of the wrapper by looking carefully at the image.
Fabrics bonded to paper. So called “fabrigami” is quite popular because fabrics come in so many interesting colors and patterns. We use spray adhesive to bond the fabric to a foldable paper, such as a watercolor paper, and then proceed to fold the laminate into large animals, flowers, and even attractive boxes. These projects benefit from inserting pieces of card stock to give larger creations more structural support. Iron-on bonding agents work well too. Heavy watercolor paper may require moistening along the creases first, but when restrained in position and dried these creations will keep their pose for years.
Giftwrap. Rolled or folded, giftwrap is usually overlooked for origami because it is often too flimsy. Although you may want to bond it to butcher paper or watercolor paper with spray adhesive, we find that simply co-folding it with other paper works out quite well.
Glossy Magazines. Editors spend painstaking hours getting their photographs to appear irresistible. Why is it so easy to toss out a work of art, just because we have read it? But perhaps you keep too many magazines because the photos are too beautiful to discard. Invest in a nice paper cutter and start harvesting your favorite photo mag pages. The image that haunted the photographer can find a new audience when you place it on your folded art.
Greeting Cards. We all save them for awhile, but when stacked in a drawer, do they really ever get used or even re-read? This book contains a project that works great with greeting cards cut square. Group the graphics by theme, and enjoy your favorite cards “reincardnated” so to speak, into wonderful and colorful, hanging kusadama flower balls.
Grocery bags. When asked, “paper or plastic?” if we don’t have our canvas bags, we always say “PAPER please!” Good old kraft paper bags are so versatile and strong, suitable for many projects. The paper is heavy enough to “wet fold,” and takes acrylic colors, finger paints, markers or charcoal beautifully.
Gum wrappers. What parent or grandparent, back as a school child, does not remember making gum wrapper chains? Granted, many gum packages are wrapped differently today, but the time-honored stick of gum still exists, and the colorful wrappers of our youth can still be turned into artfully interlocked, zigzagged chains, rings, and other things. Grab a kid and get nostalgic!
Hamburger patty paper. Your local restaurant supplier has boxes of perfectly square, white origami paper called patty paper. In our area, 1,000 sheets can cost as little as $5.00 The patty paper is translucent, due to a grease-resistant coating, and it folds beautifully.
Index cards. Either 3 x 5 or 4 x 6, these ubiquitous office supplies now come in dozens of colors: primary, pastel—even neon! If you use them for organizing your thoughts, why toss them when you are done? They lend themselves to a host of creative origami projects, and if you are not going to use them, save them up for a child genius in the neighborhood.
Junk mail. This category is too broad to consider here, but we look at stuff in the mailbox as unfolded origami. Pay special attention to unique colors, textures, and patterns.
Kitchen foil. Adding a layer of aluminum foil to otherwise flimsy folding material often does the trick, making it suitable for a wide variety of folded projects. The foil can be applied with spray adhesive, or simply co-folded until there are enough folds to keep the composite together. The foil adds a sculptability to the model, and enables you to add semi-permanent forms and shaping not possible without it. Some materials, such as translucent films and tissues allow the reflective foil to shine through.
Maps. Old road maps have the most interesting patterns and colors. The places conjure memories of special visits, picnics, camping trips, or even getting lost! Incorporate them into origami keepsakes or thank-you notes, since paper maps may be a thing of the past very soon.
Metro tickets. Perhaps no other flat object, with the exception of paper currency, is so fiddled-with. Our studio was presented with a marvelous miniature motorcycle consisting of interlocked, folded, yellow, magnetic metro cards, folded by a student we met at an origami conference in Paris.
Napkins. Here is the most UNfolded origami in existence. Every napkin is folded to be unfolded, and many books have been written to impart the state of the art on the hospitality inclined. What a pleasant surprise to enter a dining room adorned with crisply starched and folded fancy napkins.
Letterhead. How much did you spend designing the perfect fonts and logos for your fancy letterhead? You probably even sprang for the more expensive, higher quality papers. Now you are left with boxes of it, thanks to a change in address or phone number. Incorporate your brand into a wide variety of objects that use this resource in a more casual way. Paper airplanes that feature your company name on the wing work great at a bazaar or trade show, and the kids will scramble for them. Why not fold them into clever locking envelope folds? How about that four-piece box lid? Make another slightly larger, and you have a two-piece box, announcing your company name 8 times!
Magazines. National Geographic and other colorful photo magazines have luscious layouts. Even the photos in the ads are spectacular. Not everybody can collect every issue, but the photography is so stunning, these issues long for afterlife. In the 1970s there was a fad of folding every page in a way to produce interesting doorstops or Christmas trees. The size is perfect for most origami projects, and your paper cutter will pay for itself by harvesting the most impressive photographic images for rebirth as butterflies, boxes, or birds.
Memo notes. Colorful cubes of 3 to 4 inch (7.5 to 10 cm) square-cut memo notes come in handy acrylic holders from your local office supply store. The non-sticky type are less expensive, and are more useful for reincarnation as modular origami after their usefulness as handy reminders has passed.
Newspapers. Not just for party hats, newspapers provide practice paper for large origami creations. The fibers are short and weak, so supercomplex models need not subscribe, but newspaper comics may be perfect for kids’ gift-wraps and piñatas.
Packing tissue. The shirt is ugly, but the tissue in the shirt box is still useful, so muster up a cheerful “Thank You!” and work up a wonderful crumple-crimp design inspired by Le Anarchistes paperfolders in France. Crumpling tissue makes organic origami otherworldly. The Floderer Mushroom design in this book is just the start. Large sheets of thin paper become wonderful hats, trees, urchins, and anemones.
Paper bags and sacks. These sturdy mainstays already have much of the folding already done. Available in many colors and sizes, the ones from heavier paper are suitable for wet folding with just a spritz of moisture from your plant sprayer. Use your creativity to enhance what Mother Factory has given you, to create decorative and inventive variants of the ultimate utilitarian object.
Paper currency. If you have ever spent any money without folding it first, you have not gotten full enjoyment from having it! U.S. dollar bills are tough, high quality papers. Thousands of projects have been folded from dollar bills, thanks to the fact that we often have an idea when we have nothing else handy to fold. Gifts or tips, decorations for table or tree, these greenbacks become cherished keepsakes. Many dollar bill folds are quite involved, and can take considerable time and practice, but if you want to start with a series of simple and fun projects, obtain the “ Money Origami Kit ” from this publisher, and start enjoying your hard-earned cash. The next time Aunt Mildred visits Egypt, ask for some local paper cash. Many countries have bills that cost much less than a buck, and the variety of colors, graphics, and materials will wow you.
Patterned security
