Low Tech Tuesday: Origami

“Origami” is the contraction of the Japanese words ori and gami, which mean folding and paper. It’s a traditional technique from the XVIIe century used to create fun designs.

Why Origami is great

Origami is great because there is just one simple rule: you cannot cut and/or glue (it’s then called kirigami). The only way you can create the shape you want is by folding pieces of paper.

This is the list of things you need to do origami:
– craft paper.

Yes, that’s all. Just a piece of craft paper. You actually can get away with any piece of paper – even pages from an old magazine.

Origami is great because the number of things you can create with a piece of paper is endless.  You can do party or wedding invitations, animals, boxes… You don’t know how to start? Just think of your favorite animal!

Origami is also good because it is a quiet and peaceful activity that can teach you to become more patient. There are different levels of difficulty, so you can start with easy ones and move into difficult folding… and then create your own patterns!

Fun facts: the smallest origami is a 0.1 x 0.1 mm square crane, the biggest one is a 207 foot crane made in the stadium of Odate in Japan!

In these two videos, you can see the amazing things you can do with origami:

Books and websites on origami

Websites on Origami

The origamist online community is big – there are tons of websites with tutorials. We like Happy Folding because they have nice tutorials and Origami Spirit which provides creative and fun designs.

Books on Origami

If you are new at origami, you can buy a Origami beginner kit. We really like the series of books created by Michael G. LafosseEasy Origami is also a great book you can buy. If you’re more into magazines Creased is what you need.

Now, here are our attempts at doing Origami. They are the proof that everybody can do it!

origami-for-kids-3

origami-for-kids-2

origami-for-kids-1

What about you, what’s your favorite origami?