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This afternoon I watched as my daughter created simple hats and boats folded from scrapbook paper that she inherited from my stash. Oh the joy of being a paper crafter’s child, you end up with some pretty cool supplies to play with! As soon as she mastered the first paper folding technique, she wanted to learn another. As I looked up origami patterns for her, that of course led to her asking what exactly it was. We learned that paper was first created in China in the first century A.D. and was brought to Japan in the sixth century A.D. It is unclear if origami started in Japan or China, my daughter is from China so she believes it started there so that’s what we are going with in our house! What is clear is that origami was elevated to an art form in Japan and when you think of origami today, it is usually referred to as the Japanese (or Chinese if you are my daughter) art of paper folding.
Origami may look intimidating at first, but once you dive in you will find that with a few simple folds you can create animals, flowers and even origami DIY home decor items. There is specific origami paper which is usually a different color on the reverse side, but you will find that many of the projects I have linked for you can be created with paper that you already have on hand once it is cut to the appropriate size. My daughter inspired me to give origami a try and I hope these DIY paper folding tutorials will inspire you to try as well!
How To Make Origami Birds and Animals
A menagerie of origami birds and animals, most of which are easy enough for the beginner to try.
Origami Paper Flower Tutorials
These are my kind of flowers, they live forever and never need to be watered! Fill a vase with paper blooms, accent your gift wrapping with a floral touch, or use them as an embellishment in your DIY paper crafting projects.
Origami Rosebud Petal and Calyx
Easy Origami Boxes and Containers
These folded paper containers can be used for gift giving, storage, and organization.
Origami DIY Home Decor
You love paper, so why not decorate with it? Create everything from a paper candle holder to paper lamp shades with these easy DIY tutorials.
Follow AllFreePaperCrafts’s board How to Make Origami on Pinterest.
Have you tried origami, what did you create?
Martha Bonneau
I started scrapping in 2006 and was quickly addicted!I was an avid scrapper until late summer of 2010 when we started our adoption journey, at that point I was overwhelmed with paperwork (and emotions!) and I had to put something on the back burner in my life but I knew I would eventually come back to it.
We welcomed our daughter home from China in December of 2011 and a few months later I found my groove again and pulled out all of those supplies that had been tucked away.
I started out scrapping again doing traditional layouts, but at the beginning of this year I jumped into Project Life and I love it!
When I’m not scrapping I am usually spending time with our daughters which means library time, going on walks, thrifting (they love it as much as I do!) or watching Kung Fu Panda for the millionth time.I also have an Etsy shop Panda Eight Designs where I sell scrapbooking flair that I design.
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I never really got into the “fold it from a square” classic origami, but when I got in to temari, I bought a book out of Japan and–to distribute the shipping charges–picked up a couple of origami books, too. That got me into 3D or “Golden Venture” origami, which is not only practical, but incredibly forgiving of paper weights.
Oragami lovers should see Kubo and the Two Strings, out in theaters now. Amazing graphics (and story)!