Origami Adds a Festive Holiday Sparkle to a Staircase

The winter solstice is almost here, and the rebirth of the light is what I celebrate deep in my heart. Soon the sun will remain above the horizon a little longer each day in the northern hemisphere. The light returns slowly. I gladly receive it! To welcome the light I decorate my home with a collection … Read more

Origami Hollow-Petal Flower

In my previous blog, La Trenza, I featured this hollow-petal flower of my own creation (Now used for a Guinnes record attempt). This model is relatively easy to fold from the windmill base, –also known as Froebel’s basic form, and makes a nice Christmas ornament, or it can also be used as a dish for … Read more

How to Make a Kusudama With the Carambola Flower

This Kusudama can be considered modular origami, and it is based on a beautiful flower model, folded from a pentagon and originally created by Carmen Sprung (Germany). She calls it “carambola” perhaps because of its resemblance to a cross section of a carambola –also known as star fruit. On her website, Happy Folding, Sara Adams … Read more

Beautiful Papers and Gifts in a Cozy Vermont Store

Where I live in Vermont there is no easy access to good art supply stores. This is one convenience I miss not living in a large city where art materials and supplies are more conveniently accessible. Yes, thank goodness I can order supplies through the Internet! But, I’m not completely out of luck. In the … Read more

How to inflate the Origami Windmill or Smart Waterbomb

Here I offer some additional suggestions and a video with tips on how to give volume to the  Origami Windmill featured in my previous post (designed by Philip Chapman-Bell). This toy is made with a circular piece of paper, and it’s a lot of fun to play with children. Once all the folds have been … Read more

How to Make an Origami Windmill for Children of All Ages

Philip Chapman-Bell, an origami designer from western Massachusetts, has created a ‘Smart Waterbomb’, which he describes in this blog post. This model is made from a circular piece of paper and has only mountain and valley folds, some of which are curved. The model is economical in its folding, elegant and pleasing to make. Besides … Read more