Origami New Year's Dragon

Since we made some 2011 origami bunnies last year, I thought we'd try it again since it's now the year of the dragon!

We used these instructions, which were a little difficult but I could sort of do it (Sak had to help me with the mouth part).

We made eight of them on my favorite mon patterned origami paper, and I stuck them on some washi paper and framed them!

I think maybe I'll make this a tradition, and change out the frame each year with new origami?

They kind of look like bird-snakes, but that's sort of what a dragon is anyway, right?

Eventually I'd like to make this wall in our dining room a gallery picture wall, but as you can see it's not happening all too quickly.

Anyone year of the dragon?

DIY Kusudama Flower Bouquet

I get to be a bridesmaid in cousin T's wedding! Yippee!

Since she has dress fittings and the like coming up, I thought it would be nice to make her a practice bouquet.

Pfft.  Who am I kidding? You know I just wanted to do some wedding crafting. It's like a disease or something.

Anyway, her colors are light pink and navy, so I ransacked all the light pink origami paper I had and made some kusudama flowers. (Instructions here, they are surprisingly easy to make.)

Since that wasn't enough for a bouquet, I cut up some tracing paper into squares and made some white flowers as well.

In total, I used 20 flowers of sizes varying from 2"x2" to 3"x3".

Next, I stuck a floral stem through each one..

And hot glued it in place. This is probably not the sturdiest method, but as they are paper flowers, they are going to be fragile anyway.

Gather up all your flower stems and poke at it until they are more or less in a spherical shape.

Then wrap the stems together with some floral tape.

I hot glued some white ribbon on top of the floral tape..

And finished it off with a bit of navy blue lace!

Kinda cute I think!

Am I overstepping my boundaries here?  If she makes me promise not to do anymore unsolicited wedding crafting than I guess I'll know. Haha!

Calendars

One of the best parts of a new year is breaking open a fresh new calendar!

This year, Sak received an origami calendar for Christmas.

It's pretty awesome, since each month is a different creature!

January is a swan!

Sak's mom also found this super awesome Pokemon calendar at McDonald's in Japan!

Seriously, why do they get all the cool stuff? It came with a sheet of reminder stickers too!

So cute!

Do you have your 2012 calendar ready to go yet?  What kind do you have?

Origami Christmas Garland

Due to the craziness of December, I haven't been able to do many Christmas crafts.  But in any few moments I could find, I would fold these cute little stars:

I learned to fold them from this website.  It's fairly simple and many of the steps are the same as folding a crane!

Eventually I ran out of red and green origami paper, so I glued them to a ribbon!

 And hung the garland up on the fireplace mantle!

There's something so calming about folding paper during a TV show or other minute of downtime.  Plus it makes such a cute result! 

And for another super cool origami Christmas craft, check out Jennifer's crane ornaments! So cute!

Thanks Jennifer!

Origami New Year's Rabbit

Honestly, I've been in a stinky slump lately due to this housing search.  While not overtly stressful, it is a roller coaster of emotions (another offer outbid, new offer pending - but on a short sale house). I feel like I can't move on with my life until it's over, and it doesn't look like it'll be over anytime soon.  Since I'm a whine-tastic drag in this state, Sak's been trying to get me to do the things that typically bring me joy - though finding the motivation sure is hard! Specifically - he wants me to start serious drawing again (because that would mean hours of absorbed computer time instead of loud lamenting on the couch). But until I find my muse/inspiration/etc. - he'll have to be happy with little craft projects and hours of videogames.

Enough excuses? Here's how to make your own New Year's Bunny: (diagram instructions from here)

This part was kind of confusing for me, but you lift up your fold and press it down. Both sides.

Then fold it in half, and two little flaps should stick up.

Bend!

Then do a couple inner folds (mountain folds? what are they called?) to make the tail.

Don't forget to draw the eyes on!  Happy New Year!

I have a hard time interpreting origami diagrams sometimes, so pictures are helpful.  But if you're too pro for this little noobie rabbit - the instructions for Sak's complex rabbit are found here.

Anyone year of the rabbit? Sak and I are ox-folk ourselves.

(Personal side-question: what's your remedy for getting out of a funk?)