playing with our food since 2005 WCB #45: Origami is evil SHF #18: Holy Crepes, its Chopper Day!

Easter colors, folded paper

(Head to the end of the post for step-by-step origami box instructions!) January 2004, six months before the wedding, budget the size of a postage stamp, I had this crazy notion. Why spend money on flowers when theyll just wilt the next day? Well go origami! So, I horded paper, starting with all the leftover postChristmas sale paper I could get my hands on. (Everything silver, that is; snowflake patterns when folded arent that different from random festive swirls, right?) And, under the guidance of our dear friend R.C. (origami expert and karaoke D.J. extraordinaire), I added roses and lilies and decorative boxes to my feeble repertoire of cranes, balloons, and silly hats. I set up a TV tray table in the living room and folded during our favorite shows; folded during breaks from designing and constructing our invitations; folded during

the much-needed breaks from designing and building our Regency era wedding attire. Even with the Folding Draft in full force for visiting friends and family, I never quite achieved the colossal riot of origami blooms Id initially imagined, but still we had a lovely display, and Chopper outdid himself by folding a collection of miniature lilies that graced our wedding cake with perfection. In all of this, by far my favorite origami revelation (next to marveling at Choppers tiny, precise flowers), was the moment I first played with pentagons. Id always thought origami was all about square paper. Boy, was I wrong. One evening, R.C. showed up with a box containing not only the prettiest origami paper Id ever seen, but pentagon templates, each cut from quarter inch Lucite. We traced and cut and folded, and soon I was a master of five-sided boxes and fivepetaled lilies. I borrowed the templates and went crazy and when it came time for me to return them, I figured out how to make templates on the computer so I could print out my own ready-to-cut, five sided origami paper whenever I wanted. Fast forward. Its the day before Easter, and all the town is scurrying about like headless chickens trying to find those last minute bunnies and baskets. Were out. I mean completely out. Theres not a chocolate bunny to be had in all of Friday Harbor, and without chocolate bunnies, whats the point of a big honkin Easter basket? So, I hatch my own simple Easter plan: No candied eggs, no bunnies, no basket. Just a two dollar bag of Jordan almonds, a few pieces of origami paper and my handy pentagon print-out. Sure Ive got big egg decorating plans for later (craft project #2, coming soon to a blog near you!), but for Easter morning, its all about simple elegance.

That and avoiding the traditional Easter candy tummy ache from hell. Now, Ive never written out origami steps before, so if this gets too absurdly confusing, just stare long and hard at the helpful photos and if youre lucky itll all make sense by Mothers Day. I picked two pieces of paper one square, and the other cut from my template so I could demonstrate both boxes at once and show the small folding differences between the two.

Before I began folding, I printed and cut out my pentagon. I have two templates: Five_sided_box_1.png andfive_sided_box_2.png. Theyre the same size, just two different color schemes, and Ill be the first to admit they arent absolutely precise. I measured, but I didnt get so uptight as to spend hours nailing each side down to the exact millimeter. Close enough to look pretty is what I say. Now, the best way to cut out these puppies is to use a ruler and draw lines across each side to the edge of the paper so that youve got a guide for your paper cutter or scissors. Again, dont worry about absolute perfection, so long as theyre as within a millimeter or two, youll be fine. So, on to the folding

One: First, fold and unfold your paper so that every corner is creased and every sides center is creased. For a square sheet of paper, youll want to fold the corners with right sides together and the centers the opposite way, but for a five sided sheet, it doesnt matter which way you fold, as each half of each fold will end up going the opposite direction.

Two: Now, with the right side of the paper down, work your way around the folds so that they alternate in and out. For both four-sided and five-sided boxes, youll want the center-side folds to go in and the corner folds to go out. The result should be something that resembles a little star-shaped pyramid.

Three: Lay your pyramid flat, then take one of the outer edges and fold it up toward the center, matching the center crease.

