Make Something Monday, 012813: Origami

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Welcome back to Make Something Monday! =)

Thanks for stopping by!

Today's fun project is one of origami~ kusudama flowers, to be more precise.

Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding.  The best known origami model is probably the Japanese paper crane.  Generally speaking, origami starts with a square, flat sheet of paper, and folding, cutting, and gluing it into a beautiful piece of art. =)
  
Now stay with me, here... I have heard a LOT of people say that they can't do origami, or that they don't have the patience for it, etc....

This one is a good one if you have been wanting to learn some origami, but as yet have been intimidated. Promise. =)  And it's one of my favorites!

Are you with me?? Great! =)  Let's get started...

FIRST, we need some tunes... Que up Pandora! ;)  ...Awesome!

Okay, now we're ready to begin the fun stuff!
First we need to gather our supplies.

For one flower, we will need:

• 5 pieces of paper, square, of your choice.  For this tutorial, I am using five sheets of origami paper, 3 in x 3 in in size.
• Bone folder, to help make good creases.  (Truthfully, before I owned a set of bone folders, I used the back of the handle on my scissors. ;) )
• Mod Podge, or some other glue, and an applicator
• Optional: a glue gun, buttons, floral stem wire

Okay. Now take one sheet of paper, and fold it on the diagonal, and meet the corners, creating a triangle.

Use you bone tool to make a good crease.  Then turn the paper so that whatever side (if there is a pattern to your paper) you want on the inside of your flower is up facing you, flat edge on the bottom.

 

Next, fold one outside corner up toward the triangle top, following the edge as your guide.

Now the other side.  It should look like a box. =)

 Good! =) You're half way to your first petal! 

Next, fold one of the points out, making it look like a wing.  Again, use the outside edge as a guide. 

Like so...

Make sure you are keeping good creases as you go. ;)





Now do the other side to match, and you should have this...

Yay! Now we're getting somewhere! =)

Okay~ Next step:

Unfold one "wing", and fold it back over itself (opposite of what it is now)...

 The pull out the "wing" (separating the two sides from the inside)...

 ...and press it down flat.

Now, do the same to the other side, and you have what actually begins resembling a flower petal...

But this petal's not quite done yet. ;)

Fold the tip of the flattened "wings" back, to make little triangles onto itself, also reveling the other side of the paper.

If the surface you're working on makes it difficult to see where the "line" is that you are folding to (the outer edge), try using another piece of paper under the one you are working on for a visual perspective.

Do the same to the other side, and now you have this...

Now fold the sides you just worked on into themselves...

And you have one of your petals! =)

Now remember that you should have started out with five sheets, so now go do the other four the same way..

Done? Good! =)

At this point, I suggest "rolling" the petals to help form their shape... Basically folding the sides into each other without causing any creases...

Now it's time to glue. =)

Apply your adhesive to the outside edge of the petal, and put it back in the above position, to let the glue adhere. 

Okay, now do the same to the other four petals.

NOW, it is time to create our flower... =)

Apply a strip of glue along one side of a formed petal, and place it against another petal, holding it in place allowing the glue to adhere. 

Now work on the other petals...

On the last petal, apply glue to both sides, and adhere:

And Ta-DAaaa...

You now have a beautiful kusudama flower! =)

Look what you made! =)

And if you'd like to "dress up" your flower, this is where the "optionals" in the supply list come in.

I just LOVE these flowers... I'll admit that they are a bit time-consuming, but really only your imagination limits your options, and they never wilt or die! =)

Okay, now honestly~ wasn't that FUN?!! ;) I thought so! =)

Have a great week!

Until next time...

May your imagination light your way,

~xo~StacyLynn a.k.a. AllAmrcnWldFlwr [Flower]