Self-quarantined with kids, I was FaceTiming my mom, who lives in an urban suburb of Tokyo. She was telling me how my dad is still working, commuting into the city and seeing patients, even in his seventies. It’s truly odd to hear this while we’re quarantined with our kids in California. She told me she had just gone to Shinjuku or Shibuya, two of my favorite spots in Tokyo, to this bookstore called Kinokuniya. People were going about their business pretty freely and the infection rate is quite low in Japan compared to South Korea and China. Now this is no longer the case.
It made me miss being there (we only visit every other summer and I’ve sent my kids to school there for a month twice). It made me think of all of these great paper crafts and stores I visit there. In that spirit, I opened up the origami I got from Daiso, a Japanese 100-200 yen shop that sells crafts in Japan with some locations in the U.S.
You can make your own origami paper in the standard size from construction paper or any other paper you have about the house.
DIY Origami Paper
Once you have your origami pieces, you can begin with the most basic project, which is the classic origami cup:
Basic Origami: The Cup
What I love about origami is it’s really easy to follow (at least the basic ones) by just looking at the pictures/diagrams in the books.
- Fold the square origami paper in half at a diagonal.
- Place the triangle upright so opening of flap is at top and symmetrical corners are on either sides.
- Fold one of the symmetrical corner flaps up so the tip touches the “shoulder” or the triangle.
- Do the same with the opposite corner.
- Fold top flap down.
- Turn the cup over and fold the flap on the other side down.
Symmetry and steps that apply the same folds on the reverse side are common steps in origami. Another favorite from my childhood applies these same principles. Some of the steps are a little challenging to understand just in a diagram, so here are video demos of the candy box and clip holding bird.
Next Level: Candy Box
These next videos are easier to follow on video due to some more intermediate paper folding. This candy box is symmetrical. You will be using the fold lines to find the center of the origami to fold either sides to.
Asymmetrical Construction:
Clip Holder Bird
This bird presents a more asymmetrical construction, as not everything is symmetrical and no two bird is going to look exactly alike.
Thank you for joining me in self-quarantine! Do upload your personalized projects here and share your origami favorites.