Four: Take the top of this new fold, then fold it down onto itself, matching the angled fold from the previous step. Youll notice with the five-sided paper, the fold doesnt reach the bottom edge as it does with the four-sided paper. This isnt something to worry about just follow matching the creases as directed.

Five: Next, youll want to open the fold you just made into a pocket and then press the pocket flat against the paper so that your pyramid now has a squared-off edge.

Six: Now, move to the next corner of your pyramid and repeat the last three steps. Repeat on every corner, so that you now have something that looks like a house. Note: As you do this, youll notice youve got squared-off edges that have pocket folds on one side and are blank on the other side. It doesnt matter which side has which as the following steps will even out all the folds around your four (or five) corners.

Seven: Next, for each pocket fold, fold the bottom tip up, exposing the right side of the paper below. Again, youll notice that for the five-sided box, the fold wont reach the top of the triangle as it will for the four-sided box.

Eight: Now, fold the remaining outside lower edge of each pocket fold over to its blank opposite side. You should end up creating a diamond shape with the bottom half made up entirely of right-side out paper.

Nine: Give the top half of your diamond a soft fold. This will assist in creating your box bottom during the next steps.

Ten: Now, turn your diamond so that the inside-out half is toward your folding surface. You should now be able to carefully open up the decorative box tips by soft-folding them toward the outside.

Eleven: Youll then want to open your box by using the surface or your fingers to widen and flatten the bottom while being careful not to let the box sides unfold too much. The bottom of the box will probably be a little messy, but its the bottom nobody will notice.

Twelve: For your finishing touch, take a thin stick a craft paint brush or a chopstick works well and mold each box tip around it to create a nice, rounded petal shape. Voila! Your candy boxes are ready for goodies!

T h is e n t r y wa s p o st e d on S u n d a y, A p r i l 1 6 t h , 2 0 0 6 a t 9 : 5 7 p m a n d i s f i l e d u n de r cr a ft y . Y ou ca n fo l l o w a n y r e sp on se s t o t h i s e n t r y t h r ou g h t h e RS S 2 . 0 fe e d . B ot h co m me n t s a n d p in g s a r e c u r r e n t l y c l ose d .

24 Responses to Easter colors, folded paper1.cookiecrumb on April 17th, 2006 at 4:08 pm says:

This is too hard to read. And simply too beautiful to look at. Its the kind of thing you should do in a barn with friends so you can all learn from each other: An origami bee.

2.

mrs D on April 17th, 2006 at 4:25 pm says:

Kinda hard to hold a bee over the internet, dont you think? :-P Ah well, Id thought that written out instructions with photos would be easier to follow than messy little drawings with dotted lines and arrows. Hmmm maybe if I changed all the folds to measurements of sugar, eggs, and flour :-) (Dont mind me, its tax day. Can I steal Crankys name for the day? It fits me too well!)

3.

cookiecrumb on April 18th, 2006 at 2:52 pm says:

Be Cranky! Hope you got it all done. (BTW I was probly being cranky too; if I persisted Im sure I could understand the directions. But dont you see? What I really want is a noninternet bee! We all gather in meatspace. Fun.)

4.

mrs D on April 18th, 2006 at 2:58 pm says:

I think its all about discovering it makes sense as you try it. I look at origami directions and my eyes glaze over, but if I have a piece of paper with me and follow along, I get it eventually with numerous mistakes along the way! I am all about the meatspace thing. We are so frickin isolated here, I have major icky green envy of the big happy Bay Area gang. (Yes, youre a gang. Im expecting to see matching biker jackets any day now) Chopper and I plan to travel this fall. We will visit your fair city. Ill bring the paper, and hell bring the fish. Well make fancy origami versions of salmon en papillote. Taxes got done. Post office closed early due to ferry schedule. I mailed them a day late, but we didnt owe anything so I think well be fine.

5.

cookiecrumb on April 18th, 2006 at 4:59 pm says:

I HAVE a biker jacket. It says Frisco Floggers MC.

