Origami Goodness

What is it about the holidays that makes me want to fold paper into tiny animals? I can’t say really. One year I made fifty origami cranes and hung them around my tree from fishing line. It looked so amazing!

I had the idea this year to make ornaments out of paper. I though it would be a good way to re-use the Anthropologie catalogues (that I have read enough times and was finally willing to give up).

Using an industrial paper cutter I cut the catalogues into origami size squares. I did 6 and 3 inch squares. So far I have only used the 3 inch squares but the result has been wonderful. The thin-ness of the paper and the colors and shapes of the images make for very interesting paper creatures. I focused on cranes today. My children carried them around the house delicately all day. I am planning on hanging them on my tree or around my house.

I look forward to trying my hand at a few more origami creatures. I would also like to find a good star pattern. Here is a great resource if you would like to learn how to fold an origami crane. Check out Planet Pals for a cartoon tutorial on folding a crane.

When cutting up a catalogue it is helpful to try to line up the cuts with larger pictures. In a catalogue like Anthropologie it is easy because almost all the photos are large and beautiful.