Origami wreath tutorial

A little paper ornament - simple to make, perfect for popping inside a Christmas Card. Want to have a go? I promised a tutorial, so here's what to do.

You'll need to begin with a rectangle of paper 4cm wide by 8 cm long.  Choose paper with a bit of body - really lightweight stuff won't hold the folds as well or appear 3 dimensional when finished. I'm using some nice old sheet music.

Fold your rectangle in half lengthwise ( keep the prettier side out if your paper is only patterned on one side) to give you a folded strip 8cm by 2cm.

Fold in half crosswise so your piece is now 4cm by 2cm (like the one on the left). You then need to fold down the corners at each end of the strip.

Hold your folded strip with the open edges to the top. Grab both layers of the top right hand side and fold them at 45 degrees to meet the bottom edge. Then do the same with the top left hand side.
You will be left with shapes like this. Each wreath takes 8 of them to complete.

Hold the first piece by the points. If you look carefully at the top edge, you'll see that there are two little pockets formed between the layers of paper. If you imagine they are numbered 1 2 3 and 4, you need to slide one folded point of the next piece, between layers 1 and 2 and the other between layers 3 and 4.

I wish I could just show you, it'd be a lot easier! But try it, it's simpler than I am making it sound.

Push the second piece down into the first until the tips touch the bottom of the pocket.

Then go on with the third piece in exactly the same way.

Continue round. The eighth and final piece gets the tips of the first piece tucked into its pocket to complete the circle.

Fiddle with them to adjust so the wreath looks an even shape.
I added a hanging loop by threading a bit of embroidery cotton through one of the tips using a needle.
You could go to town with fancy Christmas papers, upcycled glossy magazines, text from an old book - the origami wreath world is your oyster.  And if you have a go, do leave a link in the comments - I'd love to see them.
  

This is from a delightful blog, Domesticali.

Drop by and leave a comment telling her you found her here.

Easy, Breezy, Christmas tree ornaments!

Materials
- Two colors of letter sized paper
- Scissors, craft knife and ruler, or paper trimmer
- Glue (Tacky glue was perfect because it dries so fast)

There are two different ways to make this ornament.

Option 1 (ornament in the background)

1. This is the simplest one. It only requires 4 strips of paper, of alternating colors. Cut each strip so that it is 11" (28cm) long (hint: cut along the long side of the letter-size paper) and 1/4" (6mm) wide.
2. Fold over and crease 1/2" (13mm) of one end of one strip.
3. Glue the new tab to the opposite end of the strip of paper. The teardrop will automatically form itself as you glue both ends together.
4. Let it dry and repeat steps 1-3 three more times in alternating colors.
5. Stack the teardrops together by tucking the creased ends one over the other. Tie them together with a strand of embroidery thread that is long enough to hang the ornament from. Done!

Option 2 (ornament in the foreground of the top photo)

1. This style of teardrop requires 5 strips of paper in alternating colors. They will all be 1/4" (6mm) wide but will vary in length.
2. The strips should be 11", 10", 9", 8" and 7" long.
3. Follow steps 3 and 5 from above.

The simplicity of this project and the fact that the kids have been loving my paper trimmer recently, may help turn this into a group project. We'll shall see.

Here's a wonderful way to use what you have on hand to make some festive and easy decorations.  I found this on  A Little Hut where Patricia Zapata found herself in a hotel room with her kids and needed to make it more holiday-like and needed to entertain her kids at the same time.  Great post, great blog.  Check her out, won't you?  I'm off to make a few of these to use at work.