Fadtastic folding!

You can’t fold a piece of paper in half more than 7 times.

I learned this ‘fact’ when I was a child and set about trying to disprove it at every available opportunity, using a variety of papers, thick and thin, until I got bored.

Which was probably after about a day…

However, it did lead me to the world of paper folding, a skill I’ve admired for many years but never mastered. Until now.

Mastered may be pushing it…

FAD NUMBER 731: ORIGAMI

Who doesn’t like making paper airplanes? And who can remember those fortune teller boxes that were the craze of the playground, filled with written insults or declarations of love that sealed you marital fate at the age of 8?

The ancient Japanese art of origami (that possibly has its roots in Chinese paper folding) has filtered into our culture without us often realising its origins, giving hours of fun for those patient enough to attempt it.

Now patience and Haylee don’t usually go together in the same sentence and it’s true that in the past I’ve given up trying to make a paper fold project, falling at the first hurdle when I’ve been too lazy to cut rectangular A4 paper into squares.

But no more! I am resolute in my desire to challenge the creative side of the brain and crease and bend my way to artistic masterpieces. Like these:

Baby steps though. Best start off with a book suitable for children!

…first turn the end tip across the neck and make an angled crease. Next, open out the neck and push the tip away from you so that the head turns on itself and reverses the direction and encloses the neck.

Simple. Not!

What child can follow those instructions, that incidentally are only accompanied by photos, not helpful diagrams with arrows point which way to fold?

Sometimes I admit, I’m not always the most spatially aware and can find visualising a 3D object from a 2D image  a little confusing. Fortunately, the other book I purchased has such clear instructions that so far, I’ve managed a few models without much difficulty.

My models so far:

Giraffe, fox, cicada and frog. The frog was drunk for a while until I worked out the folds (i.e. legless!)

Some paper hearts, which I’ve found have enough of a little pocket to shove a chocolate inside. Who said romance is dead?!

However, as these books are geared towards children, some of the models are a tad juvenile. So, as with everything, I jumped in the deep end and looked online for something more complicated.

A rose. Oh, but not just any rose, it’s one that unfolds out of a MAGIC CUBE!!

One hour, several swear words, raised blood pressure and sore fingers later, I had this:

Relaxing it was not but totally worth the effort!

So, I’m now spurred on to make more complicated pieces and build a collection of paper treasures…until this fad fades out. No idea what I’m going to do with them though…at least the recycling bin will look colourful!

What about you, any of you partial to a bit of origami? I’d love to hear in the comments, even if your skills blow mine out the water! 😉

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Image Credits: Mine plus Pinterest and Twitter.

Magic cube rose instructions here.

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