Origami Part 1

Yesterday morning, I found this wonderful post on 

origami on one of my favorite blogs, Filth Wizardry. 

At the end of the post was an invitation to share origami 

ideas, so this post is in response to that. While the kids 

were suitably occupied this afternoon, I sat in the sunshine 

on our deck and folded away. The result: two posts full 

of an excessive number of photos taken in glaring 

sunshine - my apologies. To make peace, at the end of 

Part 2, I promise you a link to a site that will take your 

breath away, not the least because the 

photos there will not be blinding.

Something very simple first:

1 Paper Cup

Which, if made very large (like with newspaper) and turned upside down, also is a soldier's hat.

Start with a square and fold once 

in half to form a triangle.

Fold one corner across to meet the other side of 

the triangle. Ensure the top edge of this fold is 

horizontal - it will form the rim of the cup.

Repeat with the other corner of the triangle.

Separate the layers of the top corner of the 

triangle and fold one layer down.

Fold the other layer back behind the cup 

and open up the cup.

It might hold water if you use wax paper but it won't 

stand by itself. These little cups are useful when 

sharing out snacks from a larger container (like popcorn 

bought at a fair), provided my kids are willing to hold 

them throughout the eating process and not set them down.

2 Classic sailing boat

Does this bring back memories from your childhood? I have children's story books (like Enid Blytons) whose illustrations feature this very same boat!

Start with a square and fold once to form a rectangle

and over a second time to form a smaller square, 

with the four corners of the original big square in a stack.

Separate one of these corners and fold it down to meet 

the opposite bottom corner. Take the other three corners

-in-a-stack and similarly fold them down towards 

the back of the structure.

Turn upside down and stick your fingers 

(thumb, for my picture) in the pocket

and pull it apart in the opposite direction to the 

seams to form a new square (note how the seams 

now have become the middle diagonal of the square)

Separate the two halves of the square, beginning 

at the top corner and open up

Pull sides outwards and downwards and pop open 

the middle pointy sail part from the bottom for stability.

3 Boat with Sun Shades

A spin-off from Filth Wizardry's paper boat - we made both versions as children, too. This one was popular because it is sweltering in Singapore - we have 95 -98% humidity all year round, so sunshades on anything was hip. 

Start with a rectangular piece of paper and fold the 

short sides in about a quarter to a fifth way in. The 

exact ratio is not important, but don't have 

the folds meet in the middle.

Turn over and fold the sides to meet at the midline.

From this point, the process is exactly like that for 

the boat at Filth Wizardry, which you should head to 

anyway because her photos are much better than 

these here. But I'll give my own pedestrian 

running commentary anyway.

So working with the lower half of the structure, 

fold the corners up to meet the midline.

Then fold the folded corners up to 

meet the midline one more time.

Then fold the pointy middle part up to meet the midline.

Repeat for the upper half of the structure.

Open up carefully from the midline, turn boat 

inside out and pop up the sun shades.

4 Box

Start with a rectangle. I used regular 8.5" x 11" paper. 

Fold in half

and half again.

Separate the first layer and open out, 

so the top forms a triangle as shown.

Turn over and repeat to form a triangle 

on the back side as well.

Turn over one layer (like a page of a book).

Fold in the sides of the triangle to meet the mid-line.

Turn over and repeat for the back side.

Fold up the inner corners as shown.

Separate the bottom layers and fold one layer up.

Behind this rectangular are the little folded corners, 

which you can tuck into the upper triangles to secure 

the rectangular flap.

Turn structure over and repeat for the other side.

Pull open the box and fill with stuff. Or make a second box 

of the same size and fit them together for a base and lid.

Part 2 continues here.