookmark

Amongst all of the long bookmarks, we folded, this one had complicated folds and I have lost the link to the tutorial. Sorry for this one!

Level: Intermediate, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 3.5 stars.

We folded all the bookmarks using origami paper.

Origami Long Bookmarks folded by Art Hours

Day 14: Origami Spiral
Design Credit: Tomoko Fuse
Category: Modular Origami
Level: Easy, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 3 stars.
Uses 4 square units, requires no glue.
We watched a video tutorial for this one by paperfolds. While I made the units, my kid enjoyed assembling this model.

Origami Spiral folded by Art Hours

Day 15: Origami Magic Circle
Design Credit: Not sure
Category: Modular Origami
Uses 8 square units, requires no glue.
We watched a video tutorial, for this one and here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb0ICsjkl14
Level: Easy, On a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it 2.5 stars.
We used colored printer paper for this model.
This one was folded entirely by my child watching the video tutorial and she had great fun folding this one, for, in the end, she could even play with it!

Origami Magic Circle folded by Art Hours

For the 15 days of World Origami Days, we had awesome fun folding every model. Each day we tried folding a new origami model, we learned and enjoyed on the way. I wish more people could have been a part of this origami exploration!

Anyways, hope the links to the origami tutorials helps those who are keen to learn origami and love attempting new models. 

Thanks for stopping by...have a good day.

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Highlights from the Winter Workshop 2016

Winter Workshop 2016, was a 5-day workshop during the Winter Break, planned for kids to learn a new skill each day, to engage and explore in a new art form, to encourage each child to extend and stretch his/her creativity. As per Picasso; every child is an artist, and I believe that all a child needs to grow into one is a little guidance, direction, and encouragement to build on and develop his/her skills. 

Participants in this workshop belonged to a wide age group from 7 to 14, each had a different skill set and experience. While smaller kids in the age group of 7 to 10, were just beginners, the ones in the bigger age group had the skills to do things better than the beginners. However, the exercise planned for both the groups were similar each day, and all the kids were actually doing most of these exercises for the first time in their lives. Perhaps, schools nowadays focus more on academics and there is little or less focus on arts and crafts. Whatever may be the reason, I found that the participants, belonging to different schools in the city, didn't have much exposure to different forms or styles of art.

However, all the children were very enthusiastic learners, focused on their tasks and carried out every exercise with equal fervor, patience, and joy on every single day of the workshop.

Art and Craft Winter Workshop 2016, Art Hours, Dubai

Here, are some highlights from the Art and Crafts Winter Workshop, held by Art Hours from 18th to 22nd Dec 2016, in The Gardens, Dubai.

Day 01: 

The activity for the first day was Stencil Painting, wherein, the kids had to cut out their own stencils using a paper and then use the same stencil for painting. This task was successfully done by all. Below are a few pictures, wherein the kids painted some patterns and designs, snowflakes, trees, etc. using a stencil.

Day 01: Stencil Painting

Day 02: 

The second day was learning to write in 3D Calligraphy style. The kids were taught how to write using 3D letters. It was a tough exercise for the little kids especially, but they were delighted to write their names in 3D calligraphy style. I was pleased with the final outcome. Every child had the patience till the end and didn't give up in the middle, and that's what impressed me.

Day 02: 3D Calligraphy

Day 03: 

Painting with nature was planned for the 3rd day, wherein the kids were taken outdoors and were made to scavenge for dry leaves first. Thereafter, they were to use those leaves as stamps to create a painting. The exercise didn't end there...they were to identify the positive and negative spaces in the painting and color them in black. The entire activity was carried out in a beautiful manner by all and we had beautiful masterpieces by every child at the end of the day.

Day 03: Painting with Nature

Day 04:

The 4th day was an Origami exercise, wherein they were taught some 7-8 origami elements, and each one of them had to create a miniature cityscape, rather a city diorama using those origami elements. I was not very surprised to learn that it was a first-time experience for most of the kids as they had less exposure to origami. However, the end result turned out to be excellent. Every child had built a beautiful cityscape. Kudos to their creativity and patience again!

Day 04: Origami Diorama: A cityscape

Day 05:

The last day of the winter workshop was learning the Zentangle art combined with watercolors. They were shown the Zentangle work of various artists and explained certain basic rules about zentangle and water coloring. The end results, as it turned out every day, were some beautiful masterpieces by each child.

Day 05: Zentangle and Watercoloring

Some things that immensely pleased me during the workshop were that some kids went back to their homes and actually tried out the new skill they learned that day, came back to the workshop the next morning and showed me the work they did at their homes and were asking for feedback from me. That further reinforced the fact that they were learning something interesting and something new that they would love to explore further. And that's what Art Hours is all about; to learn and explore further. 

The five days of the workshop ended with great enthusiasm, positive energy and loads of creativity from every participant. 

Art Hours looks forward to conducting more such workshops and interact with the little but intelligent and creative minds.

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Origami Crane Wreath

I made this crane wreath yesterday and wondered whether to post it or not. It looked too beautiful and surely I couldn't resist posting this one. It took a long time to make, folding and refolding and then finally assembling it, but once done it was a pretty one. There was no need of glue and also no paper cutting involved for this one. Took many breaks in between for I was at loss of patience when I made a couple of these crane units. The final result was a cute little origami wreath.

Crane Wreath

Category: Modular Origami

Designed by: unknown

Level of difficulty: Intermediate

Material used: Rainbow sheets of size 8.7cm x 8.7cm squares. 

Final size of the wreath: Outer diameter of size 12cm.

I named it the Rainbow Crane Wreath since it uses the colors of the rainbow. 