6.

mrs D on April 18th, 2006 at 5:51 pm says:

Why am I not the least bit surprised. Mines just plain black. Ive got a Snow White pin on the lapel, though. Snow White on Black Leather. It was given to me by one of the dwarfs. I forget which one. Droopy? No, wait. That was the family dog.

7.

cookiecrumb on April 18th, 2006 at 5:52 pm says:

It was probably Cranky! xx

8.

Stephanie on April 19th, 2006 at 4:40 pm says:

Just wanted to let you knowthe EoMEoTE round-up is now up!

9.

kitchenmage on April 21st, 2006 at 10:24 pm says:

You are planning on stopping by the river when you head south right? I so want to put together a food blogger weekend out here, for those of us who are the only bloggers in the county, ya know.

10.

mrs D on April 21st, 2006 at 11:57 pm says:

CC. Heh. Yup. Thanks, Stephanie. Fun round-up! (Kidz, go all the fun hard boiled EoMEoTE entries!) Hey Kitchenmage: Our next trip south is super-short so we dont have any time for anything other than already-scheduled meetings, but later in the summer and in the Fall well be traveling that way at a more lesiurely pace, so yes, we should definitely plan a visit! 11.Stephanie on April 23rd, 2006 at 7:00 am says:

Youll be in the South? Im in Eastern Tenneseee, so dont forget about us!

12.

mrs D on April 23rd, 2006 at 12:21 pm says:

Hey Stephanie! We wont be going that far south not yet! Heres how broad our current travel-brains think: South = Oregon. Or, if were really feeling ambitious, South = Northern California. Heh. That said, some day we hope to hop in the Bellymobile and drive around the country, and Ive got a sister in Kentucky, so, hey, Tennessees just a short hop away.

13.

ash on April 11th, 2007 at 12:37 pm says:

hmmm no me salio =(

14.

sarah on December 27th, 2007 at 5:01 am says:

im so behind the curve, but i just found this post yesterday while searching for fun box patterns. and this little project was surprisingly quick and simple with such a cute result. thanks for sharing. :)

15.

Heather on January 25th, 2008 at 12:52 pm says:

Thank you for your beautiful pictures and detailed instructions! I now have a happy tiny box holding paper clips on my desk, and have spend a blissful 10 minutes folding.

16.

mandy on February 25th, 2008 at 7:45 pm says:

I had a wonderful time folding this box. I understood it perfectly; thank you :) It looks magnificent!

17.

geobeid on March 15th, 2008 at 8:48 pm says:

Really great! this is the best kind of origami, simple but beautiful

18.

Rachel on June 25th, 2008 at 9:50 pm says:

I love this box. I am using them for decorations on my tables for my wedding. I am putting the wishing stars in them. thanks.

19.

Cristina Murayama on July 27th, 2008 at 12:37 pm says:

Hello! Im brasilian, and live here (Brasil) I loved so much you explanation, it was simple and clear! This origami was wonderful! Hugs, Cristina

20.

Pat on July 29th, 2008 at 3:15 pm says:

Rachel, What is a wishing star? I guess we have not heard of doing that in Connecticut.

21.

Pat on July 29th, 2008 at 3:16 pm says:

Rachel, I am also thinking of using these at a wedding reception. What are wishing stars? We just put mints or candy covered almonds in our favors.

22.

MizD on August 3rd, 2008 at 9:57 am says:

Hi Pat, Im not Rachel, but Ill answer your question! Wishing Stars also called Dream Stars are origami stars that have wishes (or hopes or dreams) written inside them. You can read more and follow the directions for making them at The Legacy Project. Enjoy!

23.

gronkal on August 14th, 2008 at 6:59 am says:

well i think it was a nice modell and it was not to hard to fold i do prefer this way rather than some hand written diagrams by someone who cant draw at all. so thanks im gonna put some candy in it immidieatly.

24.

Aisling:) on March 20th, 2009 at 1:49 am says:

i found this easy. and im a kid

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