Guest Author - Vivienne Oestergaard
There’s a lot that has been said about origami. There are tons of instructions on the internet for various origami pieces. Do you love origami? Is your house full of origami structures? What to do with it all?
There are many things you can do with origami. It’s a lifestyle craft and it can fit into your everyday life! Take a look around you! Those pretty flower origami pieces? They can fit into a small vase and decorate the table. You can use other flower pieces to decorate a gift box or adhere to a card. The lampshade that’s sitting on the side table, it’s calling for some origami flowers for surface decoration! And, if you add in some pretty rhinestones to it, it’ll shine!!! I like to adhere a flower onto a ring of paper and wrap it around a napkin for a pretty tablesetting. If you google origami napking ring, you’ll find instructions for various styles. The same concept can be used for an odd shaped gift, giving it some creativity and originality. You can also wrap a candle with a ring of paper for a pretty gift.
If you love creating origami animals, you can offer your child/children a zooful to play with! I have made dioramas of farms or zoos. You can also decorate an old printer’s drawer by hanging it on a wall and placing the animals in the slots, or whatever new origami pieces you create. Frame a few animals and place them on your child’s bedroom wall…such a cute decoration! A mobile is another way to show off the animals. Make a wire or cardboard ring, hang some string or thread down for the animals and punch 3 holes in the ring to string ribbon thru to hang it on.
Origami boxes are perfect for gift giving! They are the perfect size for jewelry. I have one sitting on my bureau to hold jewelry that I’ve just worn that day. To make my boxes a bit sturdier, I’ve covered a piece of cardboard to fit the inside bottom, with fabric. Your junk drawer can look a bit tidier with different sizes of origami boxes to hold the junk.
Origami make great Christmas ornaments! The cranes, folded out of Christmas wrapping paper, are reminders of peace. Make a few stars out of gilded paper. I like the branches cut from curly willow trees, covered with tiny Christmas lights and origami stars hung from it. Speaking of Christmas, make a few origami trees and place it on your mantle. Structured origami looked great done in Christmas paper hung on a tree!
The list is endless! Now you will need that endless supply of origami shapes to fulfil your gifting requirement.