Origami Rainbow Crane Wreath

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Stationery Holder - Origami using Paper Scraps

"The purpose - where I start - is the idea of use. It is not recycling, it's reuse." Well said by a famous Japanese fashion designer - Issey Miyake

There are lots of things we just throw away without thinking twice - after all who has the time in today's fast pace world: work, kids, family, festivals and life, in general, is moving fast. In this entire process called life, who has the time to collect junk and then reuse it? Well...me neither...but once in a while I just resist myself from throwing away the junk...and keep it aside thinking maybe someday I will make use of it...and if it lasts for a long time on my shelf I do throw it away...if not I find ways to make use of it in my everyday life. 

A lot of paper scraps end with me after my craft classes and paper doesn't come free...for that matter, nothing is for free in this world. I always stack them to make use of them later. 

This is a small effort from my side to make use of some paper scraps and a waste shaving cream packet, to recycle them into something beautiful and something useful. Origami is something I love doing and I try to find ways and means to incorporate origami into our everyday lives. So this recycling project is all about origami using paper scraps.

Recycling and Origami

What would you do with packets like toothpaste packets, shaving cream packets or such small cartons which usually end up in the trash cans? This is one DIY recycling project you can also try at your homes and reuse these packets/packages instead of throwing them away. Here's how I did it. 

Recycling a shaving cream packet

The width of the shaving cream packet is about 4cm. For using it as a stationary holder, cut away the top flaps with a pair of scissors.

I had some paper scraps of the size of about 6cm x 12 cm, out of which I made some square patterns with blossoms in the centre. The square patterns each are of @4cm x 4cm in size and would exactly cover the packet along the width as you will see ahead.

Square origami units with blossoms in the centre

Following is the tutorial for making the square origami units with the blossoms in the centre. 

Materials required:

Rectangular sheets, glue

Step 1:

Start with a rectangular sheet. You can cut a square sheet into half and use one rectangular part of it. 

Note the creases made as in the right inset. The black lines indicate mountain folds and red hidden lines indicate valley folds. 

You will first need to fold it in half first so that you get a mountain fold in the centre of two squares. Thereafter note the two vertical valley folds on each of the square parts indicated by the red hidden lines. Now make diagonal mountain folds in both the square parts as indicated in the picture below.

Left inset: Rectangular sheet
Right Inset: Note the creases for squash folding in the next step

Step 2:
Turn it over and start collapsing along the creases to get the shape as in the right inset.

Left inset: Turn it over
Right inset: Start collapsing along the creases made

Step 3:

After collapsing along the creases, this is how it would look - a perfect square shape as shown in the left inset with two triangular halves.  Thereafter, fold in the flaps on both the sides, to meet at centre as shown in the picture below.

Left inset: After collapsing, you will get a square shape with two triangles
Middle inset: Fold in the flaps
Right inset: Fold the flaps to meet each other at centre

Step 4:

Squash the four triangles to get four mini squares in the centre. Now focus on the mini squares. Fold in both the flaps to meet at the centre. Repeat the same for all the squares.

Left inset: Squash fold to get four mini squares in the centre
Middle inset: Fold in the flaps to touch at centre
Right inset: Repeat folding the flaps for every square

Step 5:

Now open the folds and squash them one by one to get the blossom pattern in the centre. You have one square unit ready. Make similar 6 units.

The origami square of size @4cm x 4cm

Step 6:

Meanwhile, take the packet and cover it with a similar colored or contrasting colored sheet to hide the packing details.

Step 6: Covering the packet with a sheet

Once the sheet is glued on all the four sides, just glue a contrasting coloured strip on the top for decorating it. You may even skip this step.

Cover the packet and glue a strip on the top edge

Step 7:

Now glue the blossom square origami units made earlier one below the other. Three square units were required for each of the two sides, so I had made a total of 6 square units.

Step 7: Glue the blossom squares on the two sides of the packet

Stationary holder - front view

Stationary holder - side view

You can also use toothpaste packets, perfume packets, deodorant covers, etc. for making such stationary holders. Such packets/packages can also be decorated in a similar manner and be reused for gifting purpose also. 

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Tutorial for an 8-pointed Modular star

Here's a tutorial for a simple 8-pointed modular star pattern that starts with a square base. Of the many origami patterns and stars, you will find on the internet, most of them start from the traditional origami base or folds.  If you are aware of the origami basic folds and bases, then this star is very easy to make.

8-pointed Star Pattern with an Origami ladybug in centre

Materials used:
- 8 square sheets of size -10.5 cm x10.5 cm, using two shades of yellow color paper
- A glue stick for gluing all the units together and that's all.

Procedure:

Tutorial for 8-pointed modular star pattern

Step1: Start with a square sheet with the mountain folds on the horizontal and vertical direction; and valley folds in both the diagonal directions. 

Step 2: Once you get the creases from the above step, squash fold to get the square base.

Step 3: Fold the sides as shown to make a crease and then unfold

Step 4: Fold the top to get a crease

Step 5: Unfold to reveal the creases

Step 6: Open the flap following the creases as shown.

Step 7: Flatten it to get a diamond shape.

Step 8: One unit for the star is ready. Make 8 such units.
Start assembling the star by inserting the flap of one unit below the other unit. You can glue them as you add one unit after the other.

The 8-pointed modular star pattern is ready.

Suggestion and Tips:

You can make every unit of different color paper or you can alternate it with two or four different shades of color to make it look more attractive.

Uses: You can use it as a center table decoration, or as a wall piece too. You can also make many such stars and use it for party decorations.

For any queries regarding this tutorial, you can mail me at archguide16@gmail.com.